County increases plan fees

The Daily Inter Lake

The Flathead County commissioners Monday approved new, higher fees for most land-use planning applications, including subdivision and zone change requests.

The Flathead County commissioners Monday approved new, higher fees for most land-use planning applications, including subdivision and zone change requests.

The revised fee schedule takes effect immediately.

The intent of the fee change is to have developers pay the direct costs associated with processing their applications. Local property taxes will continue to pay for updating the growth policy and other, more general planning activities.

The new fee schedule will result in developers paying a greater share of the Planning Office's overall budget than has previously been the case.

Based on the recent application trends, planning director Jeff Harris estimated that the higher fees would bring in about $528,000 per year, covering roughly 90 percent of his department's total budget.

By comparison, the 2004-05 budget anticipated about $300,000 in fee revenue, or 55 percent of the total budget.

Harris said the new fee schedule puts Flathead County "among the highest-priced counties in the state," although it's still cheap when compared to areas outside Montana.

Other counties in Montana tend to charge lower fees, he said, because they rely on general tax support to subsidize the operation of their planning offices.

Commissioner Gary Hall recommended reviewing the fee schedule in a year to make sure the fees aren't excessive.

He and Commissioner Joe Brenneman approved the fee change; Commissioner Bob Watne voted in opposition.