Permitting Costs More Than Doubled in Travis County

In an effort to streamline permit processes and enhance transparency, Travis County Commissioners have approved a marked increase in development review fees. Commencing on the 1st of September, development review fees in the county will be escalated by 141%. The consequence of this development will be shouldered by homeowners, businesses, and developers as the cost of permitting is set to more than double.

Context Behind the Increase

The increase in fees is the first since 2016, nearly a decade ago. The Travis County Department of Development Services have been instrumental in championing for this change. Their goal is to increase transparency while expediting the permit review process. To achieve this, they have redesigned the county website and taken a critical look at the existing systems and performance.

The scope of the impact of these fees would be widespread, encompassing projects of all sizes, from home renovations to large scale subdivisions.

Program Improvements and Features

A part of the new changes includes a fresh segment on the website that permits users to modify their permitting information. This includes all aspects related to their projects, thus increasing the interface’s user-friendliness and efficiency.

A custom checklist of criteria has been established, guiding users on the requirements necessary before submitting plans for review, hence reducing the time needed by the review staff in seeking additional or missing details from the applications. Furthermore, a new dashboard has been developed – currently under internal testing – and within six months, it is expected to be fully accessible to the public. This dashboard will display detailed information about the status and queues being reviewed by the staff.

Justified Increase?

The economic climate in recent years has made it challenging for the department to recruit engineers, citing salary competition from the private sector as a major hurdle. Consequently, the department often resorts to outsourcing these services, which comes with significant costs. As a solution to covering these expenses, the department identified 32 instances where significant routine work was being performed without any fees, which included an expedited third-party fee.

The newly approved increase in fees will help recover an estimated 85% of these costs for the department. Moving forward, it is the department’s plan to annually evaluate fees during the budget process to ensure their continued appropriateness.