The Morgan County Commission voted unanimously Sept. 3 to adopt a revised building-permit fee schedule proposed by the Morgan County Planning Commission, and set the schedule to take effect Oct. 1, 2025.

The Planning Commission formed a three-member subcommittee — Glenn Stottler, Heather Litton and Jeff Davidson — to benchmark fees in surrounding jurisdictions and propose updates. Commissioners said the county’s permit fees had not been updated in roughly 10 to 15 years and that the new schedule brings Morgan County roughly to the regional middle for building-permit costs.

Commissioners emphasized why the change matters: permit revenue helps pay for functions tied to permitting, including mapping, addressing and road-sign replacement used by emergency responders. Commissioners also discussed how the minimum permit fee ($25) affects small projects and noted the county will confirm whether a statutory $1,000 threshold for required permits is set by state law and therefore not changeable at the county level.

The Planning Commission had voted unanimously to forward the fee schedule. At the Sept. 3 meeting, the County Commission amended the adoption to make the schedule effective Oct. 1, 2025, and directed staff to confirm the legal threshold for improvements (the $1,000 figure) with county code enforcement.

Commissioners also said they will ask planning staff to review the schedule at regular intervals and noted an expectation that planning will re-evaluate fees at least every three years going forward.

Implementation details: county staff said the new schedule will be posted to the Planning Commission’s website and a notice will be provided to local media. The commission did not change the statewide permit-threshold provision itself; one commissioner asked staff to confirm whether that threshold is set in state statute or county code and to report back.

Background: Members of the planning subcommittee told commissioners they reviewed fees in neighboring counties and states in the tri-state region to arrive at the recommended schedule. No new ordinance text or code section number was read into the record at the meeting.

The commission approved the schedule by voice vote; no roll-call vote listing individual commissioners’ positions was read into the record.