{"id":5460,"date":"2021-02-10T01:37:41","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T06:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/?p=5460"},"modified":"2021-02-10T02:37:57","modified_gmt":"2021-02-10T07:37:57","slug":"toms-river-raises-permit-fees-after-building-dept-lost-200k-in-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/2021\/02\/toms-river-raises-permit-fees-after-building-dept-lost-200k-in-2020\/","title":{"rendered":"Toms River Raises Permit Fees After Building Dept. Lost $200K in 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Toms<\/a>

Toms River municipal building. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

Toms River officials raised the fees for numerous building permits at a meeting of the township council Tuesday night, but said the fees remain lower than most surrounding communities, and the building office must break even or taxpayers are on the hook for cost overages.<\/p>\n

According to the township\u2019s code book, the fees were last modified in 2009. While numerous fees are being raised, some include plan reviews rising from $75 to $90, permits for new residential construction rising from $0.039 per square foot to $0.043, and incremental increases of home renovation permits depending on the value of the project. The minimum fee will rise from $75 to $90.<\/p>\n

Swimming pool permits will rise from $60 for an above-ground pool to $90, and $150 for an in-ground pool to $225. Fees for certificates of occupancy and building inspection fees will also rise. The full fee schedule passed Tuesday night is attached to this article. Demolition permit costs will remain the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur construction department last year had a deficit of over $200,000,\u201d said Mayor Maurice \u201cMo\u201d Hill. \u201cWe are still, by a large number, lower than our surrounding communities of Brick, Manchester and Jackson townships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Officials said the permit fees are ultimately user fees, with the alternative to raising them being to subsidize the building department with general tax revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout raising fees, the taxpayer has to subsidize these departments, and in many cases they are very specific,\u201d said Councilman Matthew Lotano.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know as a contractor, compared to what you normally pay in surrounding towns, these fees are very reasonable,\u201d added Councilman Josh Kopp.<\/p>\n

The sole dissenting vote was cast by Councilman Dan Rodrick, who said he is opposed to any tax or fee increases. Rodrick had already expressed concern at the meeting for the pending purchase of the former Surf Club property.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot continue to spend money we do not have on things we do not need,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are in the middle of a pandemic \u2013 we need to cut costs, not raise taxes and fees.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody likes to raise fees, but I think we did it in a very prudent manner,\u201d said Hill. \u201cThey will be paid by the people who use those services.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Full Fee Ordinance, As Adopted:<\/strong><\/p>\n[scribd id=494012405 key=key-229aRFqOMohQr0RIr8uv mode=scroll]\n

<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Toms River officials raised the fees for numerous building permits at a meeting of the township council Tuesday night, but said the fees remain lower than most surrounding communities, and the building office must break even or taxpayers are on the hook for cost overages. According to the township\u2019s code book, the fees were last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":419,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3],"tags":[1189,1190,11],"class_list":["post-5460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","tag-building-permit","tag-permit-fees","tag-toms-river-nj-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/IMG_5230.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/tomsriver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}