Get out of here! County permiting

[Kels]

I just found out my county wants permits for things as simple as changing doors or replacing windows! Just so they can up your tax!

I get it when its something big but seriously, does anyone get these permits!

 

[ovilla]

My town requires an annual $20 alarm permit to be in place if you have any type of monitored alarm in your home. I have yet to let them know about my ADT alarm that I've had in place for over 10 years now.


Seriously, what's next a Dish permit?

 

[Super Sport]

I wouldn't get one, unless you live on a heavily traveled street and/or you are replacing something very visible.

I just found out the other day my township requires a (free) permit for garage sales. I just had one a month ago. No permit, no problems. I'll probably get one in the future to be safe since they are free, but no way I'd pay for it!

 

[JustinS]

A permit to change a door? ?

 

[Kels]

That's what the home depot guy told me they had to do to do any instal work!

Lucky me i wont be having them do the work and will not be getting that permit, but my god that's outrageous.

Even a free permit for a garage sale, seriously WHY!

 

[SteveCh]

In the small town near me, two examples of this:

1) woman wanted to paint her windowsills. Needed to buy a permit from city.

2) guy wanted to replace the 3-tab asphalt shingles on his roof. No tear-off, new shingles to be exact same color. Needed to buy a permit from the city.

And so on. There can be zero reason for this except the city wants the $$$ you pay for the permit.

 

[stonesfan68]

Governments are going broke and they need a way to increase revenue.

The City of Houston has an annual alarm permit fee, too. The alarm companies wil not activate or install the alarm system without that piece of paper.

The most outrageous tax I ever paid was a TV Tax in England. Yes, I had to pay a yearly fee of about $60 (IIRC) for the privilege of receiving cable TV. I told the guys working for me at the time that these kind of silly taxes were one the reasons that the colonies told Parliament and King George to kiss off!

 

[Falcon67]

Every city large and small usually requires a permit for a garage sale. I'm sure some don't care, but most do. Get a neighbor that runs a 24x7 swap meet in their front yard and you'll see why. As for the other, it's overkill for sure. That's more HOA than county permit type stuff. Most big cities do have restrictive codes. I know in Fort Worth that technically you can't change a light switch without a permit. Here you can get a permit to do your own electrical but you have to take a test first.

The most outrageous tax I ever paid was a TV Tax in England. Yes, I had to pay a yearly fee of about $60 (IIRC) for the privilege of receiving cable TV. I told the guys working for me at the time that these kind of silly taxes were one the reasons that the colonies told Parliament and King George to kiss off!

And now some of the 13 original colonies have all kinds of nit picking taxes and fees, go figure.

 

[Milton Shaw]

The garage sale permit is so they can keep someone from operating a flea market every weekend from their house in a neighbor hood. Normally not enforced but there so they can enforce it when neighbors complain about a business operating in your neighborhood.

 

[CNGsaves]

Not really "permits" any more . . . . just more TAXES!!

The other thread in Orlando, FL highlighted extreme taxation (ie permit fees) as virtually everything done was 2.5% minimum for routine things done in Orlando, FL.

Passive non-compliance can be a good thing.

 

[cowboyjosh]

I just had the county walk thru one of my new houses that we just completed today for them to valuate it for taxes, the lady was from the Assessors office; of course my quality of construction is "very good" or "excellent" since I am a custom builder. I have no clue as to how they come up with their quality grade because some houses that are full pop custom, they grade them as "good".

In Denver (I hate Denver proper) we have been busted for doing work without a permit, nothing serious just window replacements and minor rehab work and have been fined accordingly. Out in the affluent southern suburbs of Denver they don't care about Garage Sales, but want a permit pulled for anything else, included all HVAC replacement, backup generator installs, re-roofs, etc.

 

[dirtrich]

Here in Cal. they finally figured out a way to tax the air you breathe!

 

[shooting4life]

Here in Cal. they finally figured out a way to tax the air you breathe!

Also in my county they make you get a permit for changing your own hot water heater. Now they don’t want to inspect it to make sure you installed it correctly and it’s safe, they just want you to go onto their website with your CC and give them $40.

 

[IHI]

In the small town near me, two examples of this:

1) woman wanted to paint her windowsills. Needed to buy a permit from city.
With our exceptional governments taxing everything under the sun, the EPA has been on a huge "lead paint" push for yrs and this is a way for them to monitor what a homeowner is doing since contractors have to dot every i and cross every t when regarding the handling of anything that has test proven plead in it...bunch of ****, but that's what we get when we elect idiots into office and refuse to outst the long term idiots

2) guy wanted to replace the 3-tab asphalt shingles on his roof. No tear-off, new shingles to be exact same color. Needed to buy a permit from the city.
This is due to insurance reasons and the insurance industry putting pressure on muliciples letting things slide that cost insurance companies millions every year all because joe blow thinks he knows, but has no idea. Roofing will check how many layers so the house is'nt sitting there with 7 layers on it, basically a parking lot on top of the house, and also nailing/flashing detail to be sure shoddy craftsmanship does'nt lead to property damage down the road

And so on. There can be zero reason for this except the city wants the $$$ you pay for the permit.

