Emerald Hills Residents Outraged by Proposed Fee Increase

A proposal to increase the cost of improving homes is resurfacing on Tuesday at the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors meeting, causing some homeowners in unincorporated areas of the county to question the way the planning and building department is managed.  

The San Mateo County Planning and Building Department proposed 14 new fees and a five percent increase on the exiting ones as a way to generate revenue to fund the salaries of the department’s employees. They are paid on average $100 per hour to provide services to residents of unincorporated areas of the county that have Redwood City and Menlo Park mailing addresses, according to a staff report prepared for Tuesday’s meeting.

Members of Citizens United for Planning and Building Reform say this fee increase would be an abuse of homeowners in the area.

“Replacement of a ceiling fan will soon cost you $283 in permit fees,” according to Maria Rutenburg, member of Citizens United for Planning and Building Reform.

“Remodeling a bathroom can already be over $4,300 in permit fees, three times the average of the neighboring towns and the fee is going up. Nearly every homeowner in the County is currently vulnerable to fines and prosecutions and a great many have already experienced arbitrary and capricious application of the codes by San Mateo County Planning and Building Department,” Rutenberg writes on her website.

In March 2012, county staff proposed an increase on all service fees that was tabled until now. Nancy Mangini, Emerald Hills resident, says that this is because the decision needed to be made in the months before voters would be asked to elect a person to fill the District 4 seat on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. As a result, the department remains "entrenched in inefficiencies," she said.

“They’re working in an insider’s echo chamber,” Mangini told Patch. Mangini said she gave county staff a plan that showed how these kinds of services could be outsourced at a reduced cost. She said it was summarily ignored. 

The fee increases are justified, according to an interdepartmental memo from Jim Eggemeyer, community development director for the county of San Mateo, to the Board of Supervisors that was sent in July.

“The approval of the Planning and Building Department’s service fee amendments contributes to the 2025 Shared Vision outcome of a Livable Community because the service fees fund the services necessary to ensure that growth occurs near transit, promotes affordable, livable connected communities and the adjustments are consistent with State law that requires fees not to exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing the services,” the memo reads. 

If Eggemeyer's proposal is approved on Tuesday, building inspection fees would be increased from a flat minimum fee of $85 to $100. This fee is always accompanied by a $29 filing fee that would be raised to $40. Pre-application design review, which is required, would be free for the first 30 minutes, then $100 per hour after that. A county staff report projects that each project takes a minimum of two hours.  The actual amount of time depends on the project and the amount of county employees assigned to the task, although the need for all of the employees is being debated among Emerald Hills residents. 

“It’s time we looked at downsizing County Building and Planning to the level required to serve the health and safety needs of the residents, which is their mission after all, not raising enough revenue from homeowners to keep themselves employed at an average cost of $150,000 per employee per year,” Mangini said. 

The department has reduced the amount of people on the payroll in the years since the economic recession of 2008. The county’s planning and building department had 55 employees in the 2009-2010 fiscal year, according to public records. In the 2012-2013 fiscal year, the department had 48 employees. Their primary tasks are reviewing building permits, inspecting new construction plans, and other items related to regulating the way land is used within San Mateo County.