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Town consultant presents fee-study that could raise cost-recovery; planning fees proposed below full cost to support housing
Summary
Consultants told council the town currently collects roughly $1.3M in fees and could recover about $1.6M at full cost-recovery rates; staff proposals aim to raise recovery toward 90% while selectively subsidizing planning and small-project fees to support housing goals.
Consultant Nicole Kissam of NBS presented the draft fee study and methodology, describing the effort to calculate fully burdened staffing costs, per-hour and per-unit costs, and the town's current fee structure. "Across all the fee programs that we studied, we found that the town is collecting about $1,300,000 per year... the potential recovery is $1,600,000," she said, describing an overall ~84% recovery rate and staff's objective to move toward roughly 90% recovery.
Staff and the consultant proposed setting many building and public-works fees at 100% of cost where legally permitted, while recommending lower-than-100% recovery for certain planning fees (ADU, smaller design reviews and use permits) to support housing element goals and small businesses. Council members asked for clear public communication on subsidies and discussed whether staff should be granted discretion for limited fee reductions or waivers in specific circumstances.
