BILLINGS — The Billings City Council is set to vote Monday evening on a proposal that could reduce construction permitting costs by 23 to 31 percent.
The vote comes at a time when housing and construction costs have been consistently increasing since the COVID-19 pandemic.
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It's a situation that builders like Greg McCall have been dealing with since the pandemic, when all aspects of construction became more expensive.
"Post Covid, what happened with housing and the run up that occurred drove those prices up," McCall said Monday afternoon. "As those costs went up, so too did the costs of the permit. Because some of the cost of the permit was based on the cost of construction."
City Council member Scott Aspenlieder said the proposed fee reduction is part of a broader effort to keep Billings competitive.
"How do we make sure that Billings stays the most affordable place to do business and the quickest place to get permits and invest," Aspenlieder said.
Aspenlieder expressed optimism about what the vote could mean for the city's future.
"I think this is something that just encourages continued investment and continued development in our community," Aspenlieder said.
McCall acknowledged the reduction, though he tempered expectations about its overall impact.
"It's a little chunk, and any little chunk is good. It's not as much as people might hope it would be," McCall said.
McCall also explained that the fee reduction is driven in part by state law, which limits money collected through building permits the city can hold in reserve to three years' worth of expenses.
"Some of the reality is, they are only allowed to keep so much reserves in their account," McCall said. "At this point, those are full. So the only other thing they can do is reduce fees, which is appropriate in this case."
The city has taken similar action before, most recently in 2023. McCall said he is in support of the decision.
"I'm thankful that our building department is a very good division of our government," McCall said.
Aspenlieder said he hopes the move will have a broader effect on continued growth in Billings.
"I think this is something that we can do to help continue those projects going forward," Aspenlieder said.
