Garden City council raises development inspection fees and approves contract-rate changes for SafeBuilt

Garden City's City Council approved two fee changes intended to align the city's permit-fee structure with higher contractor inspection rates and to update amounts paid to the city's contracted inspection provider.

Director Thornborough told council the principal change in Resolution 1239-26 is to inspection fees in response to a SafeBuilt contract request and an approximate 22% increase in SafeBuilt's inspection rate, from roughly $90.52 to $110 per hour. Thornborough illustrated the scale of the change with examples: a relatively small $50,000 permit would rise by about $175 under the proposed schedule, and a $300,000 permit (typical single-family new construction) would see a larger overall difference across multiple inspections. "The big change is regarding inspection fees... a 22% increase in their inspection fees to the city, from $90.52 to $110 per hour," Thornborough said.

The city attorney advised the council that fees must be reasonably related to actual service costs rather than serving as a revenue stream. "Fees must be closely tied to the cost of services," counsel said, adding that an analysis including administrative and enforcement costs supports the proposal in the packet. Staff explained that projects already charged fees at intake would not be retroactively re-billed and that some individualized additional costs during plan review can still be invoiced if work exceeds what is included in the base charge.

Council moved to adopt Resolution 1239-26; the clerk recorded affirmative votes and the resolution passed. The council then considered Resolution 1238-26, which adopts changes to the fees paid to SafeBuilt in the city's contract; that resolution passed as well with one recorded dissenting vote (Council member Jorgensen voted no). Both measures were presented as cost-recovery adjustments rather than an across-the-board holistic fee schedule review.

What it means: Applicants can expect slightly higher permit fees for inspections and plan-review-related items tied to these changes. Staff said fees already collected at application would not be increased retroactively; ongoing or future applications will be charged under the updated schedule. The council and legal counsel emphasized maintaining documentation showing the fees are reasonably related to actual costs to reduce the risk of legal challenge.