Minnesota Supreme Court | Amicus Brief Filed Ahead of the October 2 Deadline
The Problem for Builders
State law clearly says building permit fees must reflect the actual cost of running an inspection department—cities aren’t allowed to use permit fees to make a profit. However, the Minnesota Court of Appeals recently ruled that builders and associations have no legal right to sue cities when they overcharge for permits.
State law lets cities charge reasonable fees to fund the cost of building inspections. In the underlying court cases, the data made it clear that the cities were not just charging for the cost of building permitting. They were charging much more than needed to fund other priorities for the cities.
If this ruling stands, cities have a green light to double or triple permit fees to cover unrelated municipal budget gaps, and builders will have zero legal power in court to stop them. This adds thousands of dollars in hidden taxes to every project you build.
What BAM Is Doing
BAM and the National Association of the Remodeling Industry – Minnesota Chapter (NARI-MN) filed an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief asking the Minnesota Supreme Court to reverse the Court of Appeals decision. We are telling the court that a law without an enforcement mechanism is useless—if cities violate state fee laws, builders must have a way to hold them accountable.
Next Steps
BAM and NARI-MN filed our brief with the Minnesota Supreme Court on October 1, a day ahead of the October 2 deadline.
Our efforts are aimed at keeping cost burdens down, holding local and state government accountable, and protecting your freedom to do business in Minnesota.