SABATTUS – The school superintendent and the code enforcement officer are expected to meet today to discuss reimbursement of a $6,300 building permit fee paid unnecessarily for the new school.

Superintendent Paul Malinski told selectmen Tuesday night that months after construction started on the $8.2 million Sabattus Central School, officials learned no permit fee was needed, even though Code Enforcement Officer Richard Behr advised they did. Selectmen said Behr received 90 percent of the fee.

“Contractors began mobilizing for construction last spring and before we began we were told we needed a building permit,” he said. “We paid that $6,300 because we wanted to move forward in an expeditious manner because if you get held up in the beginning it pushes everything back.”

A few months later, the state Bureau of General Services told Malinski that the town isn’t among the few in the state that can issue building permits to itself.

“It was like Sabattus was taking money from one pocket and putting it into another,” Malinski said.

Sabattus School Committee members told selectmen Tuesday night they did not want to push for reimbursement at first, but when an unexpected asbestos issue in the old school arose it turned to town officials to help pay the estimated $48,000 cost.

In a letter submitted to selectmen Friday, Behr requested that the town be put on the list of municipalities allowed to collect building permit fees for buildings being constructed for the town.

Rudy Gayton, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said the town did not have the money to reimburse the school. She said only 10 percent of the building permit fee goes to the town, and the rest goes to the code enforcement officer.

Behr was not present at the meeting and not reachable for comment Tuesday night.