A proposal to license home improvement contractors who do work in the City of Batavia is being put on hold while further research is done into how the proposed law should be implemented.
The matter has been referred to City Attorney George Van Nest.
City Manager Jason Molino told the City Council about the change in direction during the budget review meeting at City Hall tonight.
While Councilman Bob Bialkowski spoke out against the proposal and Councilwoman Rosemary Christian said she's received a lot of calls on the matter, Council Bill Cox said given the trouble he had with a contractor last year, he leans toward support the proposal.
The proposal was included in the 2011/12 budget. The plan was to impose a $125 annual license fee for contractors doing a variety of home improvement projects, from painting to driveway paving and several other types of improvements.
Christian said there was a lot of confusion about the proposal, such as some people calling her expressing concern that the kid who mows lawns during the summer would have to pay the city $125 per year.
Molino said it's those kinds of definitions that the city attorney will clear up in the research and review process.
There's no timeline for when the proposal might be brought back to the council for consideration.
Need work done on your house?
Need work done on your house? Get recommendations, speak with contractors, get estimates, ask questions... check references, verify insurance, call the Better Business Bureau.
City-level licensing might sound consumer-friendly but really, what could it add? The city can't do your homework for you. All it can do is limit who you can seek bids from - meaning less competition and less opportunity to get a better price.
Better business bureau, if
Better business bureau, if you pay to belong then they dont say anything bad about you. they are a joke.
So because Bill Cox doesn't
So because Bill Cox doesn't do his due diligence on one of his own projects and gets burned, he wants to subject all city residents to this money grab?
They obviously don't have enough staff now at city hall to do what they should (e.g. - we mail our water bills to Binghamton - they must be too busy at city hall to open all those envelopes) and now the council wants to create a "Consumer Protection Bureau" to save us from all those unscrupulous contractors?
As has been stated here before, this is nothing but a poorly crafted money grab. All that's going to result from this is it's going to cost me another $10 or $20 to get my driveway sealed.
Put simply - this is stupid, please don't bother.
I live where licensing and
I live where licensing and permitting is required for almost anything you do or have done to your home. Therefore, I hire people I know and trust, pay cash when necessary and we never talk about it after the fact. Without an underground economy the surface economy would collapse.