well most of the fee goes to paying the government employees created and their cars and laptop so they can collect payment. Does Home Depot have to pay just $40 or is their fee higher? thrips

Exactly!!! I also hate when while talking about the defects of government schools , how classes are too big, no one on one learning etc, the standard response is always, "but that's how it's always been." A) no it is not, and B) even if that were true how does that make it right? The things people accept as unchangeable is frightening. And they learned this limited thought process in public schools. Wake up yo!!

I feel safer already. You hit on something I think of all the time. Occasionally I talk to people about the farmers market and how they don't pay certain taxes and fees. The answer is always they should pay too. My answer is neither of us should pay. We are so conditioned to think that government is the all knowing entity and whatever they say goes that we don't question it any more. It's crazy.

...but none of you should have to pay it. Did you thank her up and down for stopping in all impromptu like to save your customers from all the danger you schlep??? You PA shirp menace!! (What's a shirp anyway? A gov thug?? :))

She was very polite. She said that she was on her way to another store when she saw we had plant material. According to her computer we were closed because we had not paid the 40 dollar fee this year. My problem is what does she do? She looked at our plants and said "I saw some thrips but not enough to worry about". If my plants were infested with bugs I would spray them. I don't need a state employee to tell me that. I should apologize to anyone who was afraid to come to western PA because of me. One question we did ask is if everyone who sells at our local farmers market has permits. She said they did the best they could. Farmers markets are held on Saturday and Sunday. State employees don't work those days. One more fee I pay and others don't.

How did the PADA employee carry him/herself? Were there any threats mentioned if you didn't pay their permit fee? Did you ask him/her what the benefit was, and how this is making anything safer? It's just another way to get you to comply, and to have another gov official feel powerful over the business owners. I don't know about you but I feel safer already...whew... and I'm in AZ.