To the editor:

The city of Lawrence and Douglas County are both considering increasing fees for building permits in their budget processes. Enforcing building code standards for new construction and remodel work is necessary to ensure the health, safety, and welfare of our community. The city and county incur many costs with code enforcement of home construction. Those costs are the responsibility of the homeowner and are paid via building permit fees. The Lawrence Home Builders Assn. supports a permit fee structure based on all identified costs.

Kansas courts have ruled that fees charged must have a reasonable relationship to the fee payer and should not be for the purpose of raising revenue over and above the expenses of the governmental purpose. It appears Douglas County is appropriately proposing an increase to their current fee structure. However, the city of Lawrence generates significant excess revenue from permits beyond actual costs. That excess revenue funds many activities of the city that have relationship to the fee payers (homeowners). And yet, more fee increases are proposed for 2003! If the excess revenue were used to enhance the work of the building code officials, the requirement for reasonable relationship would be met, but that is not the case in the city.

The group detrimentally affected by unjustified fees is not the builders it’s the entire Lawrence community. Unnecessarily increasing the cost of housing means more families will fail to attain homeownership.

Bobbie Flory, executive director,

Lawrence Home Builders Assn.