The Fee Gap · 20-city study · RC-3.1
One Storefront Sign. Twenty Cities Returned Different Kinds of Official Answers.
A locked 40-pound, 32-square-foot storefront sign produced fixed calculations, published fee rows, a minimum, a no-permit result—and seven dated conditions where the reviewed public record did not support one all-in price.
What the study found
A permit fee is not always a project price.
The Fee Gap study is a test of public pricing records, not a national fee ranking. It asks whether the same ordinary sign can be traced to a defensible government-charge answer—and what kind of answer the official record actually supports.
Signage.com Research applied one scenario to official sources for the 20 largest U.S. cities: a permanent, non-electric, one-face wall sign measuring 4 by 8 feet, weighing no more than 40 pounds and mounted flush to an existing one-story commercial storefront. The transaction boundary includes mandatory government charges for the initial authorization and excludes unrelated construction, penalties, expedited service and professional or contractor fees.
Some records supported dollar figures, but those figures did not mean the same thing. Philadelphia produced a $525.50 fixed scenario calculation. San Diego produced a $1,543.11 dated published fee stack with an additional-hourly-fee caveat. Phoenix published a $293 minimum. Austin required no sign permit for the locked case; that is not a $0 fee result.
Two dated amendments add usable numbers without erasing the underlying conditions. Charlotte’s FY2027 Residential schedule publishes a $240 Tier 3 Sign fee, but applicability to the locked commercial storefront and any alternate route remain unresolved. Chicago publishes and repeatedly observes a $250 sign-plus-zoning standard, while the enacted sign-row footnote still points to an additional factor-based permit calculation. Neither amount is described as a guaranteed all-in project price.
The remaining documented conditions concern New York City, Los Angeles, San José, San Francisco and Nashville–Davidson. The study reports these as conditions in the dated public record—not as accusations that a city failed.
Seven documented conditions
The places where one all-in answer remained unsupported
Chicago and Charlotte now carry authorized dollar labels, but their underlying applicability or completeness conditions remain disclosed.
Component, not total
The $165 records-management charge is verified, but the separate sign-filing formula and study-window code-path record do not support one all-in total.
Dated official-source conflict
The archived calculator output and official schedules remain in the record. RC-3 withholds both a defect allegation and a fixed total.
$250 standard, footnote tension
The code and observed permit records support $250 as a dated standard, while the enacted sign-row footnote still points to an additional factor-based calculation.
Published figures are floors
Official Planning and Building sign charges exist, but staff-time floors, inspection branches and the unproven stack prevent one all-in amount.
$240 fee row, applicability unresolved
The FY2027 Residential schedule publishes a $240 Tier 3 Sign fee. Applicability to the locked commercial storefront, the approval route and additional fees remain unresolved.
Current operative amount unresolved
Current fixed lines were found, but the operative Planning rate and full current stack were not resolved for the study window. RC-2’s estimate is withdrawn.
Project-specific path and rate vintage
Attachment review remained project-specific, and the legally required current adjusted rate was not located in the reviewed record. RC-2’s estimate is withdrawn.
Amounts with labels
What the dollar figures actually mean
These amounts are not combined into a ranking, national range or ratio.
FY2027 Residential schedule, Zoning Use Permit Tier 3: Sign. Applicability to the locked commercial case and any additional routing remain unresolved.
$50 sign fee plus $200 on-premises zoning. The enacted footnote tension is not resolved.
A minimum only; additional review time can raise the charge.
Includes three frozen 24×36 building-plan sheets and the retained surcharges.
Plan check, General Plan Maintenance and mapping; additional hourly fees may apply.
The captured exemption applies. It is not treated as a $0 fee result.
