Program waiving builder fees may expand into new areas
Commissioners debate the merits of extending a pilot program to improve rundown areas at a cost of less income for basic services.
By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published October 1, 2003
GIBSONTON - Over the past three years, developers have saved millions building new homes on the outskirts of this carnival town.
For every home built in Gibsonton and five other low-income communities since the summer of 2000, developers have saved about $7,500 in transportation and water hookup fees.
Hillsborough County waived the impact fees normally charged to developers, as part of its three-year experiment to improve run-down areas with an infusion of new homes and businesses.
The pilot program, which ended Tuesday, cost the county some $8-million in water and sewer hookup charges and more than $2-million in forfeited transportation fees. All but about 5 percent of the waivers went to more than 1,000 homes built in Gibsonton - the Kings Lake and South Pointe subdivisions in particular.
The price tag next time around could be even higher, if Hillsborough extends the waivers as a majority of the commission appears poised to do.
Commissioners on Oct. 15 will consider renewing the incentive program, possibly to include Ruskin and an expanded portion of Wimauma - areas of southern Hillsborough where developers already want to build thousands of new homes.
The coming vote rekindles a long-simmering debate: Do the program's benefits outweigh the costs?
Critics say the waivers cost the county millions in money for roads and other basic services, while helping developers build hundreds of homes for less. Supporters say the new homes bring the county more property tax revenues and improve needy areas.
A recent analysis done for the City-County Planning Commission concluded that growth in Hillsborough is not paying for itself. The study found that property taxes aren't bringing in enough to pay for the needed improvements to roads, water, schools and police. Higher impact fees were recommended as one way to generate the necessary revenue.
So far, Gibsonton has been ground zero for the debate, because it is the only area to see significant development since the waivers were established.
But the proposal to apply the waivers to Ruskin and Wimauma worries some commissioners, who insist the program is just a tool to fatten developers' pockets. They say the county can't afford to give up revenue that is supposed to help pay for sewer lines, drainage and other improvements.
"We can't even afford the waivers the board has already approved," said Commissioner Jan Platt, who voted against the program three years ago. "Now we're going to give waivers in Ruskin and Wimauma, where developers are going anyway?"
A majority of the commission chose the six original waiver zones - Gibsonton, Wimauma, Progress Village, Orient Road, Causeway Boulevard and the area surrounding the University of South Florida - because they were targets for community development block grants, federal dollars that go toward improving poor areas.
Any extension of the waivers would again use those areas as a guide, said county impact fee manager Susan Finch. That means developers could have even more land where they can build homes for less.
The Housing and Community Code Enforcement Department is recommending changes to the target areas, by adding new communities and expanding some of the existing ones. Commissioners today will consider setting an Oct. 15 public hearing on the proposed changes.
That proposal would eliminate Progress Village. Ruskin, Plant City, Palm River and the Pinecrest community in Town 'N Country would be added.
The portion of Wimauma eligible for waivers would triple in size, and Gibsonton would lose a swath east of Interstate 75, where the 1,095-home community of South Pointe is.
The area surrounding USF and Causeway Boulevard also would expand slightly. Causeway would include Orient Park.
"We could really make all of south county a target area; it's poor enough," said Mike Rowicki, executive county planner. "But we tried to concentrate on an area that already has infrastructure in place for development to occur."
Finch said her staff has not finished analyzing the potential costs of waiving impact fees in the expanded areas. But she said a three- to five-year extension of the waivers would cost considerably more than the $8-million pilot program.
Commissioner Jim Norman says it's a worthy investment because the county gets more property tax revenues from the improved properties while helping its neediest communities.
"In my eyes, you're actually recouping more dollars and helping distressed areas," he said. "There's a reason these places are designated for federal dollars: They need help."
Norman wants to extend the program through 2008, even though staff warned that could cost taxpayers as much as $16-million in Gibsonton alone. State Rep. Sandra Murman, R-Tampa, sent a letter to commissioners Sept. 8, asking them to leave the waivers in place for another five years.
Murman, whose district includes parts of Hillsborough, cites the growth in Gibsonton as proof of the waivers' success.
While a handful of residential properties have been developed in the other five zones, more than 1,000 Gibsonton lots have been developed, almost all of them single-family houses in new subdivisions.
Critics say Gibsonton would have been gobbled up by developers anyway, just like the rest of southern Hillsborough along U.S. 41 and U.S. 301.
"There are developments just waiting to go in these areas," Platt said. "The sad part is, the taxpayers will ultimately pay a very heavy price for these waivers, because it eliminates sadly needed infrastructure money."
