and having a permit in hand means I'm very tempted to buy something, because I hate wasting permits.

My town has extended them on day one for the full 180 days. They are great a civilian employee that does all the work. When you go to renew she has a stamp with the chief's name and that is used for his signature.

 

I don't understand why people play this stupid permit game anyway. The solution is simple. Every five to six months I just apply for four new permits. That way I always have at least one and can buy anything I want whenever I want (well not more than two in 30 days) and don't have to worry about using a permit that is about to expire.

The solution is far from simple if you can't extend your permits and have to wait months for them in the first place.

I handed my 2 permits in to get extended 1 week before they expired. The day they expired, the town called up and said come on down and get your permits which were the 90 days to the day after the previous ones expired.