Award Date

8-6-2010

Degree Type

Capstone Project

Degree Name

Master of Public Administration (MPA)

Department

Public Administration

Advisor 1

Christopher Stream

Number of Pages

44

Abstract

The City of Las Vegas Building and Safety Department (B & S) is being forced to make a number of difficult decisions regarding the structure of fees charged for the various services it provides. Like many building departments nationwide, B & S is experiencing the financial impact of the current economic decline affecting the construction industry. These fees directly affect B & S’ ability to staff the department in a manner that enables them to deliver an adequate level of service. With construction permits issued by B & S plummeting from an all-time high of 19,147 in 2004 to 5,093 in 2009, the department has reduced staffing levels from 124 employees in 2008 to 45 in 2010. Nevertheless, current methods for generating revenues are based on outdated fee and valuation schedules from 1997. State statutes, city ordinances, and administrative codes dictate how fees may be generated and place limitations on B & S’ discretion in raising fees. Analysis was conducted by comparing the current permit fee schedules to other jurisdictions’ both locally and regionally, applying a valuation comparison using the more updated International Code Council (ICC) guidelines, reviewing the historical increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) since 1997 and conducting a break-even analysis. Presented in the report are recommendations for modifying the current fee structure and alternatives for potential revenue generation .

Keywords

Fees; Administrative; Las Vegas. Dept. of Building and Safety; Licenses fees

Disciplines

Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Comments

Summary, Abstract, and Presentation attached. Presentation consists of 18 PowerPoint slides.

Additional Files
2010Adelbai-Hurd_VBrown_JTurley_MWeidner_Summary.pdf (171 kB)
Summary of City of Las Vegas, Department of Building and Safety: Valuation Based Fee Schedule Analysis
2010Adelbai-Hurd_VBrown_JTurley_MWeidner_Appendix.pdf (694 kB)
Appendix For: City of Las Vegas, Department of Building and Safety: Valuation Based Fee Schedule Analysis
2010Adelbai_Hurd_VBrown__JTurley_MWeidner_Presentation.pdf (2579 kB)
Presentation for: City of Las Vegas, Department of Building and Safety: Valuation Based Fee Schedule Analysis

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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