Complete 20-city record
City-by-city publication treatment
Amounts appear only where RC-3.1 supports both the figure and its character.
| Rank | City | Status | Amount | Release note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York City | DOCUMENTED CONDITION | — | Do not present $165 as the permit total. |
| 2 | Los Angeles | DOCUMENTED CONDITION | — | Dated capture stands; claim and total withheld. |
| 3 | Chicago | DOCUMENTED CONDITION | $250.00 | $250 is a dated published/observed standard, not an all-in guarantee. |
| 4 | Houston | EXCLUDED | — | No publication amount. |
| 5 | Phoenix | PUBLISHED MINIMUM | $293.00 | Never use as a fixed low endpoint. |
| 6 | Philadelphia | FIXED SCENARIO CALCULATION | $525.50 | $525.50 is a scenario calculation, not a national endpoint. |
| 7 | San Antonio | EXCLUDED | — | No publication amount. |
| 8 | San Diego | PUBLISHED FEE STACK | $1,543.11 | $1,543.11 is a dated published stack; additional hourly fees may apply. |
| 9 | Dallas | EXCLUDED | — | No publication amount. |
| 10 | Fort Worth | EXCLUDED | — | No publication amount. |
| 11 | Jacksonville | EXCLUDED | — | No publication amount. |
| 12 | Austin | NO PERMIT | — | No permit is not a $0 fee result. |
| 13 | San José | DOCUMENTED CONDITION | — | Do not publish a partial Planning figure or the withheld total candidate. |
| 14 | Charlotte | DOCUMENTED CONDITION | $240.00 | $240 is the published City fee row; applicability to the locked commercial case and an all-in total remain unresolved. |
| 15 | Columbus | EXCLUDED | — | No publication amount. |
| 16 | Indianapolis balance | EXCLUDED | — | No publication amount. |
| 17 | San Francisco | DOCUMENTED CONDITION | — | RC-2's estimate is withdrawn; publish no total. |
| 18 | Seattle | EXCLUDED | — | No publication amount. |
| 19 | Denver | EXCLUDED | — | No publication amount. |
| 20 | Nashville–Davidson balance | DOCUMENTED CONDITION | — | RC-2's estimate is withdrawn; publish no total. |
Method
One scenario, one evidence boundary
The physical facts were locked before city coding. RC-3.1 restores the owner-frozen weight and exact mounting band.
Included and excluded
Included
- Mandatory government charges for the initial authorization
- Published components whose applicability is supported
- Dated minimums, standards and scenario calculations with labels
Excluded
- Electrical work, special overlays, variances and right-of-way use
- Unrelated construction, penalties, reinspection and expedited service
- Professional, engineering and contractor costs
Process disclosure: The first-pass compilation and the later cross-checks were informed, source-based reviews. They were not blind independent replication. Official public records were prioritized, disagreements were logged and unsupported totals were withheld.
Commercial-interest disclosure: Signage.com operates in the commercial signage market and therefore has a commercial interest in the subject. That relationship did not change the locked scenario, evidence hierarchy, correction rules or publication exclusions.
Record revision
What RC-3 changes
The August 23 HTML and RC-2 are superseded design/content drafts, not the controlling record.
Add $240 Tier 3 Sign fee with applicability caveat.
Add $250 published/observed standard and disclose the enacted footnote tension.
Restore the frozen 40-pound maximum.
Remove RC-2 totals for San José, San Francisco and Nashville.
Remove the unapproved expert quote.
Restore seven documented conditions; no failure language.
No ranking, national range or ratio.
Website publication approved. Media outreach, press-release distribution and social promotion remain on hold.
Verification
Inspect the record behind the page
The approved RC-3.1 record and supporting files are available below.
Frozen workbook SHA-256: 581e2444d9a03a81743fe0d6c8dee05fc5a841732e56b456f74a128dc416e9e0
RC-3.1 workbook SHA-256: a53b448e1079b429fbb89ac51d65221a9e6150a70abccd4abd780d7239767386
Limits
This study does not measure processing time, approval probability, enforcement, service quality, policy merit, installed project cost or the economic effect of municipal rules. Actual charges can change with project facts and later municipal updates.
Corrections and contact
If a source, amount, arithmetic step or classification changes, Signage.com Research will update the affected ledger, page, downloads and dated revision record together.
Research contact:
Michael Santiago · Signage.com Research
info@signage.com
Release status: Website publication approved August 31, 2026. Media outreach, press-release distribution and social promotion remain on hold pending separate owner approval.