City Council Work on Permit Fee Reforms Stalled As Projects Loom

The Olney City Council is moving closer to approving a revised and simplified building permit fee structure, a step city leaders say is increasingly urgent as development interest begins to accelerate.

During its Feb. 10 meeting, the Council revisited a proposed overhaul of the city’s permit system that has been in the works since mid-2025 but stalled amid competing priorities.

Mayor Rue Rogers said the timing has become more pressing as the city prepares for an expected uptick in construction tied to newly created tax increment reinvestment zones (TIRZ) and the development of a major data center and new solar farm in southern Young County.

“This goes back to last year,” Mayor Rogers said, noting that the goal of the revised structure is to simplify permit fees, make them easier for residents and developers to understand, and ensure the City fully recovers its costs. The City faced complaints in the past two years as housing developers and contractors for several industrial projects in town struggled with unexpected costs and a complex set of rules implemented under former City Administrator Simon Dwyer.

Councilmember Steven Nurre said a committee had already developed a one-page fee structure and forwarded it to City Attorney Bill Myers for formal drafting. However, the proposal never made it back to the Council for consideration.

“It’s been approved the way we worded it,” Mr. Nurre said. “We just needed it put into a legal format so Council could adopt it.”

City Secretary Tammy Hourigan and city staff said they had not yet reviewed the proposal and emphasized the need to confirm that inspection fees adequately cover the City’s expenses, particularly for large projects that can require repeated inspections.

“We’ve learned how expensive inspections can be,” Ms. Hourigan said, citing recent projects that required 15 to 20 inspections. “We just want to make sure we’re not losing money.”

Mayor Rogers recommended reconvening the original working group — including Mr. Nurre, Olney Economic Development Corporation board president Johnny Moore, Councilmember Ronnie Cowart, city staff, and Mr. Myers — to finalize the document and bring it back to Council for review.

Mayor Rogers said he was meeting with a civil engineer exploring housing development options as a result of the Council’s approval in December of a housing reinvestment zone dubbed TIRZ-1.