Department: County Engineer
Department Head/Elected Official: Milton Rahman, PhD, P.E., PMP, CFM, ENV SP, County Engineer
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Financial Authorization
Project ID (if applicable): Job No. 210317
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): Ernst & Young, LLP
MWDBE Contracted Goal (if applicable):12.81%
MWDBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWDBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal is not 0% and is listed above
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
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Request for approval of the expenditure of funds with Ernst & Young, LLP, in the amount of $720,000.00 for consulting services to perform an assessment of Harris County's Permitting fees for the period of November 2024 - February 2025 in connection with an agreement approved by Commissioners Court on March 22, 2022 (Job No. 21-0317), MWDBE Contracted Goal: 12.81%.
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Background and Discussion: Harris County has not adjusted permit fees for over a decade, including no adjustments for inflation, and as such is exploring opportunities to better align the current permit fee model to the existing cost framework. The consultant will perform a detailed cost recovery assessment for permit issuance to align fees optimally to reflect the true direct and indirect costs incurred by the County. The consultant will also support Harris County with an assessment of the end-to-end permitting process for key permitting types, including people, policies/procedures, and technology/tools to identify, quantify (where feasible) and prioritize areas of improvement to drive efficiencies. Any potential cost efficiencies would then be fed back into the fee models developed.
Expected Impact: To identify all relevant costs associated with permit issuance, including administrative, operational, and software-related expenses, and propose a fee structure (or alternate fee structures) to support cost recovery.
Alternative Options: The county will continue to bear...
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