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Adopt the Corrected FY 2020-21 Fee Schedule.
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Staff: |
Department: |
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Amy Oland, Director |
Business Management Department |
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Matt Brinkley, Assistant Director |
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Chelsea Laws, Director |
Building & Development Services |
Overview: As staff updated the Town website with the adopted FY 2020-21 fee schedule, it came to our attention that there were some differences between what was adopted and what was posted on the Town website in the Building & Development Services fees and fee schedule language.
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Recommendation: |
That the Council adopt the corrected FY 2020-21 fee schedule with the revised Building & Development Services section and ratify the Building & Development Services fees that have been collected since July 1, 2020.
Key Issues:
During the budget process, departments can request new fees, fee changes, and fee schedule language adjustments. The Town Manager reviews these requests, and then brings them before Council during budget discussions. Due to COVID-19, there were no fee schedule additions recommended for FY 2021.
Departments provide Business Management (BMD) with their finalized fee schedule to include with the budget adoption materials. Between the request for fee schedule changes and the final submission of departmental fee schedules, some information was mistakenly not included accurately in the Building & Development Services section. Staff did not find this error during budget review. The Building and Development Services fee schedule, therefore, had omissions when Council adopted the FY 2020-21 fee schedule.
The missing information mainly consisted of previously approved fees and language adjustments. The errors are omissions that need to be added back to have the correct fee structure for FY 2020-21; they are not new or expanded fees.
Below is a summary of the amendments and of the background for each fee.
1) Administrative Review Fee Table - In FY2018, the adopted fee schedule included a table that was relocated from the bottom of the Building & Development Services fee schedule to the top of the Building & Development Services fee schedule to make it easier for customers to find when calculating fees. This table was accidentally omitted last year and overlooked during review.
2) Commercial Plan Review - The missing description clarifies that this fee is only applicable to commercial projects. This note was initially added for the FY 2020 budget.
3) Building Fees - The description in the first section for a construction cost up to $5,000 should say “Up to $5,000” not “$100 - $5,000”. This was only a small change in the language from several years ago.
4) Building Fees - In the table, the note about how to calculate the fee for the projects from “$50,001 to $500,000” should include the words “Base fee of $500 plus $4.50/$1,000 over $50,001” not just “$50,001”. This note is critical to permit fee calculations. This base fee note for calculation has been in the fee schedule for many years.
5) Electrical Fees - In FY 2018, the fee for Read In/Read Out was increased for commercial projects to $110. This change was approved by Council and has been the amount charged since that date. The FY 2021 adopted fee schedule lists this fee as $100. This was an oversight, as this discrepancy was not caught during the department review process.
6) Mechanical Fees - In FY 2019, the columns for residential and commercial fees were split out for clarity. A separate line was added for commercial related fees at the bottom of the section. In the FY 2021 adopted fee schedule, a fee of $135 was mistakenly added in the residential column and was not caught during the department review process.
7) Additional Services - The fee for Antenna/Tower/Utility/Cellular/Solar was mistakenly omitted from the residential column of fees. This fee should have remained at $350 as this is in line with the solar program that we set up for predictability of fees and ease of fee assessment. The flat fee is applicable for all projects of this type across the board.
8) Additional Services - Homeowner’s Recovery Fund - This fee was mistakenly omitted from the commercial side of the schedule when the columns were separated. This is a state mandated fee that must be charged on all residential and commercial dwelling units when a general contractor pulls a permit.
9) Additional Services - ORIAS - This fee was moved over to the residential side of the schedule as was the intent but the additional note of “per hour” was mistakenly omitted. This clarity is needed to make this fee consistent.
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Attachments: |
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• Resolution to Correct the FY 2020-21 Adopted Fee Schedule |
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• Corrected FY 2020-21 Fee Schedule |
A RESOLUTION TO CORRECT THE FY 2020-21 ADOPTED FEE SCHEDULE (2020-09-09/R-3)
WHEREAS, Council adopted the FY 2020-21 fee schedule as part of the budget packet on June 24, 2020; and
WHEREAS, there were unintentional omissions of previously adopted fees and fee schedule language in the Building & Development Services section of the fee schedule; and
WHEREAS, it was determined that the best course of action would be to come before Council to request re-adoption of the FY 2020-21 fee schedule with the corrections to the Building & Development Services section and to ratify the Building & Development Services fees collected since July 1, 2020.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the Town of Chapel Hill that the Council adopt the corrected FY 2020-21 fee schedule and ratify the Building & Development Services fees collected since July 1, 2020.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the corrected FY 2020-21 fee schedule is adopted retroactive to July 1, 2020.
This the 9th day of September, 2020.
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The Agenda will reflect the text below and/or the motion text will be used during the meeting. |
presenter
By adopting the resolution, the Council adopts the corrected FY 2020-21 fee schedule retroactive to July 1, 2020 and ratifies the Building & Development Services fees collected since July 1, 2020.