Council to hash out what Building and Planning fees are for

The Jackson Town Council is set to talk Aug. 17 about the basic question behind Planning and Building fees: are they meant to mostly cover the cost of reviewing permits, or are taxpayers supposed to carry more of that load? Staff says the Town has no formal “fee philosophy” on the books today, even though the Land Development Regulations say fees are meant to offset the costs of processing applications, not turn a profit workshop packet.

Staff’s analysis of the last decade (FY2017 to FY2026) puts Building and Planning at about 62% cost recovery on average, and notes that most of that comes from building permits, not planning reviews. Council direction from this workshop is expected to steer future resolutions and fee schedule changes, so if you run a small outfit and need a permit, this is where the “who pays for review time” argument starts in public workshop packet.