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Solar Permit Fee Waiver Plan <br />May 5, 2008 <br />Page 2 <br />The City' s review of solar energy projects involves both plan check and <br />inspection services. These plan check and inspection services are <br />estimated to require an average of one staff-hour for passive solar water <br />heater projects and ten staff-hours for solar electrical systems. At an <br />average rate of $55/hour the respective permit fees would range from <br />approximately $55 to $550 per project. <br />In an effort to promote greater sustainability in the community, it is <br />recommended that the City Council authorize a two-year permit incentive <br />program for solar energy projects. Such a program would waive permit/ <br />inspection fees as an incentive to encourage solar installations. <br />Homeowners, business owners, contractors and others would still submit <br />plans and obtain permits and inspections - but the fees for such projects <br />would be waived during the pilot program. While the number of solar <br />energy projects is expected to grow, this increase and the corresponding <br />fee waiver are not expected to generate a significant effect on workload/ <br />staffing, nor result in a significant reduction in revenue. Enacting the <br />two-year pilot permit incentive program would require City Council <br />approval of an amended fee resolution. <br />The attached survey (Exhibit 1) of prominent Orange County communities <br />shows that most have relatively consistent permitting/inspection <br />practices for solar energy projects and, yet, only three cities offer a <br />specific permit incentive to encourage such projects. <br />FISCAL IMPACT <br />It is estimated that the total cost of two-year pilot program would be <br />$26,500. Of this total $6,500 would be directed to system programming, <br />marketing, and other incidental costs. The remaining $20,000 represents <br />an estimate of uncollected permitting fees for the general fund revenue <br />accounts for Building Plan Check (account no. 011-01-5401), Plumbing Plan <br />Check (account no. 011-01-5402), Electrical Plan Check (account no. 011- <br />01-5403), Building Permits (account no. Oll-O1-5911), Plumbing Permits <br />(account no. 11-01-5912), and Electrical Permits (account no. 11-01- <br />5913) . <br />APPROVED AS TO FUNDS AND ACCOUNTS: <br />'L---~ <br />J M. Trevino <br />Executive Director <br />Planning and Building Agency <br />SG:rb <br />rb\reports\Solar Permit Fee Waiver Program <br />~MCn~.~~r ~~ <br />Francisco Gutierrez <br />Executive Director <br />Finance & Management Services Agency~r <br />'"" <br />55A-2 <br />