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Other Fund Highlights <br />Overview <br />FY07 revenue is projected to increase by ten percent with routine residential and <br />commercial activity remaining steady and the submittal of at least one large-scale, <br />commercial project. Large-scale commercial projects can have a major impact on <br />revenue and expense estimates; an increase or decrease in submittals will impact FY07 <br />budget estimates. All building permit services for work associated with large-scale <br />projects are paid through fees assessed to the project. <br />Four changes in service level are being proposed for FY07, each proposal would be <br />funded by assessed fees: <br />• Adding 2.3 FTE and reallocating the funding for 2.7 FTE ($442,943) to <br />improve customer service in PDD and increase hours the Permit and <br />Information Center is open to the public in Fa112006; <br />• Adding 5.0 FTE ($543,500) to address a 17 percent increase in building <br />activity in the last two years; <br />• Adding funding for 6.25 project FTE ($715,000) to work on large-scale <br />commercial projects as they proceed to construction; and <br />• Adding $400,000 contingency funding to the legal spending authority to allow <br />for a more timely response to major fluctuations in the construction industry <br />by staffing up more quickly than the normal budget process allows. <br />Funding for the contingency package would remain unspent, and return to balance <br />available if not needed to address. major, unanticipated increases in workload. <br />A rate review will be conducted in the Construction Permit Fund in the spring of 2006 <br />which will identify any necessary fee adjustments to State and local building permit fees. <br />Any identified fee adjustments will be implemented in October 2006. <br />There are also several regulation changes being discussed at the State level that could <br />impact service delivery. State code changes will be proposed during the 20071egislative <br />session; implementation timelines are unknown. <br />Fund Accomplishments and Challenges <br />Balancing stability of the Construction Permit Fund with adequate staffing levels to meet <br />service demand, and an ability to respond in a timely manner to major fluctuations in <br />activity, is an on-going challenge. In-depth rate analyses conducted four years ago, and a <br />companion rate model, are proving to be successful in maintaining fund stability and <br />forecasting resource needs. In FY04 the fund reserve exceeded the target balance of six <br />months for the first time since FY98. Service demand continued to increase in FY05-and <br />FY06, providing adequate reserves to fund FY07 proposals for additional staff to address <br />current workload demands and contingency needs for large-scale commercial projects. <br />41 <br />__ _ <br />