Boom was a wild ride for building department

Everyone knows what happened to the building boom in Highlands County. But it's still interesting to see the dramatic extent of the rise and fall in revenue at the building department.

At the opening of the 21st century, S.Y. Moseley Jr.'s office took in $370,000 in revenues from permitting new homes, electrical work, plumbing and remodeling. Highlands County was steadily growing.

Then two events occurred: the hurricanes of 2004-05, and the wild speculative rush of 2005. Revenues soared 320 percent. The department was overwhelmed. More inspectors were hired. Still more building inspectors were needed. Until 2007.

"It was like somebody shut off the water valve," Moseley said Wednesday from his office, still crowded with legal books on state inspection codes, maps and architectural plans.

In a single year, revenues plummeted from $1.36 million to $500,000. This year, $410,000 was projected, but Moseley and his top assistant, Helen McKinney, suggested the real number may be more like $375,000 - the same level as in 2000.

And fiscal year 2010? What does the crystal ball say?

"I have two of them, but they're both cloudy," Moseley said. Officially, he's expecting just $275,000.

Times will get even tougher in the building department. Already, employees have been moved out of the county's satellite offices in Avon Park and Lake Placid, and returned to the Sebring office.

After next year, Moseley suggests life may get better. There is an inevitable cycle of disastrous hurricanes in Florida. Sooner or later, another one will come to Highlands County, damage homes and businesses, and people will apply for permits to fix the damage. The American economy also will improve. It always does.

The turnaround may be starting, he pointed out. Seven or eight permits have been issued to builders who are finishing houses they started years ago. In those cases, he said, the houses were permitted and slabs were poured, but worked stopped when the buyers disappeared.

In January, the bottom may have been found. Only one permit was issued for a new home in Highlands County, along three mobile homes.

In February, three houses were permitted, along with seven mobile homes. In March, five new houses and three trailers. Back in the good old days of 2006, 2.9 new homes and 1.4 modular houses were permitted in Highlands County - 365 days a year.

In 2007, there were 14 employees. Today there are 11. Since no one is retiring within the next three years - and that includes Moseley - two or three layoffs may be necessary.

"The building department is one of the county offices that has to pay for itself," Moseley said. It doesn't take money from the county treasury, it's expected to bring in money.