Fee increases for all development and permitting-related activities.
Effective October 1, 2015, the Development Services Department and Planning and Zoning Department will implement fee increases for all development and permitting-related activities in accordance with recent cost of service studies. The revised fees were adopted by the Austin City Council as part of the 2015-16 Annual Budget and align with the full cost of providing planning, development review, permitting, and inspection services.
“For the past several years, the city has experienced substantial growth, and the underpriced fee structure has not provided the level of resources for processing the growth in permit and development applications. The revised fee structure will provide the resources to implement technology enhancements, decrease wait times, invest in training for employees, and improve the overall quality of customer service expected of us by our growing and diverse community” said Rodney Gonzales, Acting Director of the Development Services Department.
The new fee structure for the Development Services Department will apply to all building permits, trade permits (plumbing, electrical, mechanical, and irrigation), commercial and residential, site plan, and subdivision applications. The Planning and Zoning Department’s related fees will apply to zoning, historic preservation, and special districts such as Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs) and Public Improvement (PID) districts.
Two separate studies conducted by Public Financial Management (PFM) in 2012, and Matrix Consulting in 2015, examined the fee structures to determine whether they were in alignment with the cost of providing services. PFM concluded that the City of Austin’s combined fees placed in the lowest amount in nearly every construction category of comparable cities that was analyzed. As a result, incremental fee adjustments were adopted in July, 2012 for certain development and permitting applications.
In the 2015 study, Matrix Consulting concluded that the departments were recovering 56% of its cost, which was below the range of cost recovery seen for development services in other cities. The study recommended that all remaining fees be adjusted to full cost.
An organizational analysis of the departments conducted by Zucker Systems in 2015 concluded that Austin’s development fees were substantially below comparable communities, and noted that applicants and developers who participated in focus groups were willing to pay higher fees if they could receive better service.
During the past two years, the Development Services Department has made technological enhancements to improve service levels by launching online payment services for mechanical and plumbing change-out permits, and a customer self-assignment feature that allows contractors to issue themselves an online trade permit. The online payment service will be expanded in 2016 to include added payment services and the acceptance of the remaining trade permit applications. Additionally, the department is poised to launch the first phase of electronic plan review (EPR), a feature highly anticipated by the development community that will allow plans to be submitted and reviewed electronically. Full implementation of EPR is scheduled to be completed in late 2016.
The Development Services Department is responsible for providing development plan review, building permit issuance, and site and building inspection services to Build a Better Austin. The Planning and Zoning Department provides planning, preservation and design services to make Austin the most livable city in the country
To view a comprehensive list of new and updated fees, click here. For further information, call 512-978-4000.