The Bureau of Development Services (now a part of Portland Permitting & Development) proposed changes to fees for its various services that were adopted by the Portland City Council. Fees are set to cover the costs of providing services. Ninety-seven percent of the bureau’s revenues are derived from fees for its services.
Portland Permitting & Development faced increased costs for labor as well as for materials and services during the fiscal year that began on July 1, 2024. Most fees were proposed to increase by eight percent. Fees for a few programs, such as Field Issuance Remodel and Accessory Short-term Rentals, were adopted to increase by greater than eight percent.
These adopted fee increases are intended to recover current and past inflationary cost increases and help maintain service delivery. Changes in these fees are subject to review and approval by the Portland City Council. Portland Permitting & Development also provides permitting and land use review services for properties located in some unincorporated areas of Multnomah County, and those fees are subject to review and approval by the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners.
For the complete details of the adopted and proposed changes, please review the fee schedules listed below.
What comes next
The Portland City Council considered the proposed fee increases in a public hearing on Wednesday, May 15. The City Council approved the fee increases on May 22. Those fees took effect July 1, 2024.
The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners approved fees for certain unincorporated areas on Sept. 5, 2024.
What about System Development Charges?
The fees listed below are different from System Development Charges (SDCs). SDCs are charged by bureaus that provide utilities and other public facilities such as the Portland Bureau of Transportation, the Portland Water Bureau, the Bureau of Environmental Services, and Portland Parks & Recreation.
If you have questions about whether particular SDCs increased on July 1, please contact those bureaus directly. General contact information is provided below. For more detailed information, please visit the SDC information page.
- Portland Bureau of Transportation: 311@portlandoregon.gov
- Portland Water Bureau: devrev@portlandoregon.gov
- Bureau of Environmental Services: BESDevelopmentReview@portlandoregon.gov
- Portland Parks & Recreation: parks.sdc@portlandoregon.gov