City’s Share of Permit Fees Eliminated- Fees to Be Reduced July 1st

By Dave Freneaux

    When the City of Central took over permitting from EBR three years ago, Central's permit fees were set high enough that tax dollars would not be used to support Central's Permit Department.  By the December 14th, 2010 Council Meeting, Councilman Louis DeJohn could see that the permit department was self-funding and that the City no longer needed to receive a portion of permit fees.  At that December meeting DeJohn stated, "I don’t' think the City ought to get a nickel out of it", calling for permit fees to be reduced and the savings passed on to the people of Central buying the permits.

    At last Thursday's City Council meeting Central's permit fee structure was changed.  The City will no longer receive the 15% of permit fees currently designated as the City's share.  Extensive work and research by the City Services Permits sub-committee chaired by local Contractor Pete Firmin produced data showing that with the City not receiving any portion of the permit fees, residential permits could be reduced significantly.  The ordinance putting all of this in place effective July 1, 2011 passed unanimously.

    Two interesting facts came to light in this process.  First, the City's share of permit fees was originally put in place as a safeguard in case permit activity in Central was not sufficient to support the permit department's required activities.  Because of Central's residential and business growth, that safeguard has proven unnecessary.  Second, while much has been said about a reduction in permit fees, this reduction amounts to about a $410 savings on the cost of a new home permit, which is generally included in the financed cost of the home, and amounts to about a $2.75 per month reduction in an average mortgage.