Title
A Resolution Of The City Commission Of The City Of Hollywood, Florida, Amending Resolution Nos. R-2002-21 And R-2010-305, To Revise The Existing Building Permit Fees And Associated Building Division User Fees, And Adopting The Revised Building Permit Fee Schedule.
Body
Staff Recommends: Approval of the attached Resolution.
Explanation:
Based on recommendations in the JRD & Associates, Building Division Report (The Report) and as compared to other neighboring cities, the City of Hollywood’s Building Division is proposing to update the fee structure. The JRD report identified several areas not currently addressed in the existing fee structure, such as technology, education and training and also recommended to ensure appropriate recovery of expenses. As such, the proposed changes are to reflect some increases in current pricing and also include fees not previously captured. Below is a brief summary and attached is a comparison chart:
Technology/Education/Training Fee:
Currently a fee for education/training and a fee for technology updating are not being charged. Other cities capture these fees as a percentage of the permit fee. Proposed is to capture a percentage of the building permit fee: 1% Technology fee and a 2% Educational/Training fee.
Processing Fee:
Currently the processing fee of up to $500.00 per permit application, regardless of the size of work, is charged. This fee is in addition to the permit fee and the proposed new processing fee for new buildings, alterations and additions would be only a percentage of the permit fee paid up front.
Proposed is a nonrefundable 25% of the estimated permit fee being paid as a processing fee and would be deducted from the overall permit fee when the permit is issued. This will offset initial plan review requirements of larger projects that take a while before permits are issued, as well as offsetting the cost of projects that have applied for plan review but do not have a permit issued. Processing fees for all the other work would remain the same and would be an additional $10.00 per permit applied for.
Expired Permit Fee:
The current fees collected to reissue an expired permit are the original building permit fee but not to exceed $100.00. This fee structure does not take into account the value of the work and would seem to penalize the smaller work by charging the original permit fee amount while the larger work would only be a fraction of the original permit fee.
Proposed is to be able to reissue a permit that has expired and the fee paid be equivalent to 50% of the original building permit fee. Most cities surveyed require 100% of the original permit fee to be paid to reissue a permit.
Additionally, with expired permits there currently is not a way to extend the permit before it expires. Proposed is to charge 10% of the original building permit fee or $20.00, whichever is greater; but not to exceed $300.00, which can be paid to extend the permit one time for 180 days.
Plan Review Revisions Fee:
The charge for plan review revisions submitted after the permit has been issued is only a flat rate fee of $25.00 per discipline. Revisions for large scale projects, such as Hollywood Circle and Hyde, consume a significant amount of staff’s time to review. This new hourly rate of $25.00 per hour for residential permits and $75.00 per hour for non-residential permits will assist with adequately covering the cost.
Building Permit Fee:
The basic building permit fee is currently a cumulative tiered percentage system based on the value of the work. This allows for the equitable and fair distribution of the fees as based on the size of the work to cover the enforcement of the Florida Building Code.
- The fee for the first 1,000 of work is a minimum fee of $45.00 and is proposed to be changed to $50.00.
-The fee for the next 1,000 to 1,000,000 is 2% of that value and is proposed to be changed to 2.2%. The bulk of the permits applied for are this range. This is in line with other building departments that have a permit fee based on the value of the work, Miramar is 2.1% and Pompano is 3.2%.
-The fee for the next 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 is 1.5% and is proposed to change to 1.65%.
-The fee for the rest of the value of work in excess of 2,000,000 is 0.7% and is proposed to be 0.77%.
The only other new fees that have been introduced are the early start fee and the expedited review fee. Although seldom used, the early start fee is paid to start work on a project prior to issuing the building permit assuming the permit is able to and about to be issued. The expedited review fee has been clarified because the previous fee used was calculated based on salary of the individual plan reviewer doing the review.
Recommended for inclusion on the agenda by:
Dr. Wazir Ishmael, City Manager
Gus Zambrano, Assistant City Manager/Sustainable Development
Thomas Barnett, Director, Department of Development Services
Philip Sauer, Chief Building Official, Building Division