By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — The township’s permit fee system is out of line with area municipalities and West Windsor residents are sometimes paying about $100 in extra costs for routine work, a Hightstown plumber has charged.
Donald Meier — owner of Plumbing Solutions Inc. — said Wednesday that certain jobs, like installing an electric water heater in a home, incur a permit fee of around $45 in most of the municipalities that he works in, usually in the region between East Windsor and Princeton.
But in West Windsor, the fees for that job can range as high as $151, according to Mr. Meier, who said the township usually charges him a minimum fee of $75 for the plumbing work and another $75 for electrical work involved in the job, plus a New Jersey Department of Community Affairs fee of a single dollar.
”It is the same exact job, nothing is different,” said Mr. Meier, comparing West Windsor to other municipalities. “I normally don’t include the cost of the permit fee in the estimate cost.”
West Windsor officials said this week that their permit fee system is in line with most of the surrounding townships, citing the fee system of Lawrence Township as an example, which is the same range of West Windsor’s, generally charging $24 per $1,000 of value in a construction job.
”For the most part I think we are pretty close to the townships around us,” said Robert Hary, spokesman for West Windsor Township.
Also of note is that some jobs do not require both electrical and plumbing minimum fees, meaning persons seeking permits would have to remit around $75, or about half of what Mr. Meier said he pays when installing an electric water heater in a residence in West Windsor.
Mr. Hary pointed out that townships cannot run their building department as a for-profit operation because the fee system is based on state rules that try and charge only enough to cover the cost of the inspection itself, and the continued running of the building department.
Mr. Meier said he understood that the permit costs were only meant to support the building department and the cost of inspections. He speculated about whether the increased cost of certain jobs in West Windsor meant that the building department review was more extensive.
”For one, if their building department is costing that much more to run, are they performing a better inspection?” asked Mr. Meier. “If it is three times the cost, are they filling out the permit for you?”
A quick survey of some surrounding municipalities shows that West Windsor was not the only town charging around $150 in permit fees for the installation of an electric water heater.
Montgomery Township also charges about $150, according to officials from that township’s building department.
Both Princeton Township and Plainsboro Township officials said they would charge about $50 for installation of an electric water heater, although Plainsboro’s fees are expected to increase in the near future.
”I don’t think ours will be that much, even with the increase,” said Plainsboro building department employee Nancy Gutierrez. “I am sure it wouldn’t go up to something like $150.”
The current Plainsboro system involves a fee of $10 each for the electrical and plumbing portion of the job, although that gets bumped up to a $45 minimum fee, plus the Department of Community Affairs’ $1 charge.
Also, Plainsboro Township general rate for fees, according to construction fee ordinances, is $10 per $1,000 of value in a construction project, less than half of West Windsor’s $24.
Princeton Township is lower as well, coming in with $15 per $1,000, for the first $50,000 in a construction project.
West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said previously that he was not familiar with all of the township’s construction fee rules, but that West Windsor building department was known for doing a good job.
”West Windsor’s building department is highly regarded in New Jersey,” Mayor Hsueh said.
West Windsor used to have some of the lowest permit fees in the area until 2004, according to Mr. Hary, who said the township changed fees that year to be more in line with what surrounding towns were charging.
”Before that they hadn’t been changed for a decade,” said Mr. Hary. “For the most part I think we are pretty close to each other.”

