CHENANGO COUNTY – Rather than raise permit fees to cover its costs, the county’s Code Enforcement Office should get funding in the annual budget – especially since it puts money into the coffers and sees none in return – members of the Safety and Rules committee re-affirmed last week.
The department currently fully funds itself through permitting fees and fines, and is the only such codes operation in the state that does so, county officer Bruce Bates said. However, Bates and Public Health Director Marcas Flindt only expect the revenue to cover half of $200,000 needed to run the operation this year. Both officials said raising the rates, which they say are at a fair level compared with other counties, may not be the answer.
“By raising these rates, we’re making it harder for people living in Chenango County to do business in Chenango County,” Bates told the committee.
Bates said a codes department should essentially operate to ensure that buildings are safe, and not on the premise of earning enough money to fund itself through fees and fines.
“Ideally, the way it should work, people would have to receive a permit, but there would be no fee. That would be the ideal way,” he said. “We just want to make sure they are building correctly.”
The revenue stream has weakened now that the Lowes construction and the Wal-Mart expansion on Rte. 12 are completed and no similar projects are on deck, several supervisors pointed said. However, the job load has not necessarily decreased, Bates said, considering the added demands created by the state’s uniform code regulations and a rise in general complaints from the public – all with a reduced staff of two full-time inspectors.
Safety and Rules referred putting codes into the county budget. It will go to the Finance Committee next month. A similar motion was not acted on in an earlier finance meeting.
“Codes has put a lot of money in the county coffers that should have went to them,” said Norwich town Supervisor David Law, referring to upwards of $70,000 the department gave the county from fees it earned on the Lowe’s and Wal-Mart projects. “The taxpayers should know that.”
Columbus Supervisor George Coates said codes deserves the funding to run efficiently.
“Having the county codes come to our town – I’ve seen the improvement,” said Coates.
County Code Enforcement currently serves every municipality with the exception of the towns of New Berlin and Greene, the City of Norwich, and the Villages of Earlville.
Greene Supervisor Jack Cook, whose town and village have their own department, said a taxpayer funded operations appears the best way to go.
“Our codes works great,” said Cook, explaining that permit fees cover 25 percent of the town’s inspection budget. “Our taxpayers pay for it.”
“It (being self-sustaining) is pretty difficult to do,” Cook said. “Otherwise other counties would be doing it.”