Contractor asks council to reduce or waive $33,360 permit fee for First United Methodist Church project

James Dowell, who identified himself as the general contractor for the First United Methodist Church project, requested that the city reduce or waive the project's building-permit fees. He told the council the permit as calculated totaled $33,360 and outlined components including the commercial building valuation fee, a construction-industry craft-training fee, and contractor-license charges.

Dowell asked the council to consider either (1) waiving the fee for the church as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization under guidance he cited from the Alabama Department of Finance Division of Construction Maintenance and Administrative Code or (2) adopting Tallapoosa County's base charge per $1 million (the figure he cited) so the project's fee would be materially lower. He said the work and contractors are local and that reducing the fee would keep spending in the local economy.

Council members asked questions and the chair said the request would be taken under consideration; no formal motion or vote on the fee change was recorded at the meeting. Staff indicated they would continue to review the request and attempt to provide a follow-up response to Dowell.