Kalispell council considers building-permit fee increase

Kalispell building-permit fees could increase 55 percent by July, depending on what the City Council decides Monday.

The council will consider a proposal from city staff that would raise fees to pay for three new positions in the building department.

"We need to fund some additional people because the number of building inspections have gone up and so have the demands on the building department," City Manager Jim Patrick said.

The building department will bring in about $252,000 from building permits from the current budget cycle.

The increase would generate about $390,600 for fiscal year 2005-06, which starts in July. Patrick said the numbers are estimates the city's finance director will refine before the council meets.

"This increase in fees would equate to adding $300 in fees to a $100,000 home," Patrick said.

In addition to paying for more staff, the extra money would provide equipment such as vehicles and computers for the new employees. The new positions include an additional building inspector (the city has three now), a construction manager and a code-enforcement officer.

The construction manager would inspect the infrastructure of new projects.

"Right now we depend on the developer to do that," Patrick said.

Developers hire engineers to inspect and certify a project's infrastructure installation.

"By and large that works pretty well," City Attorney Charlie Harball said.

But occasionally an engineer signs off on something that becomes problematic, which means the city has to fix it. For example, sidewalks might look OK when they're new, but one that isn't properly installed could crack a few years later and the city gets stuck with the bill, he said.

The construction manager would work alongside a developer-hired engineer as he or she certifies the job.

And with the rapid pace of growth in recent years, builders and their engineers might feel pressured to hurry, Patrick said.

"Sometimes shortcuts are made or they're not paying attention to detail," he said.

Hiring a construction manager for the city would ensure those kinds of errors are fixed before they become a problem, he added.

The code-enforcement officer would look for properties that violate city ordinances.

"That would put eyeballs on the ground," Harball said, "whereas now it's complaint-driven."

The new officer would watch for junk in yards or other infractions. The city's animal warden now is responsible for code enforcement, but one person can't handle the workload that goes with both animal and code issues, Patrick said.

Most cities base their building-permit fees on the Uniform Building Code, the industry standard for how much to charge for building fees. The states and local governments adopt their own versions of fees based on 1988 and 1997 versions of the code.

Cities often are behind in using the later code because if the 1988 code is enough to generate revenue, cities don't raise fees.

The 1988 code establishes permit fees based on the average price of construction being $61.50 per square foot. The 1997 standards assume construction costs average $85 to $89 a square foot. But local prices today are in the $100-per-square-foot range, Patrick said.

Columbia Falls and Whitefish both use the 1997 figures.

The city hasn't approached the building community about the proposal, but it will if the council wants to go ahead with the increase, Patrick said.

The Monday night work session is a public meeting. It begins at 7 p.m. in City Hall.

Reporter Camden Easterling may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at ceasterling@dailyinterlake.com