During a September 23 special call meeting, the Miami Lakes Town Council approved two ordinances on first reading and two other ordinances on second reading were deferred.
On first reading, lawmakers approved an ordinance to set a $100 expedited fee for lien letters to be processed within two business days and revise the regular lien letter fee with a standard process time of seven to ten days from $20 to $50.
At a budget workshop in August to discuss an effort to provide municipal services at full cost recovery and swiftness that is economically feasible for residents as well as the Town of Miami Lakes, the Town Clerk’s Office conducted an investigation to gage current municipal services and fees provided by neighboring municipalities in comparison to the Town of Miami Lakes. The study closely examined the associated fees and turnaround time for lien letter services.
In addition, the Town's staff time was assessed to ensure the proposed fees cover the cost of processing a lien letter. Based on current fully loaded hourly rates, the cost to provide the service is approximately $52.
Lien letters at the Town are processed at $20 and the turnaround time for standard processing is 7-10 business days (no expedited service offered). The average standard turnaround fee of those municipalities benchmarked is approximately $70 and the average expedited fee for those municipalities that offer this service is approximately $130.
Also, councilmembers gave their initial approval for an ordinance to consolidate various planning and zoning application fees and cost recovery deposits into one fee schedule, allow amendment of the fee schedule by resolution, increase fees for zoning plan review and establish a zoning inspections fee for building permits and an expediting fee for zoning letters.
The proposed ordinance would remove the schedule of application fees and cost recovery deposits, as well as scattered provisions regarding fees and the cost recovery system, from the Land Development Code (LDC). The ordinance would authorize the establishment of fees and required deposits by resolution of the Town Council.
Currently, the establishment of fees and deposits throughout the text of the LDC is inefficient, and includes conflicting and unclear provisions as to whether fees may be amended by resolution, or if an ordinance is required. The proposed ordinance would remove this ambiguity, and clarify that all fees and deposits may be amended by resolution.
Allowing for adjustment of planning and zoning fees without the need for an ordinance is typical, including by Miami-Dade County.
Most of the changes to the fee schedule are to reflect fees/deposits that are already in place, but were not included in the schedule. However, there are several substantive changes: Fees for zoning plan review are complicated as they list over 20 different categories averaging around $20 per permit type. The proposed revision will simplify it and increase it to $35 for residential review and $70 for each commercial review.
Additionally, the town is establishing a zoning inspection fee of $35 for residential permits and $70 for commercial permits since the town has recently started to conduct zoning inspections as part of the permit process.
The ordinance was approved on first reading with Vice Mayor Manny Cid and Councilmember Frank Mingo voting no. A second reading will be held at the regular meeting on October 28.
Councilmembers deferred an ordinance on second reading to change the building fees, shop drawings and minimum permit fee reading until the October 28 regular meeting to coincide with the second reading of the planning and zoning fees.
Councilmembers also deferred an ordinance on second reading to restore the waste hauler fee at five percent.