Jacksonville, FL (January 23, 2018) A lack of public awareness about a special program to refund residents money led to District 11 Council Member Danny Becton to push for emergency legislation during January 17th, 2018 Finance Committee Meeting.
After Hurricane Irma hit our area, many homeowners were left with roof and electrical damage. Usually such repairs include city permitting fees. After the storm, bill 2017-695 was enacted on October 24, 2017 to refund fees paid to afford financial relief to homeowners. It allotted $749,598 for refunds.
After the program’s original December 31, 2017 deadline passed council was made aware that program participation was low and refund monies were still available. Council Member Becton suggested extending deadlines and directly notifying eligible permit applicants of the refund availability.
The Finance Committee, on which Council Member Becton serves as Vice-Chair, voted to draft an extension bill, 2018-049 and passed full Council on January 23rd.
This legislation changed two important deadlines:
- The filing dates for the repairs is now extended to June 30, 2018
- The refund filing period is now extended to August 30, 2018
Outreach was obviously needed. As of the end of the year, 6,679 roofing permits were issued. However, only 124 roofing refund requests were filed amounting in only $18,530 in returned fees. A sparse 14 requests for electrical permitting refunds were requested that amounted to just $840 in rebates.
The new ordinance provides $20,000 to notify those who qualify for fee refund via a mailer. The bill passed as an emergency on January 23, 2018.
Waived fees include work for re-roofing and non-structural roof repairs as well as electrical service repairs to the owner’s side of the electrical service point of overhead electrical connections on existing structures damaged by Hurricane Irma.
To determine if your home repairs qualify for the city fee refund, contact the Building Inspection Division, Visit: