Central City Council Cuts Permit Fees

By Woody Jenkins.

CENTRAL — Councilman Tony LoBue succeeded in convincing the Central City Council to reduce residential building permit fees by about 28 percent, but only after a last-minute compromise avoided a threatened veto by Central Mayor Mac Watts.

LoBue said permit fees in Central will still be two to three times higher than in nearby cities, and he promised to push for further fee reductions.

Central’s permit fees were a top issue for mayoral candidate Jr. Shelton during last year’s municipal elections.  On Monday, Shelton said he welcomes the lower fees.  “I’m very happy the Council decided to step up and do something for citizens on permit fees.  This is not the final answer but a step in the right direction to make us more competitive with nearby cities and parishes.  It was a major issue in the campaign.  I’m glad they realized that permit fees are not ‘about right,’ as stated in the campaign.”

LoBue said a 3,000-square-foot home being build in Central currently requires $1,660 in permit fees, compared to $435 in Zachary.  His plan will reduce the permit fees on that house to $1,200.

Permit fees in Central are based on a complex formula.  A portion of the fee is a Plan Review Fee, which is 35 percent of all other fees charged.  One of the major parts of LoBue’s plan is to cap the Plan Review Fee at $100.

LoBue said, “This will make us more competitive but there is still a long way to go.”

When LoBue first proposed reducing the fees, Mayor Mac Watts said he had no problem with reducing them if CH2MHILL, the firm which administers the City of Central, agreed to the change.  Watts told LoBue to sit down and negotiate with the firm.  LoBue later said he met with CH2MHILL but the company said it does not have enough profit to allow it to lower fees.  CH2MHILL gets 90 percent of all permit fees collected in the name of the City of Central.

Last year, the City of Zachary collected and spent $240,000 to run its permit office.  The City of Central, with fees three to four times higher, collected $367,200 in permit fees.  A total of $330,000 of that amount was paid to CH2MHILL.

CH2MHILL’s contract with the city expires June 30.  Mayor Mac Watts appointed a 21-member committee to review the contract and solicit Requests for Proposals.  Bidders have until April 29 to make proposals.

The Council voted unanimously for the LoBue plan.  In order to avoid Watts’ veto, the lower fee schedule will not go into effect July 1, 2011.  LoBue expressed concern that the failure to implement lower fees immediately could encourage people to delay construction until July 1.