As a homeowner, i hate permits, it is a flag for the city/county to come in and jack you up on taxes. As a former residential construction business owner, I'm glad they are getting tougher and tougher requiring permits...the amount of **** we got into because somebody thought they knew what they were doing stunk not only for us having to take 5 steps back before we could begin the job i bid in the first place, it is also a big financial burden to the new homeowners that ant something done...but are left to clean up the mess left behind by know it all homie before them. I think I can count on one hand out of the tens of thousands of jobs we did over the years, the big remodels that did'nt have huge electrical/plumbing issues. The permits make people accountable, and I love that since it gives the new homeowner grounds to track down and get remibursed for dangerious work they must now remedy.

 

[dirtrich]

Also in my county they make you get a permit for changing your own hot water heater. Now they don’t want to inspect it to make sure you installed it correctly and it’s safe, they just want you to go onto their website with your CC and give them $40.

Dang, now that's ballsy!

 

[BFBOB]

My town requires an annual $20 alarm permit to be in place if you have any type of monitored alarm in your home. I have yet to let them know about my ADT alarm that I've had in place for over 10 years now.


Seriously, what's next a Dish permit?

Yes.
Electrical permit required here.

 

[lotsoftools]

Only permit required here is for sewer system install. Everything else is free game.

 

[Nowater]

Permit required here to change a door or window. The purpose is for hurricane safety, which is a big deal in SW Florida.

 

[ZRX61]

Here they have a $45 permit to change a water heater...

 

[cj7365]

Governments are going broke and they need a way to increase revenue.

The City of Houston has an annual alarm permit fee, too. The alarm companies wil not activate or install the alarm system without that piece of paper.

The most outrageous tax I ever paid was a TV Tax in England. Yes, I had to pay a yearly fee of about $60 (IIRC) for the privilege of receiving cable TV. I told the guys working for me at the time that these kind of silly taxes were one the reasons that the colonies told Parliament and King George to kiss off!

This and nothing else.

 

[dmeadow]

The most outrageous tax I ever paid was a TV Tax in England. Yes, I had to pay a yearly fee of about $60 (IIRC) for the privilege of receiving cable TV. I told the guys working for me at the time that these kind of silly taxes were one the reasons that the colonies told Parliament and King George to kiss off!

Really? That's the most outrageous you've experienced? At least you got commercial-free BBC for your money, like it or not. Almost like government-mandated HBO with uninterrupted snooker tournaments rather than The Sopranos.

Many of these permitting laws were knee-jerk reactions to a few incidents. Problem is, they stay on the books long after the incidents are forgotten. The road to bad laws is paved with good intentions.

My father wanted to wind down his business and retire. He couldn't conduct a "going out of business" sale without a permit. Apparently someone back in history in his town had one (or two or three) "going out of business sales" and then didn't go out of business. Rug merchants are notorious for this. The city council thought this was misleading, so instituted a permit system to control it. Problem was, no one paid any attention to it. My father, who is ex-military and highly rules compliant, had to bang on doors all over city hall before he could find someone that had a clue what he was looking for and that would take his $50 and give him a permit!

 

[jrb2]

Almost a year ago I moved to a town of 1250 people and am in the process of completing my 40 X 64 shop. There are some things I miss about not living close to a city of 48,000, but the permit nazi's are not one of them. Here all I needed was to pay $10 and sign that I didn't think it was in a flood plain. No setbacks, no size restrictions, no inspections, just a lot of people driving by slowly!

 

[bgarrett]

I have yet to let them know about my ADT alarm that I've had in place for over 10 years now.

You do know that the NSA and the IRS and the FBI and OSHA are monitoring everything you say on the phone and putting on the internet, right?

 

[pmiranda]

Does that count as a monitored alarm then?

 

[EOC_Jason]

I just found out my county wants permits for things as simple as changing doors or replacing windows! Just so they can up your tax!

I get it when its something big but seriously, does anyone get these permits!

They can WANT permits for anything, if they have no means to ENFORCE it, then it's moot. It's mostly a means for them to collect extra revenue so they can justify their jobs.

I've read through our county stuff, and yeah they want permits for the smallest and stupidest things. Do people really do it? Doubtful... *If* a person gets caught after the fact, it's usually just a finger wag and a letter saying you need to pay for these permits for what you already did... *rolleyes*

Like one thing here if you have an aerobic septic system, you *have* to have an autodialer that calls the county system if an alarm is tripped. You *have* to have a service contract with a company that comes out to check your system several times a year. However, if you have the older anaerobic systems, nothing is required... Hmmm... I'm not really sure of any person that wouldn't want their septic system working, having a backed up toilet isn't exactly a pleasant experience.

 

[atfulldraw]

Almost a year ago I moved to a town of 1250 people and am in the process of completing my 40 X 64 shop. There are some things I miss about not living close to a city of 48,000, but the permit nazi's are not one of them. Here all I needed was to pay $10 and sign that I didn't think it was in a flood plain. No setbacks, no size restrictions, no inspections, just a lot of people driving by slowly!

