Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

February 21, 2008 issue

A Difference of Legal Opinion: Waiving Permit Fees

Story by Kathleen McFadden

At their meeting on February 4, the Watauga County Board of Commissioners approved the payment of $42,055 to the Town of Boone for a building permit for the new Watauga High School. In December, the board asked the town to waive the fee, but the town had not responded by the time the commissioners met in early February.

At the commissioners’ meeting on Tuesday night, County Manager Rocky Nelson informed the board that the town is assessing three additional fees: $3,255.30 for a permit for a support building at the high school site, $2,853.68 for fire inspection fees and $76,279 for water availability fees.

County Attorney Tony di Santi’s opinion is that the town could legally waive the fees, but Town Attorney Sam Furgiuele disagrees.

In a letter to Watauga County Board of Commissioners Chair Jim Deal, Boone Mayor Loretta Clawson explained that the town council had discussed the fee waiver request at their retreat on February 15 and wrote, “While we acknowledge the difference in legal opinions, the Town is not swayed in our legal opinion that waiving the fees is illegal.”

Clawson’s letter continued: “Town citizens pay County taxes so the Town is in fact contributing to the high school project. The Town Council has made provisions for the transfer of [water] availability fees for the high school project and, even though inspection fees are charged, the fees do not cover the actual cost of inspecting a project as large as the high school project. As you can see, the Town of Boone and its citizens are contributing very much to the high school project and will more than likely bear the cost of sidewalks and bike lanes along Old East King Street to the new high school site.”

At their meeting Tuesday night, the commissioners asked Nelson to determine how much of the water availability fee the town is willing to transfer to the new high school site and to present the figure at their March 3 meeting. At that time, the board will take action to approve the fees the Town of Boone is charging for the project.

Also during their Tuesday meeting, the commissioners heard a request from the Town of Boone-owned Horn in the West to waive the tipping fees at the county’s Sanitation Department for necessary demolition at Horn in the West. The county charges $45 per ton for demolition waste, and County Manager Rocky Nelson estimated the fees to be $800 to $900.

The board unanimously voted to waive the fees because, according to Deal, “It’s the right thing to do.”

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Barbara Kinsey, speaking as a Watauga County taxpayer and pointing out that her comments could not be attributed to her husband Commissioner Winston Kinsey, asked if the board felt the Town of Boone could legally waive the fees associated with the high school. Deal responded in the affirmative. Kinsey then asked if all avenues had been explored to encourage the town to waive the fees. Deal again responded in the affirmative.