Commissioners approve changes to building permit fees

Fees paid by residents and contractors for building permits and other renovation- and development-related services are changing for the first time in nearly 10 years following an unanimous vote by the town commission. 

“It’s something that we pay close attention to in terms of making sure that the fees that we’re charging for our services, for reviewing plans, going through the permitting process and then ultimately inspecting work that’s done, is fair, and that it generally covers the costs to provide those services,” said Planning, Zoning and Building Director Allen Parsons, who added the changes are the first since 2011.

Longboat Key retained BerryDunn in 2019 to assist in analyzing the town’s cost of providing building and permit fee-related services. The permitting and inspection work is performed by the building division, which operates as an enterprise fund, essentially intended to be self-sufficient. A building permit is required for new construction, renovations, the installation of heating and cooling systems, plumbing and electrical work.

The changes include several fee reductions and one increase, and a handful of new fees.

The increase will be for inspections of five or more windows or doors, from $60 to $100. Parsons said the increase is intended to address large condominiums that may replace dozens of windows at a time, resulting in more time for an on-site inspector. 

“There can be hundreds of window replacements so each one of those window replacements has an inspection with it,” Parsons said.

The fee reductions include:

• Minimum threshold permits: The size threshold goes from 400 square feet to 170 square feet. The fee is reduced from $1,000 to $500.
• Construction of docks that include a davit, boat lift or hoist: This changes the ordinance rather than treat each of those items as a separate fee requirement to consideration as a complete system.
• Seawall permit: The threshold cost is the amount at which additional fees are charged based on an amount of $12 per each $1,000 of construction value. The price reduction comes by increasing the threshold cost from $30,000 to $50,000. Parsons said that since many of the seawall replacement projects were exceeding the $35,000 value, the town increased the threshold amount so that additonal charges do not begin until a seawall has more than $50,000 in construction value. 
•  Work that cannot be evaluated on a square-footage basis:  The addition of a new category allows for charges based on the estimated number of inspections rather than only on construction value. This allows the town to charge the lower of the two costs.
• Reduction in the cost per square foot (from 10 cents per square foot to 5 cents per square foot) to the permit cost for heating, air conditioning, refrigeration, ventilation and electrical fees on new residential or commercial construction projects.
• Plumbing permit fees for new construction.

 Mayor Ken Schneier asked Parsons whether the town had received complaints about permitting fees being too expensive or whether the work wasn’t being done because of the high fees.

“It’s more of the latter,” Parsons said. “From the staff perspective, we’re finding that on some of those it is taking us, in terms of the review and inspections, a little less time than what the charge is.”

Schneier also asked whether Parsons had calculated how the changes could impact the budget. Nearly a year ago, when the issue of permit fees first arose, the town estimated reviews and inspection fees accounted for about 74% of the actual cost of performing the service, something the town calculated was unsustainable in the long-term. Balanced against that is a state regulation banning local governments from charging more than what it costs to perform the review or inspection. 

“No, but we operate from the perspective that we really can’t be charging more than what our costs are,” Parsons said. “We try to monitor what our costs are closely.”

Planning, Zoning and Building staff also sent notice to about 2,200 contractors that have done business with the town. Parsons said the contractors did not send the town any feedback on the proposed changes.

The changes commissioners approved took effect on Oct. 5.

New fees include:

• Reviewing and inspecting changes in sign faces.
• New fee for staff time associated with building permits for lightning protection systems, standalone generators and the installation of new low voltage wiring systems.
• Code enforcement administrative overhead costs associated with the retrieval of signs or personal property that have been impounded for violations.
• Staff time associated with researching and preparing a zoning verification letter.
• Establishing a $30 fee for private in-home garage sales and keeping a separate $100 fee for community-wide garage sales.