Tell City sits in Perry County, on Central time, and the county planning office is right in town. Two things catch homeowners out here: the permit is triggered by more than just building, and it comes with a clock attached.
Tell City by the numbers
Tell City is the Perry County seat, with about 7,441 residents as of the July 2025 estimate against a 2020 census count of 7,506. Perry County overall is roughly 19,389. The courthouse is at 2219 Payne Street; City Hall is at 700 Main Street, 812-547-5511, Monday through Friday 8:00am–4:00pm.
One practical note before you call anyone: Perry County runs on Central time, unlike Evansville and most of the Tri-State orbit. Confirm which clock a contractor or an office means.
What triggers a permit in Perry County
Perry County Planning and Zoning issues improvement location permits, administers the zoning regulations, and keeps the file of every permit and application. In the county’s own terms, you need one before you:
- occupy or use any vacant land
- occupy or use any structure constructed, reconstructed, moved or enlarged
- change land or a structure to a different use
- alter a nonconforming use
Note that first line. Occupying or using vacant land is a permit trigger, which is not what most people picture when they hear “building permit.”
The clock, and the paperwork order
Once issued, construction must start within one year and be complete within two. Worth knowing if you are permitting a project you intend to do in stages.
Your application needs a complete copy of the application, a dimensional floor plan of the proposed building, and a copy of the property’s water/sewage permit where one applies. The department will not issue the building permit until the water and sewage side is finalised — so start that first if your project touches it, or you will be waiting on it.
Office is at 2219 Payne Street, Tell City, IN 47586 — (812) 547-7121, Monday to Friday 8:00 to 4:00 Central. Call for an appointment rather than turning up. Fees vary by project and are set out in the department’s fee schedule. Perry County Planning & Zoning.
Clearing out
Updated Oct 9, 2026: Tell City has a Drug Take Back drop-off on Sat Oct 24, 10am–2pm, at Walmart on US 66.
Leftover and expired prescriptions are easy to forget until someone else finds them. Take five minutes this week to go through the medicine cabinet and nightstands, bag what you no longer need, and drop it off on the 24th. The nearest other sites that day are the St. Meinrad and Santa Claus fire stations in Spencer County.
National Prescription Drug Take Back Day · Tell City · Perry County · Sat Oct 24, 2026 · 10am–2pm
Walmart, 730 US Hwy 66 E, Tell City (listed with Tell City Police on the DEA’s collection-site locator).
Why care: The DEA runs it as a safe, convenient way to dispose of prescription drugs, so the leftovers don’t sit in the house.
This week: Gather them now, and check the DEA locator the week of the event in case anything changes.
“Tell City Drug Take Back: Sat Oct 24, 10am–2pm, Walmart on US 66.”
Sources: DEA Diversion Control: National Take Back Day · DEA collection site locator
Get the house in order: the free Fall Clear-Out Checklist covers the medicine cabinet, garage and yard before winter.
Beyond Take Back Day, no other dated Perry County clear-out events were posted at our last check. The Tri-State Clear-Out Calendar tracks each county’s programs and official source, and says plainly where nothing has been posted.
Call 811 before any digging, fence posts and footings included.
The Ohio River is the defining fact here
Tell City sits directly on the Ohio. The NWS gauge “Ohio River at Tell City” (TELI3) carries an official flood stage of 38 feet, with action at 36, moderate flooding at 44 and major at 50. Water reaches the top of the Tell City / Hawesville floodwall at 60.5 feet.
The historical record on that gauge is worth understanding if you are buying near the river: the record crest is 56.95 feet on January 29, 1937, with 53.0 feet in March 1964, 52.0 in March 1945, 50.4 in March 1997 and 49.5 feet as recently as April 10, 2025. That last one is not ancient history. Check your own address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center — a screening lookup is awareness, not a formal determination for a lender or a floodplain administrator.
Weather and emergency alerts
Here is a detail that trips people up: Perry County is not covered by NWS Paducah like most of the Tri-State. Forecasts and warnings come from NWS Louisville (LMK) under zone INZ089. If you follow Paducah’s products out of habit because you used to live closer to Evansville, you are watching the wrong office.
Perry County Emergency Management Agency — Director Greg Linne, 3214 Tell Street #3, Tell City, 812-547-4426, Monday through Friday 7:30am–3:30pm. The county uses CodeRED, including CodeRED Weather Warning. Call the EMA for current enrollment; we could not confirm a standalone sign-up link from an official page.
