(a) It shall be the duty of the City Council to establish schedules of fees for plans, specifications, printing, construction inspection, design engineering and other engineering services performed by the City, which shall be as close as is practical to the actual payroll, independent contractor fees and overhead costs thereof. Such schedules may be changed or amended from time to time as City Council may find necessary to make the schedules conform to such costs.
(b) The Zoning Inspector, or his or her representative, is hereby authorized and directed to collect such fees and deposit them with the City Auditor.
(c) For inspections of private projects outside the City Government, the Zoning Inspector, or his or her designee, is hereby given the prerogative to authorize the commencement of a project by a private contractor, with charges determined and charged after the completion of such project or at an earlier period of time. When a developer or contractor has no record of service with the City or other unusual circumstances exist, the Zoning Inspector may estimate the inspection charges and require payment of 110 percent of that total be paid to the City prior to the commencement of any work.
(d) As the actual inspection charges are being paid and accrued, the Zoning Inspector shall, from time to time, re-estimate the inspection charges for the project so that a deposit of money in the amount of ten (10) percent over the actual estimated costs. However, at the discretion of the Zoning Inspector, such charges may be made, instead, during and/or at the completion of the project.
(e) Upon termination of the project, any unused balance of deposits paid by a private contractor shall be returned to the depositor by the City.