The City of Jacksonville has given away nearly $525,000 in permit refunds for homeowners making post-Hurricane Irma fixes. But there’s still time and money left for more refunds.
After Irma, City Council set aside just under $750,000 to reimburse permit fees required for certain electrical repairs and re-roofing or non-structural roof repair projects.
City building inspections manager James Tidwell told the City Council Finance Committee this week that’s amounted to 3,400 roofing permits and 68 electrical permits.
But the program hasn’t ended. Homeowners have until the end of this month to file for a refund. During the meeting, Council members estimated there’s still money to refund more than 1,500 more permits. The roofing permit fees are around $150 each.
Tidwell said his department is working overtime to process the requests.
“They get a stack of them every day,” he said. “I’m amazed.”
The program was originally to end at the beginning of the year, but was extended because few people had applied for refunds.
Bill sponsor Councilman Garrett Dennis said at the time of the January extension, “out of the over 6,000 building permits, only 124 property owners applied for a refund.”
The extension bill also designated dollars to go toward mailing reminders and affidavits to those who have paid for permits and might be eligible for refunds.
All requests for a refund should be submitted to the city’s Building Inspection Division.
Reporter Lindsey Kilbride can be reached at lkilbride@wjct.org, 904-358-6359 or on Twitter at @lindskilbride.
