DATE: November 10, 2015
TO: Board of Mayor and Aldermen
FROM: Eric Stuckey, City Administrator
Chris Bridgewater, Director BNS
Lynn Osland, Development Services Operations Analyst
SUBJECT: Consideration of Ordinance 2015-19 “An Ordinance to Amend the City Of Franklin Municipal Code, Appendix A - Comprehensive Fees and Penalties, Chapter 12 Relating to Residential Construction Permit Fees” (11/10/15 BOMA 6-0) SECOND AND FINAL READING
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Purpose
The purpose of this memorandum is to provide information to the Franklin Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BOMA) concerning the proposed ordinance that is intended to update the permit fees for Single Family Detached construction to adjust for increases in costs and activity since the last fee update in 2006.
Background
The proposed ordinance would update the permit fees for new construction and additions to detached single family dwellings. These fees, which currently amount to a fee of $0.48 per square, have not been adjusted since 2006. In reviewing the costs incurred by Building and Neighborhood Services to issue permits and perform inspections on residential projects, it was found that an update based on the average of costs per square foot over the last five years (attached) would result in not having to subsidize this program from the General Fund over a time period. The new fee that is recommended has been calculated based on providing services for detached single family dwellings only, and is not inclusive of other departmental processes that do not involve development activity.
Residential Development Costs FY2011-15 $4,890,257
Residential Square Footage 8,258,369
Costs/SF = $0.59 per Square Foot
Attached is a fee comparison of other middle Tennessee communities along with some other similar communities in the Southeast.
The fee adjustments in this ordinance strive to collect just what is needed to offset expenditures for development services within the limits of anticipating future activity and operational costs. Future updates would be tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and would change automatically at the start of the fiscal year in July.
Two clarifications to the fee tables are also proposed: when the comprehensive fee table (formerly Title 22, now Appendix A) was established the wrong table was used for the Adequate Facilities tax and inadvertently adopted. No change was intended and the original table is included in this ordinance. Also, the fee table is updated to clarify that each contractor will only be required to post a maximum of $20,000 for a contractor security deposit.
Financial Impact
The financial impact to this ordinance will be to have the inspection costs for residential construction borne by the permitting fees collected and reduce the chance of having to use funds from other revenue streams.
Recommendation
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Approval of the proposed ordinance is recommended.