Construction Down, Inspection and Permit Fees Up
Saul told commissioners the fee schedule for express review permits hadn’t been changed since 1998. The plan review fees were last revised in 2003, he said, when an 8 percent increase in permitting fees was also adopted. That increase was subsequently scaled back a corresponding 8 percent in 2006, he said. Code enforcement anticipates being able to roll back the latest 4.7 percent increase in a similar manner, he said, when the pace of building improves.
The current fee schedule worked well when construction was booming and permitting and inspection fees from larger projects were essentially able to subsidize smaller projects, compensating for the lower revenues they generated, Saul said. That changed when Mecklenburg’s construction boom went bust and large projects that produced significant fee revenues stalled.
“They’re sending inspectors for smaller jobs that take the same amount of time, but don’t generate the same revenue,” said Jon Morris with Beacon Partners and chair of the county’s Building Development Commission, which unanimously endorsed the increased fees.
Without additional revenue from the fee increases, the reduced inspection and permitting services would stretch the time it takes to get building permits from three to five weeks for smaller projects and eight to 10 weeks for larger ones, Morris said.
“What would stifle economic growth even more is if we can’t get permits in a timely manner,” he said. “We don’t like increasing fees on ourselves, but in this case we support it.”
In most cases, however, developers and builders won’t be the ones ultimately shouldering the extra expense incurred through increased fees, which are usually passed on to the consumer.
“We can not raise fees, reduce our budget, eliminate 15 to 20 additional staff, but we will not be able to provide the level of service that the industry wants from us, as far as timeliness of inspections, timeliness on plan review,” Saul told commissioners. “I believe that is the only reason we got support from the Building Development Commission for these increased fees. The one thing they don’t want in a down economy is delays in getting their permits and delays in getting their inspection. We suggested it and they agreed with it.”
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