Title
Amending Chapter 40.10 of the Legislative Code pertaining to Fire Certificate of Occupancy as it relates to Fees.
Body
SECTION 1
WHEREAS, in support of Mayor Carter’s 2022 budget, the Department of Safety and Inspections (DSI) seeks to increase fire certificate of occupancy fees, as detailed in Chapter 40.10 of the Saint Paul Legislative Code (SPLC), by 1.5%; and
WHEREAS, current fire certificate of occupancy fees are recovering only about 50% of program costs; and
WHEREAS, DSI seeks to increase fire certificate of occupancy fees by an additional 10% to move the fire certificate of occupancy fee to more closely align with the actual cost of the program; and
WHEREAS, the fee increases proposed more accurately reflect the cost of providing fire certificate of occupancy inspections and services; and
WHEREAS, DSI continues to experience substantial growth in personnel costs such as health care and wages; and
WHEREAS, General Fund pressures create the need to decrease the gap between licensing fee revenue and program expenses. Now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Saint Paul does hereby ordain:
SECTION 2
Section 40.10 of the Saint Paul Legislative Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
Sec. 40.10. - Fees.
(a) Original issue, new building or substantially rehabilitated buildings. There shall be no fee charged for an issuance of the fire certificate of occupancy for new buildings at the completion of their construction or following substantial rehabilitation if the city's building official issues a certificate of occupancy or certificate of code compliance.
(b) Fees.
Residential rate, one unit $206.00 $ 230.00
2 units $242.00 $ 269.00
3 units $252.00 $ 281.00
4 units $264.00 $ 294.00
5 units $274.00 $ 306.00
6 units $285.00 $ 317.00
7 units $296.00 $ 330.00
8 units $307.00 $ 342.00
9 units $318.00 $ 355.00
10 through 15 units $329.00 $ 367.00
16 through 20 units $362.00 $ 404.00
21 through 25 units $453.00 $ 505.00
26 through 30 units $538.00 $ 600.00
31 units through 35 units $622.00 $ 693.00
36 units through 40 units $707.00 $ 788.00
41 through 100 units $773.00 $ 862.00
100+ units $913.00 $1,018.00
A (Assembly), E (Education, I (Institutional), H (Hazardous), $189.00 $ 211.00
F (Factory), M (Mercantile, S (Storage), and B (Business)
Base fee: up through 13,999 sq ft.
14,000 through 48,999 sq. ft., per 1,000 sq. ft. $ 15.00 $ 16.00
49,000 through 117,999 sq. ft. $735.00 $ 820.00
118,000 and over sq. ft. maximum fee $870.00 $ 970.00
(c) Reinspection fee. The renewal fee established in subsections (a) and (b) above allows for one (1) inspection and one (1) reinspection for the renewal of the fire certificate of occupancy. A reinspection fee of fifty (50) percent of the renewal fee shall be levied for each additional reinspection required to demonstrate compliance with applicable safety codes.
(d) Referral (or complaint-based) reinspection fee. Whenever a written correction order is issued to the owner for a violation of this code and after a reasonable time for compliance has elapsed, a reinspection shall be made. If the violation has not been corrected at the time of the reinspection, a referral reinspection fee of seventy-four dollars ($74.00) eighty-two dollars ($82.00) shall be collected for every subsequent reinspection until the violation is corrected.
(e) Provisional fire certificate of occupancy. A fee of one hundred five dollars ($105.00) one hundred seventeen dollars ($117.00) will be charged for each provisional certificate of occupancy. This is an annual fee until the building is granted a fire certificate of occupancy upon the successful completion of fire certificate of occupancy inspection per this chapter.
(f) No entry fee. The fire code official shall give notice of all inspections to the owner. If any reason exists that the inspection cannot be conducted at the identified time, the owner, shall make personal contact with the fire code official in an acceptable manner, no later than 8:00 a.m. on the date of the scheduled inspection. If the fire code official does not receive such notice and is unable to conduct the inspection because the owner fails to cooperate, the owner shall be assessed a seventy-four dollars ($74.00) eighty-two dollars ($82.00) no-entry fee.
(g) Exceptions. The fees for the fire certificate of occupancy and inspection are provided in chapter 33 of this code shall be required on buildings owned and occupied by any governmental agency, including county and state governmental agencies. The city, and any other agencies specifically exempted from such fees under state law, shall be exempt from payment of such fees.
SECTION 3
This Ordinance shall take effect and be in force thirty (30) days following its passage, approval, and publication.