Upset with Mayor James J. Fiorentini for charging taxpayers more than $300,000 in permitting fees for the Hunking School project, the Haverhill City Council is exploring whether such fees should be waived for city-owned projects.

The issue is under review by the council’s Administration and Finance Committee.

Councilor Colin LePage, chairman of that committee and a member of the Hunking School Building Committee, suggested the city explore adopting a comprehensive waiver for work performed on municipal properties after voicing concerns about the mayor’s decision to charge the Hunking School project a $300,150 building permit fee. Assessments have not been charged to other city-owned projects.

The school project also was billed for gas, electrical, and plumbing permits, despite a city ordinance that prohibits charging a permit fee for electrical work that is done for the city. The City Council ordered that the $2,500 electrical permitting fee be reimbursed.

The remaining fees will be included in the $21 million bond that Haverhill taxpayers will be paying off over the next 20 years. Voters in 2014 approved a debt exclusion, or temporary tax hike, to pay for the city’s share of the new Hunking School. The state School Building Authority is paying up to $40.3 million of eligible expenses for the $61 million project.

The permitting fees do not qualify for state reimbursement, Superintendent James F. Scully said.

“The city should not have charged a fee for its own project,’’ LePage said. “I believe we need to revise the ordinance. It should be more comprehensive. Why would there be language in the ordinance regarding electrical fees but not the others?’’

Similar fees have been waived by the mayor in the past. According to David S. Van Dam, Fiorentini’s chief of staff, there were no building permit fees charged to either the high school or police maintenance garage projects.

During a terse exchange with the mayor at a recent meeting, LePage said neither the City Council nor the Hunking School Building Committee were aware of the building permit fee prior to March 2016, though the fee was paid July 2, 2015. The mayor insisted the school building committee had unanimously approved the fee at its July 21, 2015 meeting, and shared minutes of the meeting with the City Council to back up his claim.

While several councilors characterized the building permit fee as a fine, the mayor said he doesn’t view it that way.

“No more than I consider a marriage license fee a fine for getting married,’’ he said, while adding he “absolutely’’ stands by his decision to charge the Hunking project permitting fees.

Fiorentini said assessing those fees — which went into the city’s general fund — will allow Haverhill “to allocate money to other things, like public education, over the next 20 years.’’

City Councilor William J. Macek suggested that if permitting fees are to be assessed on a municipal project, those fees “be paid directly to the city department to which the capital improvement is most beneficial.’’ Meanwhile, Councilor Andres X. Vargas recommended the fees be done away with altogether for city projects.

The new school, designed for 1,005 students in kindergarten through Grade 8, is scheduled to open for fifth through eighth grades in January. Younger students start next fall.

“I think that people in Haverhill, when they see this building and they see how functional it is, and that it is under budget and done correctly, they’ll be very pleased,’’ Scully said.

Brenda J. Buote may be reached at brenda.buote@gmail.com.