INSIDE TUCSON BUSINESS:  Mon., June 22, 2009

County changes fee method

Starting July 16, Pima County is changing the way it calculates fees for development services, zoning and construction permits. County officials say the change will be revenue neutral for them with no particular industry expected to see a significant increase or decrease.

The new system will use International Code Council methodology where fees for buildings are determined by the type of occupancy, type of construction and square footage.

The county’s current system requires building, zoning, electrical, mechanical and plumbing components to be itemized to determine the total building permit fee.

“For a complex building such as a hospital, the feeing process alone can take over 10 hours,” according to a letter to the Board of Supervisors from Yves Khawam, chief building official.

Development Services Director Carmine DeBonis, said the new fee calculation method “will help us better use our resources to do plan review and permitting work. It will also help our customers be able to better estimate the fees for a given project.”