Rising Sun adopts fee schedule charging for technical assistance to recover staff and outside costs

The Town of Rising Sun adopted Resolution 2024-04 on March 12 to add a new section to the town fee schedule that charges for staff technical assistance and advisory review services requested by property owners, developers and third parties.

Town Administrator Calvin A. Bonneboga Jr. told commissioners the fee schedule is intended to prevent taxpayers from subsidizing technical review work performed for private parties, such as due-diligence research requested by banks, developers or potential buyers. The proposed schedule breaks services into three tiers: general inquiries (some homeowner questions and routine matters), exploratory construction consulting/early engagement, and technical construction consultation/land development work that can include stormwater and FEMA assistance.

Calvin explained the town will not “nickel-and-dime” homeowners seeking simple guidance; the first two hours of a basic inquiry would be covered. The schedule targets more involved work that can consume staff time and require involvement by the town engineer or attorney, which historically has gone unreimbursed when projects do not proceed to formal application.

The resolution also clarifies that the town may charge for municipal services provided at non-sanctioned events at overtime rates (for example, police or public-works support for private construction events or unsanctioned large gatherings), while continuing to waive charges for formally sanctioned community events such as chamber festivals or school functions.

The resolution cites the town code’s existing authority to establish and amend fee schedules and moves prior land-development fees into the updated section to accommodate the new staff technical assistance fees.

Commissioners moved, seconded and approved the resolution by voice vote; the resolution was recorded as adopted and incorporated into the town fee schedule.

Next steps: Staff will publish the revised fee schedule, apply the tiered charges to qualifying requests, and use collected fees to recover engineering, legal and staff costs associated with technical reviews.