CC Min 1996-08-26 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

I) Staff report: John La Torra, Chief Building Official, presented the staff report, reviewed the board's recommendations and advised it had been eight years since the City had last raised its permit fees. He said that figure represented a 40% increase, but the consumer price index over the same period had gone up 44%. He described the significant increases in customer services that had been instituted since 1988, and advised he was planning to continue improving services. He said the recommendations before the Council were based on the 1994 Uniform Building codes, and surveys of 27 major jurisdictions in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties showed that the proposed fees would not provide an economic disadvantage to Redwood City customers. Building Official La Torra used overheads to focus on revenue an? cost analyses. He described how they arrived at projected figures for the next five years, relying on businesses in and around the City to tell them what their development plans were over that time period. Based on that information projections were made based on the current business climate. Building Official La Torra said the projection would be for $7 million in revenue under the old fee structure, and $8 million under the proposed fee structure. Expenses are projected to be approximately $8 million but that does not include the Code Enforcement Subprogram ($420,00 per year) and other expenses. The new fee structure might bring in an additional $1.25 million over the next five years depending on the economy, but that would still not cover the actual costs. He said the balance was made up by the General Fund which was subsidizing the building regulation subprograms. Building Official La Torra described the way this public hearing was advertised and the packets of information which asked for comments were sent to the Chamber of Commerce, Trade Associations, Peninsula Builder's Exchange, and all the major unions. No one responded. At this time, everyone who intended to give testimony before the Council on any matter during this entire meeting arose, raised their right hands and were sworn in by City Clerk Jorgenson including Chief Building Official La Torra who swore his testimony had been the truth and nothing but the truth. Keith Bautista, Chairman of the Board of Building Review, advised that the members of the Board were all business people and believed it was necessary from a business standpoint to have income cover expenses. Chairman Bautista said when businesses are faced with increases in costs such as inflation or employee benefits, etc., the costs are passed onto clients, and the Board believed this was appropriate as long as all fees were justified and remained competitive. Chairman Bautista said it wasn't prudent to continue to sustain "losses" over the years, and the proposed fee structure and the realistic overhead would come closer to income matching expenses. The fee increase would reduce the burden on all the rest of the taxpayers who do not use the services of the Building Department. In other words, the board's justification is that if you use the service, you pay a fair cost for that service. REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTE BOOK NO. 54 AUGUST 26,1996 MINUTES Page No. 447 PAGE 10