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Danbury ad hoc committee unanimously recommends raising building permit fees, adds inspection/research charge for unpermitted work
Summary
An ad hoc Danbury committee voted unanimously to recommend city council adopt amendments to the city's building permit fee schedule, including a new inspection/research fee to cover investigations of unpermitted work; members discussed budget shortfalls, benefit costs, and record-digitization needs.
The Danbury ad hoc committee on building permits voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council adopt amendments to the city's building permit fee schedule, including a new inspection and research fee intended to cover investigations of unpermitted work.
Chair Peter Zayed said the committee's second meeting reviewed follow-up materials from the building department that clarified proposed fee changes, examples of permit fee revenues and allocations, and an overview of the department's budget. The committee voted to forward the ordinance amendment to council for consideration.
The building official, James Shollery, described the new charge as aimed at covering "any type of additional investigation, due to permits that did not get issued or permits issued after the fact," including cases where property owners or contractors must perform destructive testing so staff can determine whether work meets current state building-code requirements. Shollery said the fee would apply to both residential and commercial properties and is primarily designed for unpermitted work.
Committee members pressed for clearer fiscal context. One member said the 20-year budget printouts were useful but did not clearly show benefit costs; the member asked whether, on average over two decades, permit revenues covered departmental expenses. The building official replied that benefit costs are tracked in the 8000-series accounts and that historical permit revenues vary with economic cycles, making year-to-year forecasting difficult.
A committee member raised a specific figure from the materials, noting an estimated $42,000 in benefits per staff member included on the department summary and asked whether changes in benefit expenses have been tracked over time. The official said most of that estimate reflects health insurance costs when family coverage applies, plus pension, FICA and other employer-side costs.
Members also discussed record digitization. The building official said the department now uses the OpenGov permitting software for online filings and inspections and that current projects are archived electronically, but older paper records dating back to the 1960s remain in storage. A committee member said the City Council approved about $250,000 in ARPA funds this year to digitize roughly 40% of planning and zoning records and noted that full digitization or creating a dedicated FOI staff position would require additional investment.
After the discussion, a committee member moved "to recommend that the city council adopt amendments [to the] code of ordinance of Danbury building permit fees by amended section 6-2-1 as proposed." The chair announced the motion passed unanimously. The committee adjourned without further action; the recommended ordinance will next be considered by the City Council.
Votes at a glance: The committee recorded a unanimous recommendation to forward the proposed amendment to the council; individual vote tallies were not recorded in the transcript.
