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Workshop will explain increases in impact fees
The Planning Department will offer information on a proposal that would more than double the current rate.
By WILL VAN SANT
Published March 30, 2005
BROOKSVILLE - County Planning Department staff members will host a workshop Thursday evening on proposed fee hikes that are meant to defray the cost of growth.
There are seven kinds of so-called impact fees, which developers are charged on new construction. They help pay for expanded fire service, increased law enforcement and new roads and schools, among other services.
Determining the new fees took planners several months and involved evaluating demographic changes, property values and state subsidies to the county and other factors. Save for a modest trim to the county fire service fee, all impact fees have been revised up to the maximum extent allowed under current formulas.
When the various proposed increases are added together, excluding fire service fees, which vary across the county, the total proposed impact fee on a new single-family home would more than double, going from $4,798 to $10,042.
School, road and recreation fees saw the most dramatic upward revisions.
The last time impact fees were increased was in 2001, when there was little opposition from builders. But in earlier years, proposed hikes became so contentious that hearings had to be held at the county fairgrounds to accommodate the crowds.
Developers pass the fees on to new home buyers. As a result, builders often argue that impact fee hikes hurt the construction industry and those looking to purchase homes.
Planning Department director Larry Jennings, however, said he has seen no evidence that impact fees have much of an effect on home sales or the construction trades. "I think it's more complex than that," he said.
At the workshop, which will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the County Government Building in downtown Brooksville, area builders, citizens and other interested parties will be able to ask planners how they developed the new fee schedule.
The increases are subject to the County Commission's approval and must be the focus of public hearings, which have not yet been scheduled.
Will Van Sant can be reached at 754-6127 or vansant@sptimes.com
[Last modified March 30, 2005, 01:03:17]
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