Residents and developers in King George County could soon see a wide-ranging set of fee increases. This month, county staff presented a proposed overhaul of the county’s fee schedule to the Board of Supervisors, which approved advancing the proposals to a public hearing.

King George’s fees have not been updated since 2021, prompting a comprehensive review to better align charges with current costs, regional trends, and staff workload, the director of community development, Kelli LeDuc, told the Board.

The proposed updates span multiple departments, including planning, zoning, GIS, environmental services, and building.

County staff explained that some application types were corrected, reorganized, or removed to match updated ordinances and current practices. In addition, several items previously absent from the fee schedule— such as public hearing deferrals requested by applicants, zoning text amendments, and exception requests—have been added to ensure costs associated with public notices and staff review are covered.

While the full list of proposed changes is extensive, officials highlighted several examples during the presentation to illustrate the scope of the updates.

Among them, boundary line adjustment plan review fees would increase by about $100 per application type. On the zoning side, new $50 fees are proposed for DMV and business license permits, as well as small increases for GIS fees.

Rich Herron, the county’s building official, laid out a range of fee increases related to building.

“I didn’t just pull these numbers out of the sky,” he told the Board, noting he began reviewing the fees last summer and compared King George’s charges to Spotsylvania, Westmoreland, and Fredericksburg.

He said the idea is to be competitive but not too high. “You get into too high of fees, then you get a lot of people doing work without a permit.”

Under the proposal, decks for single-family homes would increase 5 cents per square foot— translating to an increase of about $100 for a 2,000-square-foot home, $150 for a 3,000-squarefoot home, and approximately $200 for a 4,000-square-foot residence, he said. The minimum fee is proposed to remain at $200.

The cost for assigning a 911 address would double from $25 to $50. Updates to remodeling and interior finishing work are also included. Minimum fees for projects such as finishing basements or partial spaces would rise from $150 to $175, while minimum fees for electrical, plumbing, and mechanical permits would increase by $5 per trade. Smaller projects, such as finishing a bathroom in a basement, would see a $25 increase in minimum fees to $175.

Exterior improvements like steps and stoops would increase by $25, while pools with electrical components would rise by $50. A new minimum fee of $175 is proposed for boathouses.

Other newly proposed charges include a $100 plan review fee for detached structures and a $125 fee for on-grade hot tubs. The county would charge $255 for a photovoltaic system and $125 per hour for after-hours inspections, with a two-hour minimum required.

Double Solar Revenue

In the area of renewable energy, LeDuc noted that they are looking at proposing a significant shift in how commercial solar projects are billed. She said they reviewed what other counties charge. Currently, King George is charging per megawatt, but of the alternatives, county staff is leaning toward a fee equal to 1% of total project cost.

LeDuc said this change could more than double current permit revenue from commercial solar projects.

With little discussion and no calls for changes, the Board of Supervisors voted to move the item to an April 7 public hearing, where the community will have an opportunity to weigh in.