Harlingen Set to Start Charging Fire Prevention Fees for Alarms, Sprinklers and Kitchen Hoods
The City Commission takes a final vote Wednesday on new plan review and inspection fees the fire chief estimates will raise $80,000 to $100,000.
Harlingen is set to start charging for fire alarm, sprinkler and kitchen hood suppression reviews and inspections. Its fire chief says the city is one of the last few that does not charge for fire prevention services.
The City Commission takes a second and final vote on the new Fire Prevention Bureau fees Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 5:30 p.m. in the Town Hall Meeting Room on the second floor of City Hall, 118 E. Tyler Avenue, according to the agenda. Written comments must be submitted before 3 p.m. that day.
The fees
The ordinance in the meeting packet adds a new Section 18-21 to the city code. Under it, a new fire alarm or commercial kitchen hood suppression system would carry a $100 plan review, a $50 permit and a $50 inspection. A new sprinkler system would carry a $100 plan review and a $50 permit. Modifications to those systems, and electronic access systems, would carry a $50 plan review, a $50 permit and a $50 inspection. A resubmitted plan would cost $30 or $50, and a re-inspection $50.
New sprinkler systems would also be charged $50 each for a hydrant flow test, an underground hydro inspection, a flush and an aboveground acceptance test. Work started without a permit would be charged one and a half times the permit fee.
Fire Chief Rafael Balderas wrote in the staff summary that the fees would bring in approximately $80,000 to $100,000. The ordinance notes the city has adopted the 2024 International Fire Code and that the bureau performs plan reviews, inspections and acceptance testing on fire protection systems. Staff recommends approval. The fees take effect after final passage and publication of the caption.
A ceiling-mounted fire sprinkler head. Harlingen’s fees would cover plan review and inspection of new and modified sprinkler systems. Photo: Brandon Leon / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
$11 million in water bonds
Commissioners are also set to approve, on second reading, $11,085,000 in Waterworks and Sewer System Revenue Bonds, Series 2026C, through the Texas Water Development Board’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund. According to Finance and Revenue Director Ronald De La Garza’s summary, the state board approved the funding Nov. 19, 2025, for wastewater improvements, and the Harlingen Waterworks System board adopted its resolution Oct. 5, 2026. The ordinance pledges water and sewer system revenues to repay them. Other Texas cities have also borrowed from the state for water work, as Dock Line reported in Georgetown Borrows $46 Million From the State for Water. Ratepayers Will Repay It.
Reinvestment zone and rezonings
The commission will also consider final approval of an amended plan for Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 2. The staff summary says it adds about $15,836,882 in eligible public infrastructure and extends Cameron County’s participation through Dec. 31, 2035, at 50% of its maintenance and operations rate, provided a private developer starts construction by Dec. 31, 2029. Dock Line covered the project tied to that zone in Harlingen Plans a $97 Million Live-Work-Play District. The Public Builds the Streets First.
First readings are also scheduled on rezoning 18.7879 acres east of Crossett Road to single-family residential and on an escrow agreement for Victoria Commons Phase II.
