2019_1007_CCPacket - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

33 and siding permits to flat fee permits verses valuation. For 2020, staff is proposing to move 34 windows and doors to flat fees from the current valuation fee. Flat fee permits generally 35 result in a permit fee reductionas these permits are more routine in nature. Additionally, with 36 Accela and online permit submittal, processing, and payment, more efficiencies are obtained, 37 reducing overhead costs. Annual examination of fees has also has reaffirmed the valuation 38 calculator has not required adjustment since its 2011 revision. 39 Keeping these general context points in mind, building inspections staff conducted a fee analysis to 40 examine how Roseville’s fees compare to other communities. While comparing our fees to other 41 communities should not be considered a legally defensible method for setting fees, it does help 42 reaffirm whether or not staff is calculating costs in a manner that is in line with the industry standards. 43 Attachment A provides the data obtained by the analysis, which examined the following common 44 permit types: 45 A new residential home valued at $371,500 46 A residential remodel valued at $14,452 47 A new commercial project valued at $12,309,922 48 A commercial remodel valued at $190,310 49 A residential siding project valued at $15,000 50 A residential reroof project valued at $15,000 51 A residential window replacement valued at $10,000 52 The permit types outlined above represent the most frequently processed permit types. The valuations 53 used for the analysis represent an average valuation. This exercise revealed that Roseville’s permit 54 fees range from 1%-7.5% above the median permit fee examined of the 15 cities in the study. The 55 one exception is the permit fee for water heaters, which is 29% above the median (only Minneapolis 56 & St. Paul are more expensive). Staff will examine this permit fee again and bring forward any 57 revisions at a later date, if necessary, to ensure the fee is appropriate to cover staff time. Based on 58 Roseville’s population size and the volume of commercial uses within the community, it is reasonable 59 that our permit fees would fall slightly above the median based on the amount of staff time that is 60 expended to meet the permit demand. 61 62 Housing Affordability Institute Study 63 The Housing Affordability Study titled “Building Permit Fees: Boosting the Bottom Line for 64 Minnesota Cities” suggests cities are profiting on the backs of development and contributing to the 65 housing affordability crisis. This study lacks context and only examined the last five years of activity. 66 Staff provided a letter to our legislators (Attachment B) offering greater context in regards to how fees 67 are collected and why this study does not provide constructive information on how to tackle housing 68 affordability obstacles. This study, however, did prompt City staff to examine all the fees that are 69 collected on a per home basis. This includes building permit fees, development phase fees (such as 70 platting & tree preservation), engineering fees, and deposits and escrows. Attachment C illustrates 71 that Roseville collects fees that account for approximately 3.6% of the cost of a new $375,000 home. 72 Staff would offer the following points regarding this analysis: 73 To ensure this exercise was transparent in regards to the wide spectrum of fees that exist, staff 74 had to assume a plat of at least one acre, which would equate to four single family lots. Page 2 of 4