City Council

(30)\n25-0006-S57\nBUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT relative to the waiver\nof plan check and permit fees associated with the reconstruction of\nprivate property damaged or destroyed in the January 2025 Wildfires.\nRecommendations for Council action, SUBJECT TO THE APPROVAL\nOF THE MAYOR:\n1. NOTE AND FILE the following reports and Amending Motions,\nattached to the Council file:\na. City Administrative Officer (CAO) report dated May 7,\n2025\nb. CAO report dated October 2, 2025\nc. City Attorney report and draft Ordinance dated June 20,\n2025\nd. Amending Motion 23C (Rodriguez – Yaroslavsky) dated\nDecember 2, 2025\ne. Amending Motion 23D (Park – Nazarian) dated December\n2, 2025.\n2. APPROVE Option 3 (A, B, and C) as detailed in the CAO report\ndated January 16, 2026, attached to the Council file, for the\nwaiver of fees for all structures, regardless of rebuild/repair\nscale, only up to the amount attributed to 110 percent of the\noriginal footprint, with an aggregate cap of $90 million, for three\nyears. Property owners would be liable for fees in excess of 110\npercent rebuild/repair scale.\n3. FIND that the waiving of plan check and permit fees for\nrebuilding properties that were damaged or destroyed as a\nresult of the January 2025 Wildfires represents a clear public\nbenefit inasmuch as the waivers would remove barriers to\nreconstruction and benefit the economy of the City of Los\nAngeles.\n4. REQUEST the City Attorney to prepare and present a new\nOrdinance consistent with its recommendations and including\nall previous provisions around eligibility subject to ownership at\nthe time of the January 2025 Wildfires, including relative\npositions from previous draft Ordinances that align with this\nreport, with a timeline for eligibility retroactive to the date of the\nfire and not longer than three years from the date that the\nCouncil acts.\n5. REQUEST the Controller to establish a new account, Wildfire\nEmergency Permit Fee Subsidies, in the General City Purposes\n(GCP); and, appropriate $10 million from a temporary revolving\nloan from the Building and Safety Building Permit Enterprise\nFund (Enterprise Fund) to be repaid with interest.\n6. INSTRUCT the Department of Building and Safety and other\nrelevant City departments to establish fee subsidy procedures,\nincluding the process for obtaining reimbursements of\nsubsidized fees from the GCP to ensure full cost recovery for\nthe Enterprise Fund.\n7. INSTRUCT the CAO to:\n​\na. Identify unrestricted funds to repay the Enterprise Fund,\nfor any and all fees waived in connection with the January\n2025 Wildfires, with interest calculated at the City Daily\nInterest Pool Rate.\nb. Recommend a funding strategy to the Mayor and Council,\nfor inclusion in the Fiscal Year 2026-27 Budget, that\nwould limit the General Fund obligation to a maximum of\n$30 million per year over the next three fiscal years.\nc. Report back to the Budget and Finance Committee, with\nsupport from affected City departments, via the Financial\nStatus Report process with updates on the use of this\nwaiver program, including the types of properties for which\npermits have been issued.\nFiscal Impact Statement: The CAO reports that should the Council\napprove the recommendations contained in the CAO report dated\nJanuary 16, 2026, and waive fees for all structures (single family\ndwelling, duplexes, accessory dwelling units, multi-family dwellings,\nand commercial properties), regardless of rebuild/repair scale, up to\nthe amount attributable to 110 percent, the General Fund impact is\n$98.30 million, not including the costs of borrowing. Should the\nCouncil choose to limit the fee waivers to only single-family dwellings\nand duplexes that are rebuilding only up to 110 percent of the original\nfootprint, the estimated General Fund impact is $80.4 million, not\nincluding the costs of borrowing. Should the Council choose to extend\nthe fee waivers to all structures with no limit on the rebuild/repair\nscale, the General Fund impact could be over $126.43 million, not\nincluding the costs of borrowing.\nFinancial Policies Statement: The CAO reports that in order to comply\nwith the City Financial Policies, the City Council needs to make a\nfinding of public benefit to waive fees for services for individual users.\nBecause the fees to be waived are for services funded through a\nsource of funds generated by the collection of those fees, a General\nFund appropriation would be required to prevent other service users\nfrom improperly subsidizing such fees.