Construction Down, Inspection and Permit Fees Up
The first of what could be a slew of fee increases to come down the county’s pike received tacit approval from Mecklenburg commissioners last week, when they green lighted a proposal from the county’s code enforcement department to hike building inspection and permit fees 4.7 percent across the board, along with targeted increases of up to $550 for other specialized permitting fees.
A Democrat majority of the county commission gave the fee hikes the nod at last week’s board meeting, when all three Republican members were absent. The fee increases will receive another reading today before the full board, when it’s also slated to hear a series of fee increases proposed by the park and recreation department.
A dramatic drop in workload for county building inspectors is triggering the code enforcement fee increases, according to Cary Saul, director of Mecklenburg Land Use and Environmental Services. Construction inspections are down 50 percent over two years, with permitting down 33 percent, Saul told commissioners last week. That’s sent the department’s revenue plummeting from $25 million to less than $12 million.
In response, Saul said, code enforcement has trimmed services, laid-off 65 employees last year, and is scheduled to layoff another 45 next month. The fee hikes, Saul said, are needed in order to maintain an adequate level of service for the permitting and inspection requests the department receives, even in a down economy with construction in Mecklenburg slowed to a snail’s pace.
The 4.7 percent hike to building permit fees will impact different size projects in different ways. For example, the fee on a project with a total construction cost between $150,001 and $250,000 would increase to $1,266, plus $4.83 for every $1,000 in value up to $250,000. The fee on projects costing between $250,001 and $1 million would increase to $1,749, plus $5.31 for every $1,000 in value up to $1 million. The complete revised fee schedule is available here.
In addition to the 4.7-percent hike, targeted fees are also increasing in several areas. A so-called express review permit jumps $550 for new construction (from $950 to $1,500) and $400 for renovation projects (from $800 to $1,200), while the charge for plan reviews increases by $25 per hour to $145 per hour.
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