Permitting isn’t just about regulatory compliance — it’s about financial sustainability. Permitting fees are the most significant source of revenue that municipalities receive from the community development process, yet many jurisdictions end up leaving money on the table by way of inefficient plan review processes that delay approvals, hinder development, and drain staff resources.
Let’s examine how streamlining the plan review process can support better revenue generation through permitting.
The Revenue Reality
Permitting fees provide a flexible, service-based revenue source that can be adjusted to reflect costs, economic growth, and local policy goals. Municipalities can use these fees to diversify revenue streams beyond property and sales taxes, to help offset the costs of regulatory activities, and in some cases, to fund critical infrastructure needed for community growth.
The revenue results for streamlining can be impressive: A study by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control demonstrated that the state was able to generate between $72.9 and $103.9 million by cutting permitting times by 40%, in part due to digitizing their permitting process and implementing an electronic plan review (ePlan) review solution.
Conversely, delays in plan review create significant revenue constraints which stem the flow of this important revenue stream. When projects stall in review, cities and counties face delayed revenue realization, reduced development interest on behalf of investors, and fewer completed projects generating ongoing tax revenue.
Leveraging ePlan Review to Optimize Revenue Generation
The manual plan review process represents a critical bottleneck in the municipal permitting process. In place of a purpose-built electronic plan review solution, many cities and counties still rely on paper-based processes, PDF readers, or construction markup tools to handle their plan review process. These makeshift solutions create costly inefficiencies, like limited visibility into project progress, the frequent need for re-work, and administrative inefficiencies that delay revenue collection.
Our data suggests that 20-30% of first-cycle plan submissions are returned for missing basic elements like titles or sheet references. Each rejection adds 1-3 days before review begins, which pushes projects further down the revenue pipeline while consuming staff time on administrative tasks rather than value-added review work.
Streamlining the plan review process with electronic plan review software not only increases permit fee revenue through higher volume but also reduces administrative costs and accelerates related economic activity, such as property development and tax growth.
Key Features to Look for In Electronic Plan Review
When vetting solutions with revenue generation top of mind, look for ePlan review features that prevent the need for re-work, provide the complete site view, and are accessible from anywhere.
Top features to look for include:
How Avolve Can Help
With two leading electronic plan review options ProjectDox and DigEplan, Avolve enables government agencies to automate and streamline the permitting process, removing the inefficiencies of paper, non-integrated, or construction-first solutions.
Avolve Plan Review is purpose-built for government to enhance jurisdiction productivity and power economic growth.
Invest in Your Revenue Future
Efficient plan review optimizes your jurisdiction’s primary community development revenue stream. By eliminating bottlenecks, reducing administrative overhead, and creating predictable timelines, you can process more permits with existing resources while attracting new development.
The question isn’t whether you can afford to invest in plan review efficiency, but can you afford not to? Every delay, rejected submission, and abandoned project represents revenue that could fund your community’s growth.
Ready to streamline your community development revenue generation? Learn more about Avolve’s Intentional AI for government plan review today.