The cost of residential and commercial building permits could go up in Boise if the city council approves new "impact" fees.
The Boise City Council will consider whether to impose the fees during a public hearing Tuesday night.
If the new fees are approved, homebuilders, and eventually homebuyers, will pay more to help the city maintain the existing level of fire and police services in new areas.
The ordinance would increase the cost of a residential building permit $515 for fire and $151 for police, a total of $666 dollars. Commercial permits would increase by 21 cents per square foot for fire and another six cents per square foot for police. That would add 27 cents per square foot to the cost of each commercial building permit. Boise's park fees would also increase from $1,186 to $1,355 for single-family residences.
Impact fees are tied to a city's 10-year plan for capital improvements and are used to buy large equipment or pay for construction associated with growth. Boise's plan includes new fire stations and trucks, and police facilities.
According to Idaho law, impact fees can only be used for growth-related capital improvements to maintain - not improve - a department's existing level of service. Boise officials said the fees would help Boise Fire Department maintain its four-minute average response time and the police maintain 1.3 officers per 1,000 residents.
"For the last several years, this mayor and council have focused on having a solid plan for how this city grows. A key piece citizens have voiced to them is making sure growth pays for itself. This is a key component of that plan," said Jade Riley, an adviser to Mayor Dave Bieter. "The key objective is that people's yearly taxes do not have to be overly burdened by paying for those new capital facilities associated with growth."
To determine the potential impact fees, the city hired a consultant to determine current levels of service and predict growth over the next 10 years. According to the study, Boise is expected to gain about 19,500 residential households and 7.4 million-square-feet of nonresidential development over the next 10 years through internal growth and annexations.
The city already collects impact fees for parks and the Ada County Highway District collects impact fees for roads. Meridian approved such fees in 2006, although both Meridian and Boise have collected park impact fees for years.
Local builders are concerned that increased fees mean higher home prices that will keep some people from buying new homes, said Joe Kunz, government affairs director for the Building Contractor's Association of Southwest Idaho.
"Every little bit of increase in construction costs and in fees affects the final home price. One of our missions is keeping home prices affordable," Kunz said. "We are opposed to unneeded impact fees because of the effect on home prices. It is also adding up. When you combine your building permit fee and impact fees across Ada County, the average fee for a home going in now is $9,000."
Kathleen Kreller: 377-6418
