Title
Consider and take action on an ordinance amending existing Ordinance 2016-23 entitled Establishing Engineering Services and Construction Inspection Fee in the City of League City (Director of Engineering)
Background:
Approval of this ordinance will increase the Engineering Services and Construction Inspection Fee from the current 2% of the value of public improvements to 2.50%. This amendment would also allow for the Engineering Department to recoup a portion of inspector overtime costs. The overtime charge would be $50 per hour with a 2-hour minimum charge. Implementation of the fee as proposed is estimated to cover approximately 98% of the Engineering Department’s salary costs associated with developer-driven public infrastructure projects.
In 2016, the Engineering Department looked at 33 Texas Cities when establishing the 2% Engineering Services and Construction Inspection Fee. Out of those 33 cities, 21 were noted to be comparable cities as approved by Council and 10 did not collect any fees for developer-driven public infrastructure projects. Of the remaining 23 cities, the average fee was 2.75% of construction costs associated with the public infrastructure. Most of our neighboring cities, (Webster, Texas City, Pearland, Galveston, and Dickinson) did not collect any fees for this type of work.
In 2018, based on the Council approved Strategic Action Plan (Critical Success Factor #2, Initiative #3, Item B), the Engineering Department was tasked to review these fees and update if necessary.
In looking at the same 33 Cities as reviewed in 2016, only 2 cities have updated their requirements: (1) College Station went from 1% of infrastructure cost to 1.5% and (2) Denton went from 3.5% of infrastructure cost to a tiered system. Even taking these changes into account, the average fee remained approximately 2.75% of construction costs associated with the public infrastructure.
With the addition of a new Engineering Technician (approved with FY19 B...
Click here for full text