Council hears consultant recommendation to update development fees; changes could take effect Jan. 1, 2026

The Jervis City Council on Nov. 6 reviewed a consultant study and staff recommendation to update fees and cost-recovery policies for development and land-use applications. Staff said many fees had not been comprehensively revisited since about 2012 and that the city was subsidizing review costs in some cases.

A representative of the Council of Governments consulting team described the methodology used to estimate planner time, hourly rates and a deposit structure intended to better match application fees to staff time. Staff said the proposal would repeal the city's existing fee resolution and replace it with a consolidated schedule; the staff presentation in the packet included an amended appendix showing the proposed rates.

Staff noted the resolution's proposed effective date as Jan. 1, 2026, to give applicants time to prepare. "January 1. Take effect 01/01/2026," staff said during discussion. Council members asked questions about whether the increases would affect school or public-agency applications; staff replied that already-submitted school applications should not be affected. The council moved to advance the resolution for consideration; the record shows motion and affirmative roll-call support during the meeting.

Next steps: staff will publish the resolution language and any amended appendices, and the council will consider formal adoption consistent with open-meeting and noticing procedures. Detailed fee tables and the proposed deposit structure are available in the staff packet for further review.