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Council affirms 2025 master fee schedule; members debate potential housing cost impacts
Summary
Council approved the 2025 master fee schedule, which staff said takes effect the following day; members debated whether fees (service‑recovery charges) could increase housing costs and discussed potential later fee proposals.
The council reviewed the 2025 master fee schedule at an action-item hearing and, after a short debate, moved and approved the staff recommendation. City staff said the schedule had been adopted previously and would go into effect the next day; members were told that any adjustments made that night could only reduce fees, not increase them.
Several members cautioned that increases in fee schedules — particularly those tied to building permits or plan reviews — can raise the ultimate cost of housing. One council member noted the distinction between service‑recovery fees (which the city uses to recoup processing costs) and development-impact fees. Staff emphasized the fee study was an independent analysis of recoverable costs and that the schedule reflects those maximum recoverable amounts.
During public testimony two speakers raised affordability concerns, warning that the fee levels could make single-family homes "unaffordable" for some buyers and could incentivize unpermitted work to avoid fees. Member Mulligan and others said they were prepared to move forward with the schedule as presented but asked staff to bring forward additional fees under separate consideration (for example, vacant-property fees and repeat weed‑abatement fees).
The council approved the motion and voted unanimously to adopt the fee schedule as presented. The record shows the schedule goes into effect the next day, and councilmembers asked staff to provide follow-up on potential future fees and to consider the fee schedule's development impacts.
