No rise in building permit fees

A move to raise all building permits fees as high as 33 percent died a quick death Tuesday because county commissioners said it would cripple small business and encourage unlicensed home repairs.

The unanimous vote prompted Business Development Director Mike McHugh to say the building department will likely be out of money by November or December and there will be a "degradation of service."

It could also lead to more layoffs in an already depleted department, McHugh said.

To avoid that, commissioners directed McHugh to revisit the fee schedule and separate the "essential versus luxury" items. For example, replacing a roof, air conditioner or water heater is an essential item and shouldn't face a fee hike.

Pool or spa installations are a luxury ticket and could face higher fees.

County Commissioner Dave Russell said he sympathized with the department woes but private industry is faced with those same problems - having to lay off staff.

Russell stressed this is not a fee hike, it's a tax.

County Commissioner Rose Rocco said small business owners are hurting and this will only exacerbate the problem because people will go to a home improvement store, do repairs themselves and bypass the county inspection process.

"They just cannot afford to take another hit," she said.

County commissioners Commissioner John Druzbick said the rejection of fee increases is a "business move."

McHugh said increased fees are necessary because reserves in the budget department are at "critically low levels" and the housing market shows no signs of improving.

McHugh said he understands it is a "difficult time to talk about these things" and waited as long as he could to propose this.

He said he has tried to implement cost-cutting strategies, including reducing the work force, and is "running out of options."

McHugh said the department issues about 800 home improvement permits per month.

The building department is an "enterprise fund," which means it operates on income generated from fees.

McHugh said the building department has scaled back from almost 100 people to the current 19 full-time equivalent employees who are working 35-hour workweeks.

Resident Dick Ross said the fee increases would discourage people from buying foreclosed homes in need of repair because it will cost too much to bring them up to livable conditions.

If anything, the fees should be lowered, he said.

Dudley Hampton Jr., immediate past president of the Hernando Builders Association, said if the building department can't break even, then one option is to lay off more employees.

Enterprise departments are not in the business of making money, he added.

Marshall Maeder, owner of Hernando Aluminum Inc. said at one point he had 18 employees. Today, he has only six and will face more layoffs should permit fees increase.

"The permits are going to cost more than what the windows are to be put in," he said. "How are you going to justify that to customers?"

The new fee schedule would have applied to four separate groups of building permits.

For example, under group one, fees would increase from $50 to $85 on permits for such things as fireplaces, above-ground pools, water heaters and pool heating systems.

Group two permits would have risen from $100 to $135 for decks, docks, carports, screen enclosures, boat lifts, seawalls, residential re-roof projects and more.

Group three fees would have increased from $150 to $200 for in-ground pools, mobile home additions and garages.

Group four permits would have increased from $300 to $325 and apply to mobile home setup, park model setup and single-family home placement.

The majority of building permit fees issued by Hernando County are from group one. For 2009, that represented 4,072 permits.