Culvert conundrum

A homeowner complained to us that her municipality was demanding she pay more than $5,000 in fees for a permit for a culvert that had been built under her driveway years ago. The woman maintained the municipality had installed the culvert, but municipal staff told us they had no record of this. They also explained the permit fees were required regardless of who did the installation. However, when Ombudsman staff pointed out that the city’s own evidence indicated that the culvert had been in place for at least a decade, they agreed to lower the permit fees to 2012 levels, reducing the woman’s fee to $2,356.