Brewer Offers Permits Online

The city has taken another step into the technology age. Last week, Brewer unveiled its new online service for a variety of permits issued by the Code Enforcement Office.

Though several Maine cities are in various stages of preparing to offer online permitting, Brewer appears to be the first municipality in the state to actually do it, Maine Municipal Association spokesman Michael Starn said this week.

E-government, as doing government business by computer is called, has become more common at the federal and state levels, Starn said.

The state currently offers several online services, including a pilot project to renew vehicle registrations, income tax filing and a program that allows the holders of more than 95 different professional licenses in Maine to renew licenses online. In addition, sportsmen can purchase hunting and fishing licenses electronically.

Proponents say that e-government can and will make government faster and cheaper.

During a visit to Bangor last fall, Gov. Angus King said it costs the state $3.50 to manually process a single income tax form, more if the form lacks needed information or has computation errors. Electronic filing costs 50 cents a form and provides 100 percent accuracy because forms cannot be filed if information is lacking or if there are math mistakes.

Brewer’s online permitting service was developed as a group effort that included Mary Stuart, the city’s technology coordinator, Code Enforcement Officer David Russell, Economic Development Director Drew Sachs and the staff of HCP Computers Inc. of Carmel, Russell said.

According to Sachs, Brewer’s electronic permitting feature should prove a timesaver for local developers, who now can “apply for and receive a permit without ever setting foot inside of City Hall. We’re delighted to be the first community in Maine to offer this.”

To access the service, Internet users should visit the city’s Web site at www.brewerme.org, and then choose “Code Online Permits” from the options listed in the column on the left-hand side of the city’s home page.

That will bring users to the code office’s permit site, where they will find a brief introduction to the service and some basic instructions.

The types of permits offered are listed at the left. Clicking on the desired option will call up the electronic form that applicants need to complete in order to receive their permits. Once applicants have filled in the necessary information, they can submit their forms by clicking on the “send application” button at the document’s end.

“It’s pretty simple,” Russell said. “It’s mostly a fill-in-the-blank format.”

Accounts and identification numbers will be established for registered users, who will be billed by the city, Russell said. Registered users likely will include contractors, developers, engineering and consulting firms and companies that install oil burners and heating equipment or do plumbing or electrical work. Registered users may begin work upon notice of approval, which will be issued by e-mail.

Nonregistered users, who might include the homeowner who wants to build a deck or addition, should leave blank the space for the ID number, according to the Web site instructions. After nonregistered users’ applications have been reviewed, the code office will e-mail notices of approval and payment due. Upon receipt of payment, the code office will e-mail an acknowledgment of payment, signaling that work may begin.

Russell said that after the applications have been processed, the city would mail copies of permits to applicants.

For information or to set up an account, contact the Brewer Code Enforcement Office at City Hall. The telephone number is 989-7790.

This is a copyright article written by Dawn Gagnon of the NEWS Staff that appeared in the Bangor Daily News, Thursday, January 25, 2001.