permits & taxes

I floated this idea before and everyone loves it. Some day I’ll do something about it.
Why don’t people pull permits? Is is because of the cost?
Maybe- I’d love to see a survey on that. Maybe I’ll post one here. There’s always someone ‘caught’ for this http://lighthousepoint.com/agendasm.htm

But I think the underlying reason is fear of property tax increase. No one in the city or county will ever give you a FIRM answer and certainly not in writing about what will happen to their property taxes if they pull a permit. Technically, the tax increase should equal the value of the permit. But no one will GUARANTEE that. And therein lies the problem. Uncertainty and fear drive people to make decisions contrary to local regulations.

How can we remove the fear? Broward County should institute a policy:
All home improvement projects under $25,000 will be exempt from reassessment for property taxes.
Wow!
Think about it.
This could spur increased permits pulled. More jobs would be on the books. More permit fees would be collected. More people would be protected from unscrupulous contractors. More construction jobs would be created as condo development downturns. More income taxes paid (due to proper reporting by legitimate contractors).
I think Broward County owes us this solution as a public service, don’t you?

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