Review fees for new development in the Austin area will see a 141 percent jump in the fall. The increase in the cost of development review fees, paid as part of the permitting process, starts September 1. The fees affect anyone who wants to build in the county, from renovating homeowners to subdivision developers.
The Travis County Commissioners granted the staff request for the hike in July. The request grew out of a revamp of the county’s website, part of an effort to streamline the permit review process and increase transparency. During that process, Travis County Department of Development Services staff members noted that fees were were last increased in 2016.
Staff also identified 32 instances where significant routine work was being performed without any associated fees, which included an expedited third-party fee. Because budget constraints have kept the county from hiring enough engineers and being competitive with the private sector, department director Anna Bowlin said, the department has to outsource for costly services. The overall increase in fees will help to recover an estimated 85 percent of those costs.
The department will also start evaluating fees annually during its budget process.
Improvements to the permitting website include a new section that allows users to limit permitting information to items relevant to their projects and a guided custom checklist for submitting plans for review.
There's also a new public-facing dashboard that details permitting status and queues being reviewed by staff, how long an application takes to be assigned to a staff reviewer, and how long the total application and review process takes to be complete. The change has already helped increase the number of applicant reviews completed each week, Bowlin said.
“I know that it has been a difficult and rocky road, but I think that what has been produced will ultimately not only benefit internal staff but will benefit our constituents as well,” Precinct 1 Commissioner Jeff Travillion said. “It's good to have a database or a foundation of information that clearly tells [people] what they can expect and clearly tells them how they can access the information.”
The dashboard is being tested internally. Full public access is expected to be available in early 2025.
