Dallas City Council Votes to Approve Updated Fee Schedule After Dallas BA Advocates to Lower Initial Proposed Fees
The Dallas City Council voted on March 27 to approve the ordinance that updates development and building fees. This is the first increase in the fees in nearly a decade.
The city’s original fee study proposed increases that were grossly higher. However, after advocacy from the Dallas Builders Association and allied stakeholders, a draft ordinance was brought before the City Council that actually saw many of those proposed fees reduced from the version that was presented in that study.
The new fee schedule becomes effective May 1. Builders and developers are encouraged to review the changes.
Click Here to view a table of the fees as presented to City Council.
Dallas BA’s Director of Government Affairs, David Lehde, offered the following statement upon passage of the ordinance:
“It is important to understand that these increases in building costs will ultimately be paid for by the home buyer. We are especially concerned about the significant increase in multifamily permit fees. Anytime there is an increase in fees, it is a challenge for the multifamily sector, as they have more items to factor in for costs, including any need or requirement for affordable units to be part of the development.
These increases come on the tail end of a recent increase in sewer tap fees. The city is also discussing other development related amendments that could add even further costs if not addressed wisely.
Moving forward, there should be a focus on addressing inefficiencies in the department. These related operations are funded through an enterprise fund. Not only does that fund pull directly from builder fees, but that fund also has a history of running a surplus. If department costs have increased so significantly in such a short time, it raises the question of why?
We appreciate that City Council members did voice many of the same concerns we have had and that the Development Services Department shared our same concerns with the exorbitant increases that were listed in the original study and worked with stakeholders to at least get some of that lowered. However, there are still fees in the schedule that are higher than what we see elsewhere in the region for the same work.
Dallas BA would have preferred that any new fees and increases be phased in over an extended period to help relieve the economic impact.”