Ha! got you beat.....my permit (do you think you are building in the flood plain?) was FREE !!

starting on my 40x60 this week - added an extra 16x50 and 16x32 to it just for giggles

They get me on taxes though....last year it was over a dollar an acre....$11.00 for my 10.

 

[wssix99]

Before anyone complains about money, I had to just pay $7500 for the city to figure out where my "back yard" is on a 1/8 acre lot so I could get zoning to build a house. I also got a bill for $3500 for long weeds on the same lot last year.

You gotta love the ******** politicians we have these days at all levels of government. They get in office and stay in office by lowering income and property taxes, which we see in bulk. Then they mortgage away our infrastructure to private companies, allow private companies to set up red light/speeding cameras, and put in these permitting fees so they can *** **** the money out of us little by little all year long.

I guess we don't notice this as much as a property or income tax bill, but my **** hole has sure been really sore lately...

 

[Texican]

Need a permit here to replace a broken board on my porch but I can build a 200 sq ft structure without one.

 

[uniballer]

In burkesville KY, where my inlaws live, You can slide two singlewides together and live in it,No permit required!!! I've seen it done!
I live in VA, where most homes are safe!

 

[volvo]

..
Keep an eye on your fee's & charges. I had a per apt. fee/license/permit, so went down to the city to pay. Now all the building permit/fee are in the same little area, same people. Gave them my paper bill with check for proper amount asked for, then got the " We need and additional $25 for her to take 30 sec. to type four digits on her computer , called it a entering fee paid to a separate dept ( general fund?) than where the fee was generated" They cut me off, could not & would not explain any further, other than, with a we are better than you smile " Have a nice day" Grrrrrrrrr

 

[Glenn M.]

Seems to be better to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission...

 

[Displaced Hokie]

Read the city ones here recently, and you are supposed to get one if you change a light fixture or pumbing fixture. WTF!

 

[Norcal]

Here they have a $45 permit to change a water heater...

Way cheaper then the People's Republic I live in it's over $100 here. Do you think I am going to pay it when it comes time to replace my more then 30 year old water heater????

 

[J Persons]

Governments are going broke and they need a way to increase revenue.



The most outrageous tax I ever paid was a TV Tax in England. Yes, I had to pay a yearly fee of about $60 (IIRC) for the privilege of receiving cable TV. I told the guys working for me at the time that these kind of silly taxes were one the reasons that the colonies told Parliament and King George to kiss off!

You must have been one of the rich Americans, the black & white license was only about $15 a year. When I was ready to rotate back to the states, I returned the TV to the rental place, and didn't renew my license. I got several letters demanding I pay up or else, the last one was even written in red. I screwed with them for about a month, not answering the door when they would knock, etc. The day after I moved out, the TV police showed up with a warrant wanting to search for a TV. They were in to the empty flat, and were a little more than upset looking at the empty apartment. RAF Bentwaters, April '84 to April '86

 

[EOC_Jason]

What really blows is one of my friends that lives near where we went to college, out in the county they don't need permits for hardly anything. To get his power hooked up he just called the power company and they came out and hooked it up... No permits, no inspection, nothing! *grumble*

 

[Jay Sco]

A guy at work says his brother in law got fined for replacing his toilet without a permit. Supposedly any toilet being replaced has to be one of those low volume flushers. How did the city find out you ask? He put the old toilet on the curb for trash day, and a code enforcer happened to drive by. Yup, it's in California.

 

[CNGsaves]

A guy at work says his brother in law got fined for replacing his toilet without a permit. Supposedly any toilet being replaced has to be one of those low volume flushers. How did the city find out you ask? He put the old toilet on the curb for trash day, and a code enforcer happened to drive by. Yup, it's in California.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Moral of the Story in CA . . . . Always, ALWAYS, put your old toilet at 2 am on the curb of the Code Enforcer !!

 

[J Persons]

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Moral of the Story in CA . . . . Always, ALWAYS, put your old toilet at 2 am on the curb of the Code Enforcer !!

Good one!

 

[zcar751]

I lived in Maine for several years and the town I lived in had no permit requirements. The county required a septic system permit. While living there I worked for a Water Treatment District and was often in people houses check on leaks and upgrading water meters when there was a bill dispute. The **** I saw in peoples homes was scary. I would wonder how half the homes in that town haven't burn to the ground of fallen in. One day I found an old town map form around 1885 and notice a lot more homes and businesses on the map than were currently in the town. In addition to that were many newer home sat older ones had been. That was probably why the local Volunteer Fire Department was so active.
It would be interesting to go back in 50 years and see how many more homes have burned or fallen in.

 

[Big-Foot]

A guy at work says his brother in law got fined for replacing his toilet without a permit. Supposedly any toilet being replaced has to be one of those low volume flushers. How did the city find out you ask? He put the old toilet on the curb for trash day, and a code enforcer happened to drive by. Yup, it's in California.

Same thing for me when I lived in Minneapolis. And it happened again when I replaced the dishwasher!
From that point forward, I hauled my own **** to the dump...
Bastards...

Oh, and the next toilet I replaced had a visit from Mr. Sledgehammer and he left in pieces over the following month's worth of trash pickups... (In bags of course).