On April 11, the Marathon City Council signed a resolution that will begin the process of refunding almost $2.2 million to homeowners who paid for city building permits between Dec. 14, 2020 and March 14, 2023. Staff said some 3,000 applicants qualify for refunds.
The refunds coincide with a 42% decrease in building permit fees that was approved at the March meeting of the Marathon City Council. The reduced fees and refunds are to correct the current balance of the city’s building department, which exceeds the limits set by Florida state statute.
“Going forward, the Marathon City Council is going to re-evaluate building department balances annually at budget time to ensure this does not reoccur,” said Marathon’s Building Official Gerard Roussin, who was hired in July 2022.
“There are several ways to address this excess,” said City Attorney Steve Williams at the March meeting. “We can operate the building department in the red to spend the balance down, or hire more people to spend it down. But I hear that it is the will of the council to refund the money.”
While the city of Marathon has been working on this issue since late 2022, all five members of the Marathon City Council were determined that the excess fees should be resolved with refunds, rather than a large decrease in future fees. However, as four of the five council members or a family member would be eligible for a refund, Williams sought a solution from the Florida Commission on Ethics: the council members will waive the refunds to avoid any conflict.
At the meeting on April 11, the Marathon City Council unanimously agreed that the funds they personally waived, and funds that are not collected by eligible homeowners, would be set aside for charitable efforts that fall under the purview of the building department, such as reduced building permit fees for applicants who can demonstrate a financial hardship or incentives to promote the use of renewable energy.
The council directed staff to send out courtesy emails to homeowners in the affected time period regarding the available refunds, but stressed it is the responsibility of the homeowner to apply.
• Homeowners who paid for City of Marathon building permits between Dec. 14, 2020 and March 14, 2023 are eligible to apply. To apply, visit the City of Marathon website at ci.marathon.fl.us and navigate to the “Building Department” tab in the “Government” heading, then to “Forms” and click on the “Refund Request” to download. For more assistance, email refunds@ci.marathon.fl.us.
• The amount of the partial refund will be limited to the difference between the building permit fees originally paid during the eligible time period ($30 per $1,000 of stated project cost) and the current building permit fees ($17.50 per $1,000 of stated project cost). For example, a homeowner who applied for permits for a $500,000 project would have paid $15,000 in permit fees, and is now entitled to a $6,250 refund.
• Refunds shall be made payable to the property owner of record at the time the building permit fee was paid, and should not be payable to any contractor or assignee, or the current owner if the property has been since sold.
• Applicants must submit an application. Hard copies of the online application are available at city hall. The deadline to apply is Sept. 30, 2023, the end of the fiscal year. After the deadline has passed, unclaimed funds will remain in the building permit fee fund and will be directed toward charitable endeavors.
