San Mateo County Supervisors Consider Raising Planning Fees

Tuesday at the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors meeting at 9 a.m. in Redwood City, the board will vote on amending the Planning and Building Department’s service fee schedules.

The Department proposes a general fee increase of five percent for all service fees indicated on the Current Planning and Building Inspection fee schedules. The staff has calculated this fee increase to assist the Department in maintaining current service levels and to provide the Department with additional revenue for additional services to address workload demands in the fiscal year (FY) budget of 2013 to 2015.

According to a report by Jim Eggemeyer, Community Development Director for the County of San Mateo, since late 2008, when the economic conditions began to decline, the Department has spent down its reserves by 95 percent, eliminated vacant positions, and reorganized the Department to improve efficiencies. For the past four fiscal years, staffing levels have been reduced from 55 authorized positions in FY 2009-10 to 48 authorized positions in FY 2012-13.

In addition, the Department is proposing a yearly cost of living adjustment (COLA) for three additional fiscal years starting July 2014. The annual adjustment will be the annual percent increase published in April by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics for the CPI Bay Area.

According to the staff report, the proposed five percent general fee increase will generate an estimated $164,000 in the remaining FY 2013 ($218,000/year), in addition to an estimated $13,500 in the remaining fiscal year ($18,000/year) for new fees being introduced for various services not previously charged for or reevaluated to cost the services more accurately. The projected revenue will allow the Department to maintain its current level of service and provide the Department with additional revenue for additional services to 16 address workload demands in FYs 2013-15.

At the Board’s initial public hearing on March 13, 2012, two Board members, former President Adrienne Tissier and current President Don Horsley, volunteered to participate on a subcommittee to work with staff on the proposed fee amendments. The subcommittee met on March 23, 2012, May 23, 2013 and again on July 25, 2013, along with staff and Peggy Jensen, Deputy County Manager, to address the Department’s proposed fee amendments and services. Changes proposed by the subcommittee are included in the revised schedules. 

In the report it states that the "approval of the Planning and Building Department’s service fee amendments contributes to the 2025 Shared Vision outcome of a Livable Community because the service fees fund the services necessary to ensure that growth occurs near transit, promotes affordable, livable connected communities and the adjustments are consistent with State law that requires fees not to exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing the services."

Still, some residents are not happy about the proposed fee increase.

Maria Rutenburg, a resident of the Peninsula, posted on the Half Moon Bay Review’s TalkAbout: “The county Building and Planning Dept. has submitted a proposal to drastically increase their fees again. They tried it last spring, we stopped them. This time, they are trying to pull it over on us in complete silence with no advance disclosure or even a public announcement of any kind. The fees we are charged for simple remodels are already astronomical, the hurdles we have to overcome to get the permits and the piles of unnecessary reports that we need to pay for is Soviet-style bureaucracy at its best.

"Please email our supervisors and tell them that they need to find a more homeowner-friendly ways to deal with holes in their budget instead of increasing the burdensome fees.

My neighbor in North Fair Oaks is not replacing the countertop and a dishwasher because the total permit fee for that is over $600.

This hinders health and safety instead of increasing it."

Rutenberg urges people to e-mail the County Supervisors to let them know how you feel.

According to Eggemeyer's report to the Board of Supervisors about amending the Planning and Building Department’s service fee schedules, the Planning and Building Department posted a public notice in the Development Review Center lobby, reception area, counter areas, and posting on the Department’s website, along with a summary document identifying the proposed general increase, new, and amended planning and building fees. Public notification was also published in the San Mateo Times 14 days in advance of the public hearing as required by State law and mailed to interested parties.

The effective date for the proposed fee schedule increases or modifications would be Monday, Oct. 7, 2013.

Do you think the County needs to find more homeowner-friendly ways to deal with holes in their budget instead of increasing fees? Tell us in the comments.