The cost of land use and building permit fees in Island County will increase precipitously next year to cover a budget deficit.

The county commissioners unanimously adopted an amendment to the Planning and Community Development fee schedule this week, which hikes fees by 40% effective Jan. 15, 2026. An additional 20% increase will begin on Jan. 15, 2027. After that, the fees will increase each year based on the consumer price index, which is a measure of inflation.

At the meeting Tuesday, the commissioners received no public comment about the increases.

Matt Kukuk, assistant director in the planning department, said the increases are intended to bring the fees up to a level where they cover the actual staffing costs for reviewing various permits. More importantly, the fee increases will balance the planning department’s budget, which had a $1.4 million deficit.

Stephanie Montgomery, the office manager for the department, said the staff went through the budget line-by-line to try to make cuts but could only find $30,000 in reductions.

Island County Commissioner Jill Johnson, a Republican, said she supports the increases since there was an attempt at cost cutting. She blamed the “inflationary environment” for the need to increase fees but added that the county will maintain the current level of service.

“We are not immune from the economy that we operate in,” she said.

The fee schedules include a long list of different permits and land-use decisions, including simply building permits, short- and long-plat approvals, variances, shoreline exemptions, clearing and grading, road establishment, zoning amendments, zoning code interpretations, wetland reports, Ebey’s Landing design review, plumbing and mechanical permits and much more.

The schedules contain fees for Planning, Public Health and Public Works services.

Two years ago, the commissioners held a public meeting with developers and builders who complained about the length of time it took to get permits. Some of the developers said that the delays cost them a lot of money and that they would rather pay higher fees and get quicker service.

Afterward, the commissioners made improvements in the process and increased land use and building permit fees by 35%, effective Feb. 1, 2024. Prior to that, the building permit fee schedule was last updated in 2009 while the land use permit fee schedule was last updated in 2014.

Kukuk said the department looked at a 50% increase for next year but decided on the 40% hike after comparing numbers with Skagit, Snohomish, San Juan and Jefferson counties.

The comparison chart that the staff created shows that the fees vary widely in the different counties. A pre-application conference, for example, currently costs $398 in Island County but will increase to $557 next year. San Juan County currently charges $70 an hour, Skagit County charges $600, Snohomish County charges $480 and Jefferson County charges $690.90.

In Island County, the cost of a boundary line adjustment was $644 in 2023. It’s currently at $853 and will increase to $1,194 next year and to $1,433 in 2027.