SUNBURY—Northumberland County did pay the bill for Coal Township’s permit fees earlier this week, but County Commissioner Rick Shoch says they paid it in protest. Shoch says the cost to Coal Township for permitting of the new county prison should not cost nearly a quarter of a million dollars, “It’s a well established body of case law, they cannot charge absorptive fees like this. We are talking about a quarter of a million dollars for something that really, if we end up in court with this, which is not where we wanted to go, it’s going to be a couple thousand dollars they going to be able to charge.”
Along with a check for almost $221,000 Northumberland County hand delivered a letter to the township requesting proof that the cost of the permitting reflects the cost to the township. Shoch says they are refused the County’s requests before, “We have made records requests of them for information regarding what their costs are on other projects, and they have refused those requests and denied them.”
Coal Township now has until September 20 to provide proof that the amount the county paid in fees is the same amount it cost the township to perform the permitting, or the county will proceed with legal action.
