My commissioners are interested in charging a fee for a road bore permit. Various counties around us are doing it, but I can't seem to find the reference which allows it.

If anyone is willing to say that they are doing it, can you share the authority with me? Thanks!

Are you talking about putting irrigation pipelines or other such things underneath and across the right-of-way?

Yes. We require companies wanting to bore under or cut county roads to make application through the Commissioners Court (yep...there's a form for that!). Here lately, there have been a LOT of them.

It seems every company that calls asks what the "fee" is. We have never charged one, but my guys are now thinking that this could bring some trickle of revenue to the county. After all, why would they ask the amount if they weren't accustomed to paying?

Our county charges the filing fees for placing the application to cross the ROW in the Official Public Records, but no fee simply for making the application or getting permission to cross. The total filing fee is $26 for the paperwork involved.

I have not been able to find a statute which even implies that we can charge a fee, other than, perhaps, the filing fee that Jim mentions.

Has anyone seen anything else?