Forty Fort Borough Keeps Whacking The People

Back in June, my sister-in-law Amy C. had new front porch steps put onto her house by a friend who happens to be a carpenter, handy man kind of guy. Marty did a great job putting on the steps which included nice slatted hand rails on both sides. The job took him all of one day and cost $200.00 total. Job completed! On Friday, Amy C. got a note which was stuck to her front door from the Forty Fort Zoning officer stating that she contact him immediately because he finally noticed 2 months later that the work was done and no permit was issued. In a panic Amy C. called me and asked if I would call the Zoning Nazi to find out what the problem was. I dialed the number and got to the Zoning Officer to ask what was going on. He proceeded to ask me when the work was done, who did it and did they get a permit. I told him the steps were put up in June, Marty did the job and I wasn't sure if a permit was obtained. Of course, he already knew the answer to the last question because one was not issued. I told him again that I didn't know and asked what was needed to be done at this point. His answer, come down to the Borough Building to obtain a permit at a cost of $54.00. WHAT! ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME? $54.00! The entire job only cost $200.00! This is highway robbery! The cost of the permit is more than 25% of the entire job. This is a bunch of crap! In addition to this milking of the people, he then told me that the steps did not meet the "code". I then proceeded to ask him what part of the code and he stated that the handrails were not in code. WHAT? This job consisted of 3 steps and 2 hand rails. I went up and down the steps with no problem. Of course I said, "ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME"? His response was no I am not kidding you. So now, my sister-in-law has to go buy a permit for $54.00 for a small job that was done 2 months ago and most likely pay more money to get the hand rails up to "code". All I have to say is this is a sick joke. The borough of Forty Fort is milking its residence for every single house repair that they do. There is a permit for the contractor, a permit for the homeowner which has a price based on the cost of the job, and there is a fee to have the Zoning Nazi come out to check the completed job. This is a bunch of horse shit! Forty Fort also has the insane sewer rental fee, the counties bogus levy fee and of course the usual taxes out the ass. Shit, they might as well whack us with an air breathing fee. I don't know how much more of this I can take. I can tell you this, my money well is drying up fast. Its time "We The People" rise up to take a stand against this kind of stuff. Several weeks ago I wondered how Forty Fort was able to hire 3 new full time police officers. When I sat on council, we had no money and almost did away with the police department simply because the money was not there to keep it the way it was. All of a sudden there is money??? The people of Forty Fort should check their wallets and purses because they must feel a lot lighter these days. The filthy hands of local government keep reaching in to pilfer our hard earned cash.