Schererville sees drop in new single-family homes in 2007

BY VANESSA RENDERMAN, Times of Northwest Indiana
vrenderman@nwitimes.com

SCHERERVILLE | Fewer people started construction on single-family homes in Schererville in 2007 than any other year in recent history, town officials said.

The town issued only 67 of the permits last year. That is the lowest number in at least the last 15 years, Director of Planning and Building Ed Malinowski said.

The construction cost of those new homes was about $18.76 million.

At the same time, commercial permits were up, Malinowski said.

The town issued 56 commercial and industrial permits for new construction and remodeling. The total construction cost for that work was about $11.2 million, according to figures provided by the town.

The total amount of permits issued in 2007 was 1,355. That number, which includes permits for sheds, signs and remodeling, was about even to last year, Malinowski said.

Schererville was not immune to a national decline in new housing construction, Town Manager Bob Volkmann said.

"You can certainly see the slowdown in the industry," he said.

A decrease in the permits also meant a decrease in building permit revenue for the town.

"It's not like it's surplus revenue," Volkmann said. "We budgeted that money. It does hurt, certainly."

Town officials are addressing that revenue drop, he said.

During the past 10 years, the town collected between $700,000 and $800,000 annually in building permit fees, but that number dropped to $400,000 in 2006 because of the decrease in new housing construction. The town appropriated money generated by a hydrant user fee toward its general fund to cover the unexpected shortfall.

With new retail opening in Schererville in 2008 and 2009, the town expects to see a lot of commercial permit activity, Volkmann said.