If you're planning to build within Town of Jackson limits — whether a custom residence or a larger commercial project — a policy shift moving through Town Hall right now is worth your attention.
The Change: From Square Footage to Valuation
On August 17, the Jackson Town Council voted unanimously to move forward with a new way of calculating building permit fees. Instead of basing fees on a project's square footage, the town would calculate them based on the dollar valuation of the construction. The vote isn't the final word — councilors still need to formally adopt the change — but it signals clearly where things are headed.
Town staff say the valuation-based model is more consistent with how other similar mountain communities calculate fees, and Senior Planner Tyler Valentine described it as a fairer approach overall — one where fees could actually decrease if the construction market cools.
What It Could Mean in Dollars
The numbers illustrate just how significant this shift could be, particularly for residential clients.
Take a custom home valued at $2 million and measuring roughly 4,944 square feet. Under the current square-footage formula, that project generates a building fee of about $7,200. Under the proposed valuation-based formula, that same fee would jump to roughly $18,667 — an increase of about 159%.
By comparison, a much larger commercial project — a $40 million, 110,755-square-foot hotel — would see its fee rise from about $81,395 to $153,579, an increase of about 89%.
It's a notable detail: the percentage jump is actually steeper for the residential example than for the commercial one, even though improved fairness and cost recovery are the stated goals behind the change.
Why the Town Is Considering This
The rationale centers on cost recovery. Over the last decade, fees collected by the town's planning and building departments have covered roughly 62% of those departments' operating costs. That recovery rate is projected to slip to somewhere between 50% and 60% without a change. In a separate 4-1 vote, councilors backed a new target of 60% to 75% cost recovery for those departments going forward — funding that supports staffing, office space, vehicles, and more.
Councilor Jonathan Schechter cast the lone dissenting vote. Notably, his objection wasn't to the valuation-based approach itself, which he said he supports — it was to moving ahead without first studying whether fees could be structured to ease the burden on people building primary residences while asking more of developers behind large commercial projects.
What This Means If You're Planning to Build
This change is still working its way toward formal adoption, but it's a smart thing to have on your radar if a custom home or new construction project is anywhere in your plans for Jackson. A few things worth doing now:
- Ask your contractor or architect how the two fee formulas — current and proposed — would apply to your specific project and its estimated valuation.
- Ask the town directly whether applications submitted before the change formally takes effect would still be evaluated under the current, square-footage-based fee structure.
- Factor timing into your planning. If you're weighing when to break ground, understanding where this policy stands could meaningfully affect your project budget.
As always, if you're considering building, buying, or selling in Jackson Hole and want to talk through how policy shifts like this one could affect your plans, we're happy to help you think it through. -Jennifer and Rachael
Source: Jackson Hole News&Guide.
