Building permits would cost 10.7% more next year, with 30 fewer city jobs. Last year's increase split the Council

If you are planning a backyard cottage, a townhouse project or a remodel, the city's permit office is about to cost more and have fewer people. Mayor Katie Wilson's 2027-2028 budget would raise many Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) fees by 10.7 percent and cut 30 positions, and councilmembers questioned the plan at a budget briefing this month.

The details are in the Council Central Staff's SDCI memo, presented at the Oct. 13 Select Budget Committee meeting (agenda item).

What the budget proposes

According to the memo:

• Fees. All SDCI fees would rise 3.7 percent for inflation. Fees in the land use and building cost centers, which are running short, would rise 10.7 percent. The increase would bring in about $6.3 million a year.
• A new rental fee. Landlords would pay $11 per rental unit, every other year, to fund enforcement of the city's new rules on disclosing fees in rental agreements. It would raise about $1.3 million in 2027 and $0.8 million in 2028.
• Staff. SDCI would go from 452 to 422 full-time positions. That includes eliminating 34 positions, seven of them filled, while adding three positions for rental regulation enforcement and a housing ombud to help low-income housing applicants. The layoffs would save about $6 million a year.
• Budget. SDCI's total budget would fall from $126.9 million to $120.3 million in 2027.
• Reserve. SDCI keeps a core staffing reserve so it can hold on to trained reviewers when permit volume drops. That reserve is $12 million in 2026 and would fall to $8 million in 2027 and $1 million in 2028, even with the fee increases and layoffs. Central Staff warns it would be used up after 2028 unless permit volumes change.

CivicTide estimated the 10.7 percent increase at about $369 on an accessory dwelling unit permit and about $372 per townhouse unit.

Missed state deadlines

The memo also says the city has missed state deadlines to update its Critical Areas Ordinance and Shoreline Master Program. Meeting those updates can be a scoring factor for state and federal grants and loans, including from the state Public Works Board and the Department of Ecology's Clean Water State Revolving Fund. SDCI began work on the critical areas update in August 2026, the memo says. Last year the Council asked SDCI and the planning office for a plan to catch up; the memo says that report has not been provided.

At the briefing, Councilmember Rob Saka (District 1) said there was "no paperwork and no plan to get the paperwork," and Council President Joy Hollingsworth (District 3) said the Council is "left holding the bag" on commitments that the executive's one-time cuts walk back, CivicTide reported. Councilmember Maritza Rivera (District 4) warned the fee burden lands on small projects, according to CivicTide. Budget Chair Dan Strauss (District 6) said he would look at extending employment for laid-off SDCI staff by six months in his balancing package, CivicTide reported.

What our records add: last year's 18 percent increase was a split vote

This would be the second fee increase in two budgets. Last November the Council passed CB 121105, sponsored by Strauss, as part of the 2026 budget (Nov. 21, 2025 meeting). The memo says that ordinance raised land use and building permit fees by about 18 percent. City Clerk records show it passed 6-3, with Rivera and two former members, Sara Nelson and Mark Solomon, voting no.

The new rental fee would pay for enforcement of the rental agreement fee-disclosure rules the Council passed in August (CB 121254, Aug. 11 meeting), sponsored by Councilmember Dionne Foster (Position 9).

Options before the Council

Central Staff offered two sets of options:

• Fund health: keep requiring quarterly reports on SDCI's fund, ask SDCI to draft rules for staffing levels, reserves and when to raise fees or seek General Fund help, or both.
• State mandates: renew the request for a catch-up plan, move the authority to write grant-related regulations to departments that regularly apply for those grants, such as Seattle Public Utilities, or both.

What's next

SDCI is on the agenda for Council budget proposals on Oct. 27 (Inf 3003). The fee ordinance is budget legislation, so it will be decided with the rest of the budget. The public hearing is Nov. 5 and the final vote is scheduled for Nov. 20, according to the Select Budget Committee schedule.