The potential 90 million dollar impact of no impact fees.

From Topix -and very likely from Bob Nutter (he presented these same facts at the recent public hearing.)

seemstome
Saint Marys, GA
 


Food for thought:

My main concern is the possible reduction of the impact fees and the resulting REDUCTION in revenue for our county.

Let's run through some numbers to put impact fees and the criticality of collecting such fees to the continued solvency of our County. I will illustrate the magnitude of impact fees and importance of collecting same as I reflect on the Cabin Bluff PD that was approved by the CCBOC in October of 2008. This PD calls for the construction of 42,931 single family housing units over the course of 65 years, beginning in 2010. Currently, the Single Family New Home Impact Fee is $2,105.25 per home.

At 42,931 SFH equals a total of $90,380,487.75 in potential fees. For a subdivision like Cabin Bluff, I would imagine that a $300,000 to $400,000 plus price tag is not an unreasonable house cost. A $2,105.25 impact fee would equal less than 1% of the cost of the home and I would guess that if this fee were built into the cost of the home, it would not be noticed by the home purchaser. And if it were, a simple explanation of where the impact fee goes and what impact fees fund, my guess would be that people would be accepting of the fee.

So, my question is simple, what is the plan to replace or collect $90.4 million dollars if we "zero out" impact fees? Will we choose to do what Tracy, CA (see article below) is going to do - charge our citizenry an annual 9-1-1 fee? And if a citizen opts not to pay the fee, charge that person $300 per 9-1-1 call? In other words, will we be training our 9-1-1 Operators to first ask for a credit card before sending help? Would any of you want your family to be placed in that position? I, for one, do not want my loved ones to be placed in jeopardy of emergency personnel not showing up for the lack of $300.

While the Cabin Bluff development may very well still be a pipedream, what is NOT a pipedream is the current inventory of available building lots in Camden County which is approximately 14,000 lots. These lots, already on the books and waiting for development, represent approximately $29.5 million dollars in potential impact fees.

I ask anyone reading my note to please call, write, visit, attend a commission meeting and request that impact fees NOT be reduced to zero.



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http://cbs13.com/local/tracy.911.calls.2.1502...

Feb 18, 2010 6:21 am US/Pacific

Tracy Residents Now Have To Pay For 911 Calls

TRACY, Calif.(CBS13) ―

Tracy residents will now have to pay every time they call 9-1-1 for a medical emergency.

But there are a couple of options. Residents can pay a $48 voluntary fee for the year which allows them to call 9-1-1 as many times as necessary.

Or, there's the option of not signing up for the annual fee. Instead, they will be charged $300 if they make a call for help.

"A $300 fee and you don't even want to be thinking about that when somebody is in need of assistance," said Tracy resident Greg Bidlack.

Residents will soon receive the form in the mail where they'll be able to make their selection. No date has been set for when the charges will go into effect.