After lowering solar panel fees, council agrees to refund
Morgan Hill – Residents who pulled permits to install solar panels in 2005 will get a partial refund.
Recently, the city council voted 4 to 1 to issue refunds to the 10 projects permitted last year. The refunds will cost the city $9,533 and follow a December decision to lower solar permitting fees by as much as 60 percent.
The biggest check, for $3,906, will be written to local businessman Bob Kushner, who inspired the city to lower its solar permitting fees when he complained about the $5,389 he paid to install a $256,000 solar panel project on his Monterey Road office building.
“I’m very pleased, I’m delighted,” Kushner said of the rebate. “I can use the money.”
The city first issued permits for solar photovoltaic roof systems in 2003. Larry Ford, of the city’s building department, said the fees were higher because the new technology required extensive additional work.
“To start up, we dedicated a lot of staff time and training to make sure we were prepared to deal with these kinds of permits,” Ford said.
Mayor Dennis Kennedy and Councilman Mark Grzan were in favor of rebates to each of the 31 projects issued permits since 2003, but were swayed by arguments that the fees were valid when the process began.
Councilman Larry Carr opposed the refund. He said only Kushner’s permit, and those issued after, should receive a rebate.
“I think it’s a dangerous precedent,” Carr said. “If we’re going to spend public dollars to refund these fees, we have to have a real good rationale.”
The city lowered its fees in December, after Kushner complained and a Sierra Club report criticized the fees as among the highest in the Bay Area.
Under new city policy, the cost of a permit for a standard residential solar panel installation has been slashed by as much as 60 percent.
The actual discount will depend on the size of the project.
In the Sierra Club report, Morgan Hill had the fifth highest rates among 40 Bay Area cities. Gilroy had one of the lowest rates, with fees just more than $400.
Residents due a rebate will be contacted by the city.
