WAILUKU - The county Planning Department has put out a request for proposals for a study of permit processing costs.
An audit in 2006 found that the department had some of the longest wait times in the country for processing permits, as well as some of the lowest fees. Since then, the department has significantly reduced permitting backlogs and turnaround time, but still estimates that fees cover only about 10 percent of processing costs, said Planning Director Jeff Hunt.
"There's no free lunch," he said. "If you don't pay for it with fees, all that means is the taxpayers are subsidizing it."
The deadline for proposals for the study is Feb. 20, and Hunt said he hoped the results would be available later this year, to be used in the fiscal year 2011 county budget.
Hunt said the wait for some Planning Department permits was as long as six months or more when he arrived. Since then, the department has looked at streamlining rules, training staff, increasing the use of its Web site, using overtime and other steps to reduce the wait, he said.
"It's down to weeks now," he said.
The "Fee Study and Cost Recovery Plan" was recommended by the 2006 department audit. It would include estimates of the cost of processing permits and options for recovering some of the costs.
Ultimately, it would be up to the Maui County Council to decide how much of the costs should be covered by fees, and how much subsidized by taxpayers.
"Full cost recovery - some jurisdictions do that, but it's difficult," Hunt said.
