Jefferson County raises community development fees

Published 12:01 am Tuesday, December 12, 2006

PORT TOWNSEND –Jefferson County commissioners unanimously voted Monday to increase permit fees for the Department of Community Development that are expected to generate approximately $47,000 in additional revenue.

Some of the new fee increases will be steep.

For example, a county inspection of a new propane tank, which now costs $51, will rise to $153 in 2007.

The increased fee equals three hours of staff time, which includes the permit application filing and a site inspection or possibly multiple site inspections, said Al Scalf, community development director.

A permit renewal fee was increased from $100 to $153 by the commissioners’ action.

For example, a single-family residence or garage building permit is valid for one year from the date of the issuance.

But a permit can be renewed for an additional year by paying the renewal fee.

Planned $3,000 fee dropped

The commissioners voted Dec. 4 to eliminate a proposed fee of $3,000 for land-use permits that go before the Jefferson County hearing examiner, which include conditional-use permits, long plats, variances, shoreline permits, cellular towers and binding site plans.

County Administrator John Fischbach said because the commissioners didn’t adopt that fee, a $50,000 deficit exists in the 2007 budget recently approved by the commissioners.

Fischbach said there will probably be a future fee proposed that will cost between $300 and $500.

But he said something will have to be worked out so the county is not paying the majority of the hearing examiner fees.

He also said that if a resident files an appeal to the hearing examiner and it turns out that the resident — not the county — is found to be correct, the county should pay the filing fee.