PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Developers in Port St. Lucie could soon pay higher fees for a range of city services under a proposal aimed at shifting more of the cost of development away from taxpayers and utility ratepayers.
City officials say many of the fees charged for development-related services have not been updated in more than a decade. As costs have increased, the fees no longer cover the cost of providing those services, leaving residents to make up the difference.
Charlie Proulx, the city's deputy finance director, said the proposal is intended to ensure the costs of development are borne by those requesting the services rather than the public.
"There is a shortfall, so the cost to provide the service currently exceeds the revenue. And so what happens when that exists is that the difference is passed on to the taxpayer and the ratepayer. And so the real goal is to align these fees with the cost of providing services so the taxpayer and so the ratepayer is not subsidizing the services that are primarily going towards an individual," he said.
The proposal would increase many existing fees while also establishing new charges for services that currently have no associated fee. Those include construction plan reviews, engineering inspections, site plan reviews, right-of-way permits, accessory use reviews and occupancy reviews.
According to Proulx, the funding gap spans several city departments that provide services tied to new development.
"So in total, between these three departments, there's approximately $5.5 million annually that's being supported by the broader ratepayer and taxpayer. Utility engineering, $2.1 million shortfall, along with public works at $2.8 and around $700,000 for planning and zoning, where the primary shortfall exists. And this is where we start getting to the granular level of the fees are the construction plan reviews, engineering inspections, site plan reviews, right away permits, which I will be mentioning several times throughout this presentation, accessory use reviews and occupancy reviews," he said.
Proulx used the example of a proposed Waffle House to demonstrate how the updated fee schedule would affect a commercial development project.
"Using this example of the construction of a new Waffle House under the current fee schedule, that Waffle House would pay approximately $48,091 between these five departments, the building department, business tax, utility engineering, public works and planning and zoning. Under the new proposed fees, that $48,000 would increase to $61,000. So approximately 27%," he said.
The proposed fee schedule has not yet been adopted and is expected to be considered by the Port St. Lucie City Commission in September.
If approved, the city also plans to automatically adjust the fees each year based on inflation to help prevent similarly large increases in the future.
"We'll be implementing a CPI inflation measure for these fees. And so going forward, all fees will be increased up to CPI annually," he said.