Local Govt. charged for services not rendered.

[89P13]

Jurisdiction

Vermont

I live in Vermont and was charged $106 by a local Municipality for a zoning permit. Part of that fee ($76) was for them to place an ad (required by their own by-laws) in a newspaper. I reached out to the newspaper and was told the Town had sent them the ad but did not give permission for the ad to be placed. So, why did I pay $76? Where did that money go and to how many other people has this happened too? Is it safe to call this Billing Fraud?

 

[welkin]

I live in Vermont and was charged $106 by a local Municipality for a zoning permit.

What was the zoning permit for? Is it for a variance because you want to do something that is in violation of zoning code?

If you apply for a variance, a legal notice is usually required to be placed in the legal section of a local newspaper to put those properties on notice that could be affected if the variance is granted. There is nothing unusual about that.

Town had sent them the ad but did not give permission for the ad to be placed.

The ad was sent for publication. No further permission needed.

Is it safe to call this Billing Fraud

No. Not even close.

Was the ad published or not?

 

[Zigner]

I live in Vermont and was charged $106 by a local Municipality for a zoning permit. Part of that fee ($76) was for them to place an ad (required by their own by-laws) in a newspaper. I reached out to the newspaper and was told the Town had sent them the ad but did not give permission for the ad to be placed. So, why did I pay $76? Where did that money go and to how many other people has this happened too? Is it safe to call this Billing Fraud?

You call it fraud, I call it a likely clerical error. What did the local municipality say when you contacted them? And what are your damages? Were you prevented from doing something because of this error?

 

[zddoodah]

So, why did I pay $76?

You answered your own question: "Part of that fee ($76) was for them to place an ad (required by their own by-laws) in a newspaper."

Where did that money go and to how many other people has this happened too?

No one here could begin to answer these questions intelligently.

Is it safe to call this Billing Fraud?

"Safe"? It's not unsafe. Is it a fair description? No. Sounds more like someone made a minor screw-up in the performance of a largely unimportant duty. However, since you paid your fee and (presumably) received your permit, none of this affects or should matter to you.

 

[army judge]

I'm surprised to recently see and hear posters kvetching about governmental entities demanding more of a citizen's moola.

For the OP, now is the time to try and organize other, like minded citizens in your city, county, and state.

If you dislike, or have fallen out of love with the way your overlords are governing, work with like minded citizens to put better candidates on the ballot. Then support your, perhaps champions to improve your lives.

If you continue to kvetch, moan, groan, whine, complain, and beg; the overlords will just dole out more abuse.

Otherwise, you're free to do as our ancestors did, find greener, gentler, more to your liking domiciles. We live in a very big, diverse country.

If your current location serves you poorly, there are 49 other states, DC, and five territories. Beyond that, our planet offers nearly 200 other nations. Our progenitors voted with their feet, you can emulate that yet today.

 

[Tax Counsel]

I. So, why did I pay $76?

Because the rules/regulations for getting a permit require you to pay that fee. The details of that don't matter to YOU if you got the permit you wanted.

However the failure to publish would matter to any member of the public that would want to challege the proposed permit. That's the purpose of the ad: to put the public on notice and give them a chance to object.

You may complain to the issuing agency that the ad never ran. The response will almost certainly not be a refund of your money, but rather (possibly) revoking the permit and running the ad to give others the chance to object. All that takes time and might end up costing you more if someone does object. Sometimes it's just better to let sleeping dogs lay.

Where did that money go and to how many other people has this happened too? Is it safe to call this Billing Fraud?

The money went to the agency's bank account to use in conducting its business. Money is fungible and thus it's not necessarily the money you paid that would be used to pay for the ad. But you did not get what the fee was apparently supposed to cover. You can probably get that fixed and get the agency to run the ad, but as I said before, it may not be worth poking the sleeping bear. You won't get the $76 back, but you could buy yourself a bunch of problems when you open that box.

Nothing in your post describes fraud. Fraud requires an intent to deceive as part of the crime. I doubt that the agency took the money and at that time did not have the intent to follow through with the ad. As others have noted, it's probably an administrative screw up. Those happen in pretty much every organization, public or private, especially big organizations. Dealing with that is just one of the things we have to put up with to have the kind of society we have. And having traveled abroad a bit and hearing from other travelers, a lot of countries are far worse with bureaucratic hurdles and mistakes than most government agencies in the US.