Subject:
Title
Consider amending and reenacting Section11-1-11(a)(2) -Processing Fees for Building Permits, of the City Code of Harrisonburg, VA
Body
Presented By: Adam Fletcher, director of Community Development
Recommendation and Review
Over the past year, staff has been working on providing a service for customers to apply for building permits, along with other permits, through an online portal, including allowing customers to pay for the permit online. However, when paying online there is a credit card fee of $3.50 or 3.5 percent of the total, whichever is higher, each time that an individual makes a payment. If applicants do not want to pay in full at the time of application submittal, they will have to pay a $3.50 credit card fee for a $30 payment
and another card fee of $3.50 or 3.5 percent of the balance for the remaining balance. The customer will save money on fees if they can pay all fees at once. We anticipate that the credit card fee could discourage people from paying online, especially if the fee is charged twice. Removing the $30 nonrefundable fee will also eliminate some technological issues that we have with the permitting and inspections software and the online payment process.