Memorandum
City of Lawrence
Planning & Development Services
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TO: |
David L. Corliss, City Manager
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FROM: |
Barry Walthall, Building Safety Manager
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THRU: |
Scott McCullough, Planning & Development Services Director
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Date: |
February 18, 2009
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RE: |
Development Services Division – 2008 Year End Report |
The purpose of this memorandum is to report building permit fee revenues and expenditures for the Planning and Development Services Department, Development Services Division (hereinafter “DSD”), in regulating building activity in the 2008 calendar year. This report is required pursuant to Section 5-174 of the City Code. The Policy Statement adopted concurrently with the passage of Ordinance 8008 (hereinafter “the Policy Statement”) provides specific criteria to determine the costs of regulating building activity. A detailed list of revenues and expenditures reasonably related to the regulation of building activity within the City is included as part of this report.
In 2007, the Neighborhood Resources Department merged with the Planning Department. The Planning and Development Services Department now regulates building activity within the City. Although some of the employee positions referenced in the Policy Statement have changed, this report is guided by the definitions in Section 5-174 of the City Code and by the Policy Statement.
Revenues
Building permit fees are collected for all new construction, remodel, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and miscellaneous building permits. Building permit fee revenue for 2008 was $769,479.
Additionally, the Development Services Division (DSD) administers the contractor licensing program, for which licensing fees are collected. Administration of this program includes issuing new and renewal licenses, collecting and monitoring certificates of liability and workers compensation insurance and monitoring contractor’s continuing education. The annual license fee is $200, of which $135 is paid by the City to Johnson County Licensing for continuing education for each contractor. Trades licenses are also issued by DSD for mechanical, electrical and plumbing trades workers at $20 for new licenses and $10 for renewals. Revenue collected from licenses in 2008 was $123,365, less $45,659 for continuing education expenses for a net of $77,706.
Total 2008 net revenues collected from building permit fees and contractor licenses were $847,185.
It should be noted that Section 5-174 of the City Code provided a 5% reduction in the permit fee schedule for 2007 and 2008. This temporary reduction resulted in approximately $38,000 reduced revenues for 2008. The temporary reduction expired December 31, 2008 and the fee schedule returned to the 2006 level for the 2009 calendar year.
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Type of Fee |
Amount |
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Building permit fees |
$769,479 |
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Licensing fees less contractor education expenses |
$77,706 |
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Total Revenue (Permit fees and net license fees) |
$847,185 |
Expenses Reasonably Related to the Regulation of Building Activity
Section 5-174 of the City Code requires the Department, in determining whether a cost is related to regulating building activity, to be guided by the definitions in Section 5-174 and the Policy Statement adopted concurrent with the code provisions. To account for the merge of the Neighborhood Resources Department with the Planning Department, the following table is provided setting forth the requirements of the Policy Statement and the employee positions and calculations used in the 2008 Year End Report.
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2006 Policy Statement Neighborhood Resources Dept. |
2008 Year End Report Planning & Development Services Dept. |
2008 Year End Report |
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100% salaries, benefits, including health insurance, taxes and retirement contributions paid by the City for the following positions: |
100% salaries, benefits, including health insurance, taxes and retirement contributions paid by the City for the following positions: |
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Plumbing Inspector |
Building Inspector II |
$ 78,907.96 |
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Mechanical Inspector |
Building Inspector II |
$ 73,745.60 |
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Structural Inspector |
Plans Reviewer[1] |
$ 16,784.25 |
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Electrical Inspector |
Building Inspector II |
$ 82,318.61 |
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Inspections Supervisor |
Plan Review Manager[2] |
$ 62,585.19 |
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Senior Plans Reviewer[3] |
$ 80,972.13 |
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Codes Enforcement Manager |
Building Codes Administrator |
$ 99,319.34 |
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One Secretary/Receptionist |
One Admin Support III |
$ 25,335.62 |
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50% salaries, benefits, including health insurance, taxes and retirement contributions paid by the City: |
50% salaries, benefits, including health insurance, taxes and retirement contributions paid by the City:
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Neighborhood Resources Director |
Asst. Planning & Development Services Director |
$ 61,662.74 |
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20% Planning & Development Services Director |
$ 25,358.05 |
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One additional secretary/receptionist |
One additional Admin Support III |
$ 25,737.36 |
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65% salaries, benefits, including health insurance, taxes and retirement contributions paid by the City: |
65% salaries, benefits, including health insurance, taxes and retirement contributions paid by the City: |
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Zoning Enforcement Ofcr. (site plan review) |
Zoning Enforcement Ofcr. (site plan review position is vacant; existing DSD staff are performing essential functions of the vacant position) |
$ 19,704.72 |
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Budgeted Costs (utilities, supplies, janitorial, phone, parking expenses, uniforms, travel, continuing education, etc.) |
Same |
$ 55,992[4] |
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Capital Expenditures (in direct support of the regulation of building activity) |
Same |
$ 0 |
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Shared Rent – Neighborhood Resources Dept. / Fire Dept. allocated at 27.5% to reflect amount of space used in regulation of building activity |
Same |
$ 23,230 |
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Fire Department: |
Same |
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10% of salary & benefits of Fire Marshall |
Same |
$ 20,776.12 |
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25% of salary & benefits of 1 Fire Inspection Officer |
Same |
$ 27,203.83 |
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5% of salary & benefits of 1 Fire Prevention Inspector |
Same |
$ 12,604.31 |
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Fire Administration |
Same |
$ 9,000 |
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Overhead Costs reasonably attributed to the regulation of building activity, allocated at a ratio of 9.05 (FTE employees engaged in the regulation of building activity) to the total number of FTE employees engaged by the City |
The ratio is adjusted with 2008 FTE employees #s (per Policy Statement) 2008 ratio = 9.05/759.58 |
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City Commission |
Same |
$ 683 |
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City Manager’s Office |
Same |
$ 6,845 |
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Administrative Services Dept. |
Same |
$ 18,733 |
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Finance Department |
Same |
$ 3,550 |
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Legal Services Department (including Municipal Court) |
Same |
$ 12,624 |
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Information Systems Dept. |
Same |
$ 9,007 |
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Total Expenses |
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$843,679 |
The total expenses incurred in the regulation of building activity are $843,679.
