From the March 29th edition of News That Matters
If any of you are private General Contractors working and living in Putnam County and have paid the $250 bribe fee the county demands for your ability to work unharassed, please write to let me know. If you work in the following fields the bribe fee applies to you:
Blacktop, cabinetry, Chimney repair, home building, deck and patio construction, environmental systems and repair, excavation, fencing, fireplace installation, garage door installation, general carpentry, glass installation and repair, gutter installation, heating and ventilation systems, insulation, kitchen and bath remodeling, landscaping, lawn care, masonry and stone work, “miscellaneous” contracting services, painting, pool and spa maintenance, roofing, septic repair, sheds, siding, tile work, waterproofing, window installation and wood/pellet and coal stove installation and repair.
In 2007 the Consumer Affairs division, the agency which oversees this program, earned:
Electrical License Fees $187,000 Plumbing License Fees $216,000 General Contractor License Fees
$137,000
Total Fees Collected:
$540,000
Based on that budget the county earned more than $170,000 above and beyond the cost of running that department, $170,000 that should be in your pockets.
But here’s what else goes along with it: each business must provide the county with certification that it carries a minimum $1,000,000 in insurance and then post a $25,000 bond – in the county’s name. Only Putnam, Rockland and Westchester counties require general contractors to ‘register’.
And what do we get for it?
- Does the county mail to each home a list of certified contractors each year? No. It’s posted on their website but it’s impossible to find much like everything else up there. Try finding the county budget!
- Does the county provide us with access to group health insurance or allow us into their pool? No.
- Does the county promote our businesses? No.
So, what do we get for shelling out near $1000 aside from the ability to ply our trades? Nothing.
The county has found a revenue stream in the form of a hidden tax and they’re laying it on hard and failure to buy protection from the county comes with a $10,000 fine. That’s what we get.
It’s time the fee was reduced or rescinded as it’s just another tax that generates ~$260,000 a year on the backs of the working man and gets passed down to residents of the county in higher costs for services anyway. If I’m forced by the county to pay into their mob racket, let that fee cover the *exact* cost of management and not use it as a revenue stream for the general fund.
In a previous issue I mentioned that a county Legislator suggested that if I had trouble paying the fee that maybe I shouldn’t be in business. Maybe he’s right. Maybe the economy sucks and those fees amount to a hardship. Or maybe no one should have to pay for the right to earn a living in Putnam County.
With enough of us fighting back maybe we can move the county towards sanity. Write.
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