Permits: the two-mile fringe, again
City of Tell City — Building Inspector Steve Goodson, 700 Main Street, 812-547-7490, buildinginspector@tellcity.in.gov. The city Plan Commission handles rezoning and subdivision for the city and its two-mile jurisdiction; the Board of Zoning Appeals handles variances, appeals and special exceptions.
Perry County Planning and Zoning — 2219 Payne Street, (812) 547-7121, perrycopz@psci.net. The county states its jurisdiction plainly: all unincorporated land in Perry County that is outside two miles from the corporate limits of Cannelton, Tell City and Troy. The county issues Improvement Location Permits; construction must start within one year and finish within two. Residential permits require the Perry County Health Inspector to sign off on the sewage disposal system first — that is a sequencing trap on rural lots, because the septic approval gates the building permit.
County planning is by appointment; call before you drive to Payne Street.
Clear-out and recycling
- Perry County Recycling main facility — 508 N. 2nd St., Cannelton, 812-547-0407, Monday through Friday 9:00am–4:30pm and Saturday 8:00am–4:00pm Central. Accepts plastics, glass and metals, cardboard and paper, electronics, batteries and bulbs, oil and antifreeze, household and large-item trash, and has a chemical and hazardous material drop-off — which means Perry County residents do not have to wait for an annual event the way most Tri-State counties do.
- Branchville site — Old Hwy 37 & County Road 40, 812-843-4555; Tuesday 9–5, Wednesday noon–5, Thursday 9–5, Saturday 8–2 Central.
- Derby site — behind Derby Market, 14895 State Road 70. Recycling only, open 24 hours, video monitored, no trash drop-offs.
- Trash tags are $1.50 and are not sold on site — pick them up at Noble’s IGA, Walmart, the Tinker Shop or Circle S.
- City of Tell City Street/Trash Department — Street Commissioner James Holmes, 700 Main Street, (812) 547-3222. The city runs an annual Spring Clean-up that takes household items not accepted the rest of the year, and a fall Leaf Removal Blitz.
A gap worth knowing: the city publishes a 2026 recycling schedule as an image and a holiday collection list with no year label, and we were not able to read specific dates out of either. Call 812-547-3222 to confirm your pickup day and the clean-up week before you stack anything at the curb.
Seasonal maintenance in Perry County
| Season | What matters here |
|---|---|
| Fall | Furnace tune-up before the first hard freeze; gutters cleared before and after leaf drop; hose bibs winterized; a look at the roof after storm season |
| Winter | Pipe protection in crawlspaces and unheated garages on arctic snaps; attic condensation checks; vents kept clear of ice and debris |
| Spring | Roof, gutter and drainage inspection after winter; AC service before the first stretch above 90; grade sloped away from the foundation; sump pump tested |
| Summer | Humidity control; limbs cleared off the roof and service lines; severe-weather kit refreshed |
Projects Tell City homeowners plan
- Roofing — river-valley humidity and storm season both age a roof. new roof cost and repair vs. replace.
- Basement and crawlspace moisture — the highest-relevance category on a river town. basement moisture and waterproofing.
- HVAC — HVAC replacement cost for cost drivers; the equipment does not care which county line it sits on.
- Gutters and drainage — fall gutter prep.
- Storm readiness — Tri-State storm prep, with the river-stage numbers above as your local trigger.
How to use this hub
- Read the cost guides for range and cost drivers — not for a local price.
- Sketch your scope: size, finish, must-haves, and any floodplain or drainage constraint.
- Confirm permits with the authority named above for your address, not your neighbor’s.
- Get two or three written quotes through the directory or a match request.
- Compare scopes, not bottom lines — how to read a contractor quote walks through the line items.
That keeps Tri-State Homeowner Report in its lane — education and matching — and keeps pricing where it belongs: on contractor letterhead, for your address.
Nearby hub: Newburgh is the closest Ohio River comparison on the Evansville side of the orbit.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts — Tell City
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts — Perry County
- State of Indiana — Perry County — county seat
- NWS Louisville county warning area — INZ089
- NOAA river gauge TELI3 — Ohio River at Tell City — flood stages and historic crests
- Perry County Emergency Management Agency
- City of Tell City — Planning and Zoning
- Perry County Planning and Zoning
- Perry County Solid Waste / Recycling
- City of Tell City — Street and Trash Department
Find a local contractor
Browse the Tri-State contractor directory by trade, or tell us what you need and we will hand it to one local contractor in your area. Free to you — contractors pay us, you never do.
Leave a Reply