Superintendent of Buildings Carissa Lisee presents new fee schedule to Finance sub-committee on Thursday. (Photo by Amy Porter)
WESTFIELD – Westfield Superintendent of Buildings Carissa M. Lisee submitted a proposed permit fee increase to the Finance Committee Thursday evening, immediately before the City Council meeting. The increases are across the board but modest, including building, plumbing, electrical, gas and solar, and for one and two family dwellings. The last increases in Westfield occurred in 2008.
The proposal contained a spreadsheet comparing current and proposed fees with surrounding communities of Holyoke, Springfield, West Springfield, Southwick, Southampton and Easthampton.
“The building department must be self-sustaining. There is nothing drastic, no significant increases,” Lisee said. She said many of the changes are in definition, for example the $75 fee for installing a new sprinkler system, which did not previously have a separate fee. Another example given on Thursday was the $300 fee for installing solar, which did not previously exist. Lisee said the department should be looking at fees every couple of years.
During the budget reviews in 2016, the Finance Committee had asked all fee-based departments to consider raising their fees, in order to become self-sufficient. Lisee said that when she first started as Superintendent of Buildings in April of 2016, the fee structure was something she wanted to look into because it had been such a long time since there were any increases. This October, she did an extensive review. “As the cost of construction goes up over time, it’s just natural that the fees should go up with the cost of construction,” Lisee said.
Finance Committee chair Robert A Paul, Sr. noted during the sub-committee meeting that this was a part of the request of the committee in 2016. Lisee responded that she was trying to clean it up, and there are only slight increases in the fees. “I wanted to stay reasonable for homeowners and builders,” she said.
Finance Committee member Dave Flaherty asked if Lisee had any idea of the additional revenue. She said it would potentially be in the $10,000 to $15,000 range. Paul asked if her projection was at the present rate of activity, which she said it was.
“Obviously, the total amount of revenue generated varies from year to year based on the number of permits obtained and the scale of the project. New construction, residential or commercial, is what helps drive our revenue higher. It is hard to estimate how much additional revenue the new fees will generate, as it all depends on the type of projects that occur every year,” Lisee explained later.
Flaherty asked if the city breaks even with the $75 inspection fee. Lisee responded that some contractors need a lot of help, which is why she is proposing a re-inspection fee of $25, to cover the costs and time of inspectors.
At-large City Council John J. Beltrandi, III who attended the sub-committee meeting, said the fees are now consistent with surrounding communities. “Not on the high end or low end,” he said. He also said Lisee has been more aggressive in regards to people obtaining permits; for example, permits for pools.
Lisee said she will also be working on updating the Building Department page on www.cityofwestfield.org.
Paul asked when Lisee would like to implement the new fee schedule, and she said originally she had hoped to have it in place by Jan. 1. Paul asked for a motion to recommend the new schedule to the City Council, along with a recommendation for it to begin on Jan. 1, which passed 3-0.
In presenting the vote to the full City Council immediately following, At-large Councilor Matthew T. VanHeynigen said this was one of the key goals of the Finance Committee. “Kudos to Carissa. She did a tremendous amount of work to really get our fees in line with surrounding communities,” VanHeynigen said.
Flaherty said with the new fee structure, the department will be “fully self-funded.” The City Council then voted unanimously to approve the new fee schedule, effective Jan. 1.
