Planning department permits way down

I got a nice (unsolicited) mailing from the city Planning Department with some figures that are a microcosm of Pasadena's fiscal situation: building permits, and the revenues associated with them, are way down this fiscal year compared to last year.

There were 1774 permits issued by this time last year, at a value of $3 million, compared to 1,507 permits this year at about $1.7 million. Last month's figures showed even more disparity between January of 2008, with about $166,000 collected last month, compared to $458,000 last January.

All of which means less construction, which of course means less construction jobs, which means less sales tax revenues.

I don't think these figures are particularly surprising, but since they happened on to my desk, I figured I would pass them along.