Redmond Budget Would Create a New City Department to Speed Up Building Permits

Redmond, Washington, is planning a new city department whose job is to get building permits approved faster. The proposal is part of the preliminary 2027-2028 budget that Mayor Angela Birney introduced to the Redmond City Council on Oct. 6, and the council has been going through it line by line this month.

The city's budget announcement lists the department among its highlights: "Creating a new city department that will focus on getting permits approved faster and enhancing the City’s customer service standards."

In her budget message, Birney tied it to the cost of building in the city: "Together with our business partners, we are investing in improving our permitting process to reduce the time and cost of permitting new buildings."

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What the new department would cost

The budget materials don't give the department a name yet. City finance staff walked the council through it at the first budget deliberation on Oct. 22, and the presentation spells out what approval would set up:

• a new enterprise fund, so the department would run on its own books
• eight new positions: a director, a deputy director over building and plan review, inspection and code enforcement, an inspection manager, transportation and stormwater engineering supervisors, an administrative supervisor and two administrative specialists
• a one-time budget for office setup, a change management plan and a "Development User Fee Study," set at $250,000
• a risk contingency of $1,700,000

The ongoing staff cost comes to $3,855,681 over the next two years. With the one-time items, the first two years total $6,355,681, dropping to $4,048,464 in the 2029-2030 budget.

The fee study is the piece builders and permit applicants will watch, since it looks at what Redmond charges for development review.

Council questions

Councilmembers want to see whether permit revenue can carry the load. One open item on the council's questions list is a "Request for a 4-6 year projection of the Development Services revenues vs. expenditures to ensure sustainable financial position."

What's next

The council holds more budget deliberations at 6 p.m. tonight (Oct. 29) and on Nov. 5. The last public hearing on the budget is at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, and final adoption is expected Tuesday, Nov. 10.

The same budget also pays to rebuild Fire Station 11 and the Teen Center and to redevelop the city's Maintenance and Operations Center.

Sources

• Redmond Mayor Angela Birney Introduces Preliminary 2027 - 2028 Budget, City of Redmond
• 2027-2028 Preliminary Budget Deliberations #1, October 22, 2026, City of Redmond
• Mayor's Message, 2027-2028 Preliminary Budget, City of Redmond
• 2027-2028 Budget Council Questions Matrix, City of Redmond