I think we need permits to assure safety and like the idea of user fees paid more by individual users than the rest of us, but some of these fees seem ridiculous. The permit fee for building a deck is going from $133 to $783 according to this story. Decks need to be safe and may need inspection, but $783 for the permit? Something seems out of wack here. Maybe the county needs to examine its own bureaucracy to find out why it costs that much to process a deck permit. The last time I built a deck it didn't cost me as much as this permit fee.
Posted by Ken, a resident of the Marinwood neighborhood, on Oct 30, 2009 at 5:15 pm
It's because they've loaded all the County government overhead into the permit fee structure--way beyond the actual cost of processing a permit. They're including the cost of maintaining the Civic Center, County administrative services, utilities, salaries, pensions, and all the rest. They call it "cost recovery." Is it any wonder that so many citizens don't bother getting permits anymore? Who wants to be stung this way?
Posted by Mark, a resident of the San Rafael neighborhood, on Oct 30, 2009 at 9:40 pm
This Matrix Company, that the county needed, or I should say chose to pay to study their own damn fees, rationalizes this new fee structure by finding the highest fees around the Bay Area and saying "well now, these fees are still lower than....." This is a blanket increase based on what the market will bare and because what others are getting away with charging. It does not cost the department $800 to accept an application for a deck and then inspect it once, maybe twice. And if they claim that this is the true cost of their services, they obviously are some of the most inefficient people in the Civic Center.
In the first place, how boneheaded is it to have to pay an outside company to come in and explain to you how much you should charge for the the work that you do? If the director of the department does not know how much time his employees spend on a given task, then we need a new director.
How can they add almost $800 to the cost of rebuilding my deck?
Posted by Lynn, a resident of the Greenbrae neighborhood, on Oct 30, 2009 at 10:23 pm
A very rude, thoughtless neighbor told the county I was building a deck without a permit. I was charged over $500 and may have to pay more to public works. $275 of it was for zoning. I live in a residential neighborhood on a good sized lot. Why would zoning and public works be involved? The IJ reporter who said it costs $133 for a deck permit (10/29) needs to get the amounts correct. What can the public do to protest these outrageous charges?
Posted by Mark, a resident of the San Rafael neighborhood, on Oct 31, 2009 at 11:34 am
In addition to these fees being extreme and excessive, they have the effect of lowering our overall housing standards. Landlords will forgo the necessary upkeep to maintain their properties due to the expense. Homeowners will be tempted bypass the permit / inspection process altogether and maybe use the gardener / landscaper from down the street to build decks, etc., rather than licensed professionals, quality and safety of course being compromised.
They think need to raise the fees to feed the bloated bureaucracy, rather than increasing efficiency, which is how the rest of us cope with these difficult times.
Posted by Chris, a resident of the Novato neighborhood, on Oct 31, 2009 at 12:06 pm
Initially I approved of Prop 13 though I had questions about it. I have since come to realize it was short-sighted and, at the least, needs tweaking. Among other things, commercial property should be excluded. Be that as it may, counties have to make up the lost revenue somehow. One way they have chosen to do so is to raise fees exorbitantly on activities that affect relatively few people. Why? Because, I suspect, “relatively few people” can raise only a relatively small stink. Think about it - all these “relatively few people” making little stinks about a variety of fees. Guess how much any of these little stinks will do to alleviate the situation. Permitees unite!!
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