(1) The council shall adopt a resolution setting forth the fees, charges and rates for the various development applications, permits, and approvals authorized pursuant to this code and shall update said resolution as is appropriate and/or necessary for establishing such fees, charges and rates.

(2) In the review of a land use permit application, the city may determine that such review requires the retention of professional consultant services. In addition to any land use fees that an applicant is required to submit, the applicant shall also be responsible to reimburse the city for the cost of professional consultant services if the city determines such services are necessary to process and/or complete its review of the application submittal. These professional services may include, but shall not be limited to, planning, hearing examiner, engineering, traffic engineering, legal, financial and accounting, soils, mechanical and structural engineering, and electrical engineering, all contracted staff review expenses, publication costs and any consultant fees incurred to be able to review and process the application or permit request.

Additionally, the applicant shall be responsible for the costs of any independent inspector employed by the city to inspect installations of utilities to be delivered to the city upon completion as a condition of the platting process. The applicant is responsible for all costs for environmental impact studies, traffic studies, soil studies, and other reports required for project evaluation. The city may also require the applicant to deposit an amount with the city which is estimated, at the discretion of the administrator, to be sufficient to cover anticipated costs of retaining professional consultant services and to ensure reimbursement to the city for such costs.

(3) Fees paid are for administrative costs incurred in processing the application and are therefore nonrefundable, whether the permit is issued or not.

(4) Any application requiring the publication, mailing, and/or posting of notices or ordinances shall be required to reimburse the city for all such costs incurred by the city.

(5) The fees shall be billed to the applicant on a monthly basis based upon the time taken by city staff, city consultants, and/or the city attorney to review the subject applications (the invoice shall note the time and related charges). Any required deposit shall be due at the time of application. The deposit shall be held by the city and billed against the final invoice submitted by the city’s consultants. An administrative fee of 10 percent shall also be added to cover the city’s administrative costs of processing the applicant’s invoices and billing expenses. If more than one application is required for a project, the applicant shall pay all deposits and fees as indicated for each required application.

Invoices shall be due and payable immediately upon receipt by the applicant. If the planning director ascertains that invoices are not paid within 21 days of mailing, the application shall be deemed incomplete and all processing shall stop until the invoice is paid in full. If the planning director ascertains that a deposit balance is less than the required minimum deposit balance, and said minimum balance is not restored within 21 days of mailing, the application shall be deemed incomplete and all processing shall stop until the minimum balance is restored. Where no deposit is required, the applicant will be billed for the overall costs not covered by any application fee.

All invoices not paid within 30 days of the date of mailing shall be assessed a 12 percent annual percentage rate (one percent per month) interest charge. If the final invoice exceeds the amount of the deposit, the applicant shall be responsible for paying the additional amount due. Permits or other approvals shall not be issued until the final invoice is paid in full. The city shall refund any funds left from the deposit after the final invoice is paid. (Ord. 436 § 1, 2010)