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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes May 24, 2011 Page 2 2 None. 3 4 VI. GENERAL BUSINESS OF COUNCIL. 5 6 A. Ordinance 2011 -03; Amending the Building Permit Fees as stated in the Minnesota State 7 Statute 326B.153. Roger Larson Finance Director, presenting_ 8 9 Finance Director Larson presented the proposed amendments to Chapter 33.061 of the City's 10 Ordinance related to building permit fees as defined in Minnesota State Statute 326B.151 He 11 provided a brief history of building permit fees, noting that the City's fee schedule has not been 12 revised since 2003. He stated that staff conducted a survey of nine metro communities and 13 found that there is no uniform building fees schedule being used in these communities and the 14 trend among the communities is to adopt the fee schedule developed by the Minnesota 15 Department of Labor and Industry and contained in State Statute 326B.153. He reviewed the 16 implementation schedule which proposes an effective date of January 1, 2012. 17 18 Councihnember Gray noted that Arden Hills adopted the fee schedule contained in the State 19 Statute and asked if there was any opposition to the new fee schedule. 20 21 Mr. Larson replied that there was no opposition in Arden Hills to the new fee schedule. He 22 added that builders have often commented that there is no uniformity in the fee schedules across 23 the metro and the trend toward adopting the fee schedule contained in the State Statute will serve 24 to provide a fair and equitable system among the cities. 25 26 Councihnember Roth requested information about the overall percentage increase the new fee 27 schedule represents. He also requested information about the amount of revenue the building 28 permit fees generate for the City. 29 30 Mr. Larson replied that the new fee schedule represents an approximate 12% increase from the 31 2003 rates. He reiterated that the City's building permit fees have not been increased since 2003, 32 while the City's administrative costs have gone up. He advised that in 2010, building permit fees 33 generated approximately $109,000; however, the City receives 40% of the building permit fees 34 and the remaining 60% goes to the building officials. He added that the City estimates the 35 revenue from building permit fees will increase to $123,000 in an. average year, and the City 36 would receive an additional $6,000- $7,000 in an average year. 37 38 Councilmember Stille asked if building permits fees will be increased if the Minnesota 39 Department of Labor and Industry amends the fee schedule contained in the Statute. 40 41 Mr. Larson explained that there is no provision in the Statute for automatic revision; however, 42 staff plans to monitor the Statute and any change in the building permit fees would come back to 43 the City Council for review. 44