Whoeee! Check out the fees on that dog!

[bil2054]

Wow, how things can change.
One reason for purchasing a lot in north central nowhere AZ is the way building codes, fees, etc USTA be: practically non-existant.  Has it really been thirty years since I spent time out there?  Have things really changed that much?
You betcha! :-/
Eighteen miles outside a non-incorporated town, which in the last census had about 450 residents,  and they have the whole rigamarole in effect: perc testing, building codes with attendant fees, and what was the biggest surprise, a nearly five hundred dollar permit for a composting toilet, plus ANOTHER wack for the required attendant greywater system permit.   Oh, and it has to be an approved, commercially produced composting unit, which start at about $1,100.

I suppose I shouldn't complain too much, as it is much worse here in the east, eh Daddymemm?

At least, from what I hear, chances are I will never see an actual building inspector.

[spinnm]

Welcome to the new West.  Are you there yet, or just checking on things?  You're on I-40 or thereabouts, right?

[bil2054]

No, not there yet, Shelley.  I'm helping a long time friend put her nursery business to bed, and will be headed out around the first of Nov.

Yes, the Bridge Canyon Country Estates, (a grandiose monicker for a whole bunch of sand and juniper!) is about 10 or 15 miles west of Seligman along I40, or better yet, Rte 66.

So, thanks for the welcome, neighbor!

[glenn-k]

I am helping a friend get his permits etc. through the county for his house. It looks like it is going to be $16000 to $20000  for his permits and school tax.  Definately organized crime.

That doesn't count engineering.

[rdpecken]

Well Hello neighbor!
We're at Sierra Verde Ranch.  Our place is about 3 or 4 miles straight west of you.

Sorry to hear that you missed the window to avoid the expanded zoning ordinance.

We were fortunate enough to hear about the changes in zoning laws in Yavapai County before they went into effect.  We immediately went down to Prescott and applied for a zoning clearence (what they had before the building permits).  Cost a flat $105 for the permit to build our little house.  That gradfathers us under the old rules and fees.  That means no inspections to worry about.  We just tell them when we are finished, and they provide a certificate of occupation.

They said someone would come around every six months or so to see if we were making progress, but we haven't seen any signs of anyone there yet.

We have a shed/washhouse that we built from modified little house plans.  We have also put in the piers for the little house.  I don't know if we will have time to get the framing done before winter, though.

We already had the septic in before that.  We did have to get a septic permit when it went in, but that was painless.

You can check out our progress at:
//www.arizonaranch.org

Good luck with your place.  It will still be worth it when all is done.

[Daddymem]

Oh yeah, her in the east you get to bleed money long before a load of building supplies can even be brought to the site....anyone got bandaids?

[stricsm]

I live in Alabama but was on Long Island, NY a few years ago visiting one of our manufacturers.  At dinner one night with one of the engineers from the plant, we started talking about property tax.  The property tax on Long Island for her house was as much per month as my mortgage payment.  When I told her that I only pay $800.00/year in property taxes on a $200K home she almost lost her dinner.  We do have 8.5% sales tax and state income tax.  Building fees are very modest outside city limits and in the county I live in there are no code checks.  In Alabama we make up for lower fees and taxes by spending less on social services, education, and secondary road improvements.  

[Chuckca]

My property taxes are  now almost $3600, property insurance has  risen to $780, tags for 3 old cars are almost $400, we have state income tax, 7.875/8% sales tax.....any questions?

These are annual amounts....not lifetime!

[glenn-k]

After sliding around the mountain a couple days on 30 to 40% slopes I got the septic profile holes approved for my buddies house so they would release the permits.  Plan check and permit fees over $5000.00 and school tax fees were over $11000.00

Our health department guys are pretty decent to work with.

I only broke one handle on the backhoe and one hydraulic line trying to get loose after I pulled two trees down on top the roll bar on my John Deere track hoe.  So, that's what they put those on there for!!!


A track hoe bears no resemblance to a crack ho even tho the names sound similar. :-/

[jraabe]

Be careful Glenn!

We all need you to stick around.  

Did I read that right - over $16 grand for building permits and school tax fees? Is this the price one pays to live in the land of the Gubbernator?

[glenn-k]

You read that right -maybe a little more as I rounded the numbers down - that was a 4500 sf house fees -again rounded numbers.

Unfortunately, falling trees etc. fail to scare or deter me, or even make me quit doing things that cause them.  They only cause me to launch into a tirade of profanity for a few minutes, maybe chew myself out for doing something stupid then continue on smashing and breaking things until the job is done.  I think it's referred to as the brute force method.  I only get scared if the falling thing actually kills me - in which case I probably won't report back here about it.  Okay - so I do get an occasional adrenaline rush.

[bil2054]

Geeze, I thought I was the only one who says "Why the heck did I do that again" five or so minutes before doing it one more time.
I'm sitting here nursing a couple of broken ribs, again, because I am too cheap/lazy/ I don't know what to turn the outside flood light on.
Well, at least this time in a different location, and different ribs, too. I love variety.

One good thing, I guess, is Yavapai County has instituted a "One Stop" permitting process for the unincorporated areas.  Supposedly you can line everything up in one day.
 The fees are nothing like what glenn just went through, but they were not factored into my retirement budget.  When I was 35, my goal was to live frugally but comfortably on the income from half a mill, figuring I had provided for future inflation, etc.  Well, the income is way down, and the costs are way up. I have trouble with the fees, because the county basically provides NO services to the area; no road maintainance, no emergency services, de nada.
So, I'm smiling a bit, because my John Deere is awaiting its rebuilt starter; it was slow starting, so I just cranked the %&*(%%$@ out of it, and melted the armature. Yeah, brute force approach.

[Amanda_931]

When it comes to learning from experience its really nice if you can learn from other people's experience, not just your own.

But why do we always have to have our own experience repeated a few times before we get it?