Fee schedules rarely make headlines individually. A plan review fee moves a few percent. A water and sewer connection charge is restructured. A new inspection tier is added. Considered one at a time, each change looks modest. Added together across a single build, they are one of the fastest-growing line items in a Central Minnesota home.

CMBA has begun tracking adopted fee schedules across area municipalities so members can compare what the same house costs to permit in different jurisdictions. The early picture: identical plans can differ by thousands of dollars in government-imposed cost depending only on which side of a city line the lot sits.

The association is not arguing that fees should be zero. Inspections protect buyers and infrastructure has to be paid for. What CMBA is asking is that increases be tied to a documented cost-of-service study, phased with enough notice for projects already in the pipeline, and disclosed in a format buyers can actually see.

Members are encouraged to submit their own permit invoices to the CMBA office. The more real project data the association can put in front of councils, the harder it is to treat these increases as rounding errors.