I found out why the builder I bought my house from had an ancient water heater. There are installation permits to replace it and they aren't cheap. Not to mention the required over-flow tank and a few other fees to boot.
By the time I left Sears, I'd spent as much on fees/taxes as I had on the water heater. God forbid I decide to replace my heating/air conditioning system. Apparently those have a another huge set of county fees and permits on them too.
I'm okay with having fees for something that actually requires paperwork or needs tracking (car tags, driver's liscencses or new construction), but if I already have something and I'm just replacing it, give me a break. I have a water heater, I'm replacing it with the same type of water heater, what about this requries a permit?
Apparently if I decide to replace any of the board in my deck, I'll have another set of permits to figure out.