One way to determine if the economy is improving is to check the number of permits being taken out for construction.
In Oneida county, 2015 numbers in some categories showed an increase, says Planning and Zoning Director Karl Jenrich. During the recession, construction permits dropped, as did revenue, but last year, the department saw an increase...
"....of all of our 2015 permits we perhaps put $50 million dollars on the tax roll. Of that, about 84 percent was residential construction. So what we are seeing is that residential construction, especially on lakefront properties really is driving the building industry up here...."
He says in other areas, less activity was seen...
".....residential construction, especially on the lakefront properties is driving the construction industry up here. We have not seen a lot of commercial development, we have not seen a lot of multi-family development since the recession...."
Jenrich says in 2015 commercial and multi-family developments have picked up the pace, but still are not where they were before the recession in 2007. He says the number of sanitary permits has increased and is showing strong numbers this year. He says there also is an increase in subdivision and a total number of lots, which again is a change from the recession years.
