Supervisors Postpone Vote on Planning Unit Bid to Hike Fees

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday postponed a decision on whether to boost building permit fees more than 50% as part of an emergency plan to keep the Orange County Planning Department afloat.

“There were entirely too many questions that remained unanswered,” Supervisor Tom Wilson said of the delay. “We didn’t want to rush out and vote.”

Planning Director Thomas B. Mathews and County Executive Officer Michael Schumacher promised to answer the board’s questions by Friday.

If the answers aren’t adequate, supervisors said, the vote will be delayed until January.

The department is running a deficit of $500,000 a month, has spent down its reserves and announced last week plans to lay off 40 workers.

Supervisors met behind closed doors twice this week to discuss how the proposed fee increase relates to an ongoing lawsuit by national homebuilder Barratt American Inc., which challenges the charges as excessive.

A special master appointed by the court to review the finances of the Planning Department protested the proposed increase in court Monday.

Special master Robert Mosier said county planners hadn’t justified the hike or explained how they’d drained an $18-million reserve in the last three years.

A partial ruling by Superior Court Judge C. Robert Jameson is expected Friday on whether Barratt was improperly charged more than the county’s actual costs for issuing building permits. State and federal laws restrict what governments can charge for user fees so local officials can’t create what amount to hidden taxes.

Jameson’s ruling could result in the county ultimately having to reinstate as much as $10 million of the reserve fund, Mosier wrote in court documents.