County building fees to rise 30 percent
DAVID WICKERT; The News Tribune
thenewstribune.com
Posted online at 6:55 p.m. Friday Pierce County’s residential building fees will increase 30 percent beginning Tuesday, as county planners struggle to plug a budget hole caused by a slowdown in home building.
Commercial permits will rise 10 percent.
For a new 2,250-square-foot home, the building fee will increase by $434, for a total of $2,098.
The fee for a medium-size remodeling project on the same size house would cost $785, a $187 increase.
Chuck Kleeberg, director of the county Planning and Land Services department, said the county’s fee collections are falling short of projections since fewer homes are being built. When fees collected through April are projected through the remainder of the year, the department expects to be about $3 million short on budgeted revenue.
Some of that money might be made up from the county’s general fund. And the department has imposed a hiring freeze to offset some costs.
But Kleeberg said the fee increases are needed to maintain department operations and avoid layoffs. The department continues to struggle with permit backlogs, and despite the hiring freeze, it’s hiring engineers to address the problem.
Even with the fee increase, Kleeberg said Pierce County’s building fees will remain the lowest in the region. Current residential fees, for example, are 40 percent below those in Snohomish County, which has the next-lowest fees.
But local builders aren’t happy.
Short notice of the 30 percent increase will hurt builders already suffering from a down market, said Tom O’Connor, president of the Master Builders Association of Pierce County.
The association wants the county’s general fund to plug the budget hole.
But Kleeberg said County Executive John Ladenburg decided that would be a difficult sell when the county’s building fees are so low.
The good news: If housing starts to pick up later this year, as some expect, the county might lower the fees, Kleeberg said.
Fee increases
Pierce County building fees will go up Tuesday. Fees are based on square footage. Here is sample of fees for new single-family homes:
SizeCurrent feeNew feeIncrease
1,250 sf$836$1,105$269
1,750 sf$1,214$1,676$462
2,250 sf$1,663$2,097$434
2,750 sf$1,982$2,500$518
3,250 sf$2,299$2,904$605
3,750 sf$2,606$3,307$701
4,250 sf$2,923$3,720$797
Note: Plumbing, mechanical and optional fire alarm and drywell fees are not included.
David Wickert: 253-274-7341
david.wickert@thenewstribune.com
