Remodeling projects up without fees

In 4-month period with no charges for permits, Costa Mesa residents spend $15 million.Costa Mesa residents spent almost $15 million on remodeling projects during a four-month program in which the city waived the fees that are usually charged to residents seeking to refurbish their houses.

Between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31, Costa Mesa offered free building, plumbing, mechanical and electrical permits for home improvements. City numbers show that during the same time in 2004, when permit fees were being collected, residents spent about $5.3 million on home improvements.

The dollar figures only reflect the value of projects requiring building permits, Costa Mesa building official Khanh Nguyen said. Under the program, 667 building permits were issued, compared with 291 during the last four months of 2004.

The program was intended to encourage Costa Mesa residents to invest in their homes. Mayor Allan Mansoor said the City Council could discuss a plan to waive permit fees again this autumn when council members work on the city’s budget for the next fiscal year.

Mansoor and City Councilman Eric Bever, who proposed the program, said they considered the program a success.

“Anytime you can streamline things, which this did, and anytime you can reduce the cost to the taxpayer, it’s a good thing,” Mansoor said.

The city waived more than $350,000 of fees in the months the program was in effect. Nguyen said Costa Mesa charged about $110,000 in permit fees during the same period in 2004. The city spent almost $50,000 on overtime, consultants and other expenses to enact the program.

Though Mansoor said remodeling projects could put money back into Costa Mesa’s coffers through sales taxes and eventual property tax revenues, he described the program’s cost as an investment that paid back in ways other than money -- by improving the aesthetics of Costa Mesa neighborhoods.

“It says, ‘This is a nice place to live,’ ” Mansoor said.

Similarly, Bever said he believes the residents who did not undertake projects through the program gain from others’ participation.

“I think everyone benefits when five people on your block get a new roof,” Bever said.

Though the city waived its fees, homeowners that built additions larger than 500 square feet were required to pay school facility fees. Costa Mesa finance director Marc Puckett said that through the program, almost $160,000 was collected for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

Those funds can only be used by the district to pay for facilities-related expenses, district Deputy Supt. Paul Reed said. He said the amount of fees collected through Costa Mesa’s program is not very significant compared with the district’s budget, and would be enough to purchase three portable classrooms.