Just thought I'd pass this somewhat relevant tid-bit along:
Some years ago, when the video game machines were a craze, I put a couple of them in my camera store, more for the fun for me and my employees than a money-making venture. After a month or so, we'd take all the quarters and send out for a pizza. One day a city inspector showed up. He was there he said to make sure the machines were in compliance. Compliance with what? Well, right off the bat he showed me. I used a multi-plug extension cord to plug the machines into the outlet and as a result they were too far away from the outlet. Can't be more than six feet, the man said. OK, we moved the machines closer to the outlet. The next day, another city guy came out to make sure that the machines only gave out free replays and not money because that would be gambling. Later that day, the guy who inspects for water installations and plumbing came out. Why in the world, I queried. These are electrical, they don't use water. His reply was a classic. "I saw the other inspectors come out so I figured I should drop by also." Thank heavens that these men had nothing better to do than to make sure we were safe. That was in 1987. I still haven't figured out what I was being protected from.

You wrote a check to the agency I hope so it was not just personal blackmail, but rather, legal collective blackmail. Isn't fascism fun?

I work as a consultant in a currently unregulated discipline. I assert my expertise, my clients agree or disagree and act accordingly. Some love me and some hold an opposite opinion - I ask them to think for themselves and give them thinking tools & coaching to habituated the parts they like. In the last year I had one 11 mo engagement and another that ended after one day :-).

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.

Where i live here in Michigan it happened to me. We have a party every year here on the lake. Neighbor behind me go mad said I was blocking easement for people to put their boats in. We had words and he said before it was all over he would block me in with no entrance. He thought wrong. You cannot land lock someone here in Michigan if the home was built more than 15 years ago. He still took me to court and still put a fence up, but instead of land lock it was his way of making himself feel good he had to leave my drive open. Fence is a nuisance, but then he called the U.S. Marshall, D.N.R., Fire Dept. and they came out to make sure I was staying within my boundaries and not on the easement. Little did he know I got wind of what was going on so I built reserve signs for each prospective official to park in. When they all came at the same time I never heard so much laughter in my life. We walked down the easement to the water and they told me that the easement was no concern of theirs, but he always had docked his boat right in the middle of the easement in the water. All three men said the land was of no concern as I had quoted, but that the water belonged to the state of Michigan. He now has his boat in his yard and has to unload off the easement without unhooking his trailer. He goes fishing and when he comes in the he has to load his boat and take it back to his property. Want to know what sweet revenge is all about? I never fired a shot. He provoked my neighbors to the east of me which are his family. Now he has asked to park his boat at every dock on the lake, but all have said no. But I am in compliance with my state officials and still have the signs.

Every 5 years we have to pay a "fee" for our holding tank inspection. It's a DIY inspection, so why don't I get to keep the money?
Government creating issues in order to justify its existence.

Now we can sleep at night.

If we had a media that would back us (the people) we could expose the purpose of these agencies as we encounter them, and report as to where the fees go. I'd be willing to bet the fees do not even fund the agency, they get their funding from other taxes.
I'd like to see all agencies challenged and frozen until they can justify their existence with reason for existence, then only started up again after a voted approval of the people of that city, county, state, or country. And finally all agencies should have term limits where the people vote on their existence again after some determined time. Nothing in the government should be permanent, it should all require renewal by the people, and that includes the people that "serve" in the government. (Maybe we should draft government employees to serve a term like the military). Government is supposed to be there to serve, not to rule. Hopefully near future elections will get off the party vote and start voting for freedom and real representation of the people. "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore" should be a campaign motto..