Better To Settle

The Greater Atlanta HBA reached a $1.65 million settlement with DeKalb County over a prolonged pattern of overcharges on building permit fees. The Atlanta trade group had claimed that the county was using monies for general fund expenses that should have been used to run the building department. In an earlier decision, the Federal District Court in Atlanta ruled that DeKalb County’s use of permit fees violated state law, a verdict upheld on appeal by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.