Nottoway County’s building official proposed fee-structure changes at the June 12 work session intended to shift part of permitting costs from the general fund to permit users and to make enforcement of licensing requirements easier.

The building official said he had proposed moving his permit technician from the administrative/general-fund line to a fee-funded line so permit fees would cover that staff cost. He described a broader change from the county’s current universal-permit model to individual trade permits (electrical, plumbing, mechanical) to make it easier to verify contractor licensure. Under the existing universal permit, the county finds it harder to confirm whether licensed contractors are performing the work, the official said.

Staff reviewed several fee approaches observed in neighboring localities. The presentation summarized current trade-permit practice as a roughly $60 base fee plus a charge per $1,000 of contract value; staff proposed either a flat $100 trade-permit fee or moving to a 1%-of-contract model (equivalent to $10 per $1,000). The building official noted the county’s current renovation fee is $1.80 (per something in the existing schedule) with $6 per $1,000; he proposed lowering the small base component while increasing the percentage to 1% to better match costs and neighboring localities’ practices. He said a new residential-start fee is currently $150.

Supervisors asked for examples and impact estimates. Staff said three trades on a new home would generate three trade fees, and estimated 30 new single-family dwellings would yield about $9,000 under certain scenarios. Supervisors discussed the revenue trade-offs of per-thousand vs. square-foot models; staff said square-foot pricing typically favors very large commercial projects and might not be fair for standard residential renovations.

Board members generally signaled support for shifting the technician to the fee-funded line, moving toward individual trade permits, and exploring raising per-contract fees to 1% while lowering the small base fee (one supervisor suggested lowering the base from $1.80 to $1.50 or a similar reduction). Staff said it would prepare a formal package and could invite contractors for input.

No fee change was adopted at the work session; staff will return with a formal proposal for a future agenda and said they would consult local contractors about impacts.