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Schools: Just a parcel of impact fees won't do
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN, Times Staff Writer Pasco County attorneys plan to work with school officials to iron out problems with the school impact fee ordinance to avoid missing out on fees the school district should be getting from developers. The County Commission agreed Tuesday night for its attorneys to handle an amendment to the ordinance. The change would ensure that school officials decide earlier when they want to use land set aside by developers. It also would set an earlier date for determining the property's value. The year-old ordinance requires developers to pay almost $1,700 toward new school construction for each new single-family home. Impact fees are one-time charges used to pay for infrastructure needed because of growth. Developers pay the fees but typically pass along the cost to home buyers. Currently, developers donating land for schools within their projects receive credit in lieu of having to pay impact fees. But the ordinance does not establish the value of the land at the time developers donate it. That makes it difficult to calculate the credits because the land is not immediately conveyed to the school district. Meanwhile, the price of the land climbs, prompting developers to seek more in impact fee credits from the school district when school officials decide to use the property for schools. That means less money for the school district. The change will likely avoid a repeat of what happened recently with Oakstead, which was rezoned for 1,200 homes in 1999. Developers asked for $35,000 per acre in credits for 28 acres planned for an elementary and middle school. The school district appraisals valued the land at less than half that amount. In March its developer, Devco, agreed to impact fee credits of $20,000 per acre. "We've got to work out a procedure to make the decision earlier," County Attorney Bob Sumner said after the meeting.
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