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Building official says inspections and permit revenue have surged; council reviews staffing requests
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Summary
The town's building official reported rapidly rising permit activity and revenue, proposing converting a part‑time inspector to full time while an additional administrative assistant request was not funded in the draft budget.
At a budget workshop, Building Official Tom Rozier told the council the building inspection department has seen substantial growth in activity and revenue and outlined two staffing requests tied to that workload.
"In 4 years we've done just over 30,000 inspections," Rozier said, describing recent annual permit volumes and collections. He reported permit revenue of roughly $1 million in 2023 and noted current collections have reached about $1.4 million year‑to‑date; staff projected that, if the trend continued, annualized receipts could approach $1.9 million.
Rozier asked the council to convert a part‑time inspector to full time to handle inspection demand and also sought a part‑time administrative assistant (19–20 hours a week). Councilors and staff said the inspector conversion is the higher priority; the administrative assistant request was not funded in the current draft due to overall budget constraints.
Rozier and councilors also discussed the town’s practice of accruing a portion of payroll each year to smooth the occasional 27th biweekly payroll; staff described it as sound accounting that avoids a large unexpected expenditure in the payroll year when it occurs.
Next steps: councilors asked staff to retain the prioritized inspector conversion in the budget and to monitor permit revenue trends; they requested periodic updates on whether collections and workload justify additional administrative support.
