The Knox City Council this week discussed building permit fees after a resident left paperwork with Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston explaining he felt he was overcharged when he bought a permit to add an addition to a pole barn. The resident explained he was issued a building permit for a 24-foot-by-40-foot addition to an existing pole barn and was charged $192, though he thought the accessory building permit should have only been $75.
Council member Greg Matt was the planning commissioner at the time the permit was issued and explained that agricultural barn permits are $75, but the homeowner’s addition did not fall under that category as he was using it to house vehicles. Matt explained that the unattached accessory building or garage addition permit fee is charged a square-footage rate.
Matt told the council that if the resident feels that is unfair, he can appear before the Knox Board of Public Works to appeal it. The matter that the council must address is whether or not they feel the fee schedule is confusing, and if so, straighten it out.
The council made no action on the matter, and the planning commission board will discuss permit fees at their next meeting, according to councilman Jeff Berg.
