Town commission will not adopt building fee changes

It’s been almost three years since the town paid $18,000 for a building-permit fee study, and new fees have yet to be adopted by the Longboat Key Town Commission.

Last week, Longboat Key Planning, Zoning and Building Director Monica Simpson made her third presentation to the commission since October regarding a new building fee rate structure for her department.

Although the new fee rate structure was not rejected outright, the commission wants some changes to be made.

Commissioners did not like a proposed fee schedule that based fees on the overall cost of the job being performed.

For instance, they believed it was unfair to charge more for builders using more expensive products, even though the work being performed would be similar to a job that used materials of a lesser quality.

Former Longboat Key Mayor George Spoll, a retired homebuilder, urged the commission to base its fees by the square footage of a job. Commissioner Jack Duncan agreed.

“At the end of the day, square footage seems fairer to the consumer,” Duncan said.

Spoll also questioned why 25% of the fee would pay for a fire marshal’s inspection. He has advocated for months that the Planning, Zoning and Building Department staff can adequately inspect jobs and that the fire marshal position is unnecessary.

Fire marshal Louis Gagliardi’s annual salary is $92,684.80.

Simpson told the commission she would work over the summer to convert the building-fee method from a cost-based approach to a square footage method. Simpson will also reduce water heater replacement permit fees from $75 to $50.

“This has been a long work in progress that started by figuring out how long and how much effort it takes for us to perform duties every day,” Simpson said. “We want to charge what it actually takes to do the services.”

The commission did agree with Simpson’s recommendation that the town should start collecting 25% of a building-permit fee at the time an application is submitted. That would ensure the building department will not lose money if an applicant decides not to follow through with obtaining a permit. Jobs that are $1,000 or less, however, will not require money to be collected upfront.

The commission will review the proposed building-fee changes in September.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].