Annual Building Permit Fee Revenue Excess or Short Fall
Section 5-174 of the City Code requires the Year End Report to include a calculation of the total amount by which building permit fee revenue exceeds, or is exceeded by, the total expenditures reasonably related to the regulation of building activity. The 2008 annual revenue of $847,185 exceeds expenditures of $843,679 by $3,506 or by approximately 0.4%.
2008 Total Revenue: $847,185
2008 Total Expenditures: $843,679
Section 5-174 also requires that each successive year end report include a calculation of the cumulative past overage amount. The cumulative past overage amount is the cumulative total of the building permit fee revenue excess or shortfall for the previous calendar year (as reflected in the year end report for that calendar year) and the building permit fee revenue excess or shortfall from all previously prepared year end reports. The cumulative past overage amount can never be less than zero, and amounts from years previous to 2006 are not to be considered.
The cumulative past overage amount for 2008 is:
2007 Cumulative Past Overage $ 23,984
Plus 2008 Revenue Excess $ 3,506
2008 Cumulative Past Overage Amount $ 27,490
The percent cumulative past overage amount for 2008 as described in Section 5-174 is approximately 3.3%.
Unrealized Revenue
Waived fees for affordable housing activities and public projects do not satisfy the definition of a building permit fee in Section 5-174 and are not included in the report as revenues received. There were nine permits issued for affordable housing projects for which the City waived fees to provide for a “Matching Contribution” for grant funds received under the Home Investment Partnerships Program (HOME). The total amount of fees waived for these projects was $8,177.17.
Additionally, there were nine public projects in the amount of $38,747.61 not collected in 2008. The City does not assess building permit fees for these public projects.
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Unrealized Revenue |
Number of Permits |
Amount |
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Matching Contributions for HOME grant funds |
9 |
$ 8,177.17 |
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Public Projects |
9 |
$ 38,747.61 |
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Total |
18 |
$ 46,924.78
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DSD has received public comment suggesting this unrealized revenue should be included in the calculation of the Cumulative Past Overage. Including unrealized revenue for matching contributions and public projects results in revenues of $890,753; this exceeds expenses of $843,679 by $50,430, or 6%, for 2008. With unrealized revenue included the Cumulative Past Overage Amount for 2008 would be $74,414, or 8.8%.
Conclusion
Pursuant to Section 5-174 of the City Code, if the overage exceeds 20%, the department shall recommend to the City Commission a reduced building permit fee schedule. Cumulative overages for 2008 and previous years did not exceed 20%. Based on the approximate 3.3% cumulative overage, no action is recommended related to the increase or decrease in the building permits fee schedule.
The following is a list of 2008 actual expenditures for DSD’s budgeted costs (See Section I.1.d. of the Policy Statement).
Detailed 2007 Expenditures
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d |
Utilities |
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1,940 |
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Office Supplies |
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2,275 |
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Books |
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1,428 |
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Other Supplies |
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5,329 |
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Training |
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2,520 |
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Vehicle Allowance |
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680 |
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Equipment & Vehicle Repairs |
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4,092 |
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Gasoline |
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6,969 |
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Janitorial |
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2,383 |
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Telephone |
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2,696 |
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Printing |
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253 |
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Uniforms |
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338 |
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Computers and equipment |
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25,089 |
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Total |
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55,992 |
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e |
Vehicle Replacement |
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0 |
[1] Plans Reviewer position replaced one Building Inspector II position, beginning August 2008
[2] Plan Review Manager position vacated in June 2008
[3] Senior Plans Reviewer position created to replace Plan Review Manager position in July 2008
[4] See the Table at the End of the Year End Report for a break down of these Budgeted Costs.