San Diego

Aiming to make the city’s housing-inspection program self-sufficient, the San Diego City Council has voted to increase permit fees for apartment owners an average of 20% next year.

Besides those higher charges, which will generate an estimated $1.8 million more yearly, the council also voted Tuesday to establish, for the first time, an annual $18 permit fee for individuals who rent out single-family homes and duplexes.

Another $1 per unit surcharge approved by the council will raise about $265,000 annually to pay for expansion of the city’s Drug Abatement Response Team program, which is intended to reduce drug dealing and related problems in rental properties.

Under the council’s action, average permit fees--which pay for inspectors who investigate complaints of substandard housing--will increase from slightly under $4 to about $4.65. The additional revenue produced through the higher fees will enable the city’s housing-inspection program, which now requires about a $1.4-million annual subsidy, to pay for itself.