New state law requires change in Amarillo’s building permit fee
45 cents per square foot on new home construction
AMARILLO, Texas (KFDA) - Cities across the state of Texas were left scrambling recently after a state law immediately in effect changed how permit fees for builders can be calculated.
“In May, the state legislature passed House Bill 852, which excluded the city from utilizing a very common practice of new construction for residential,” said Floyd Hartman, Assistant City Manager for Development Services at the City of Amarillo.
The City of Amarillo previously used the value of construction to calculate permit fees.
Now that this is prohibited, the city will be charging per square foot.
“We evaluated that 45 cents would get us in a revenue position that was more equitable compared to where we were and what it needs to run a program,” said Hartman.
The city says they came up with the rate of 45 cents per square foot by evaluating projects in the past and those in the future, and will be watching to make sure it’s a fair rate.
“If we have more revenue then we’re shooting for or less, we’ll have to adjust that,” said Jared Miller, City Manager for the City of Amarillo.
The Texas Panhandle Builders Association says it has heard concerns from some builders who are members that this rate could increase their permit fees.
“Some of them it will be a little over $300 each, so it is something that we are looking in to,” said Kenzee Cann, Executive Officer at the Texas Panhandle Builders Association.
Other cities in Texas have decided upon a rate as low as 30 cents while others have gone as high as 80 cents per square foot.
The organization wants to make sure 45 cents is fair for Amarillo.
“It’s kind of right in the middle there, it’s not super high, it’s not super low. We just want to make sure that it’s going to still keep housing affordable,” said Cann. “That’s our main goal, just making sure we keep housing affordable for all. Not just the builders, but for people who are trying to purchase their new homes.”
The city has had a couple of building permits in limbo since the state law went into effect, but with Tuesday afternoon’s decision, those can now move forward.
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