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Big hike in impact fees is proposed

County and school officials say doubling builder fees on detached homes and sharply increasing fees on units would boost school construction.

By WILL VAN SANT
Published March 8, 2005

BROOKSVILLE - The county Planning Department Monday proposed substantial hikes to the impact fees that developers pay to help build new schools in Hernando.

Builders pay impact fees to cover part of the public infrastructure that's required to serve their projects, thus lessening the load on taxpayers. The theory behind school impact fees holds that new dwellings equal more families, which equals a need for new schools to educate their children.

Under the proposal, impact fees on single-family detached homes would more than double, going from $2,406 to $4,982. School impact fees on single-family attached homes, such as a unit in a townhouse, would go from $2,013 to $3,801. On apartment units, the fee would jump from $1,858 to $3,924.

Now, the Hernando County School District brings in about $5.7-million annually through impact fees. There are limits on how the money can be spent. It must only be used to cover costs associated with the building of new schools.

Deborah Bruggink, the district's chief financial officer, said that if the new fees are approved, it's estimated that an additional $6.2-million would be generated annually. That works out to more than $30-million over the next five years.

"You can't hardly sneeze at $30-million," Bruggink said. "That money goes a long way to helping with the cost of new construction."

County and school district officials have been working for months to develop the fee proposal. The process involves evaluating changes in local tax rates, state education subsidies and the number of children in the average county home, among other variables, over the past five years.

According to Paul Wieczorek, a Planning Department official who has worked with impact fees since 1991, the proposed hikes have been driven by cuts in state school construction aid to the district.

School Board vice chairman Jim Malcolm, who along with his colleagues has struggled to keep up with swelling student enrollment, said he was intrigued by the Planning Department proposal, but wanted to see how Hernando's figures would compare to other area communities.

"I could see supporting the proposal," Malcolm said. But he added: "We don't want to be out of line with surrounding counties."

Similar school impact fee hikes are being considered elsewhere in the region. According to Planning Department documents, Pasco County has proposed an increase to its single-family home fee to $4,314 from the current $1,694. Citrus County has proposed a jump from $636 to $2,040.

Lake and Volusia counties have proposed fees of $7,055 and $6,905 respectively.

The last time the county raised the school impact fee was in October of 2001. It more than doubled then, going from $1,173 to its current $2,406. According to Wieczorek, the fees did not go into effect until June 2002 to accommodate builders who had signed contracts with clients based on the lesser figure.

Area Realtors and builders have in the past opposed impact fee increases and have argued that the added cost is passed to the consumer, which is unfair. Also, they have argued, burdensome impact fees can slow growth.

That's an argument County Commissioner Diane Rowden rejects. She supports the proposed increases, saying that people are expecting a significant hike - one that won't solve all the problems the school district is having but will at least be meaningful.

"I think that it's long overdue," Rowden said. "We have to do it."

The impact fee increases proposed are the largest the Planning Department is able to recommend, according to department documents. But there is a process that must be followed before the fees take effect. And reductions are possible.

School Board support is key, and Planning Department officials said they will open their doors to concerned parties, including the building lobby, so that their concerns can be aired. The County Commission, which has the authority to approve the increases, must also hold public hearings. Those meetings have not been scheduled.

The entire process could take two months or more.

This spring, the Planning Department is to release proposed revisions to other impact fees builders pay to construct, among other things, new roads, parks and libraries.

--Times staff writer Abhi Raghunathan contributed to this report. Will Van Sant can be reached at 754-6127 or vansant@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 8, 2005, 16:52:55]