News Archive - 2009

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Growth issues dominate agendas
Charleston Post Courier, SC – December 31, 2009
A running battle over levying impact fees to help pay for growth dominated the politics of both Summerville and Dorchester County this year. Meanwhile, MeadWestvaco in September and December unveiled plans for developing the Watson Hill and East Edisto …

Twin Falls city officials consider increasing fees to fund growth-related projects
Twin Falls Times-News, ID – December 30, 2009
Impact fees may be on the rise in Twin Falls, which would increase costs for those building new homes or businesses in the city. Under Idaho code, the city is allowed to collect impact fees on new construction to help pay for police, fire, parks and street projects …

Salisbury impact fees debate stalled
Delmarva Daily Times, MD – December 28, 2009
City councils have for years been trying to agree on an impact fee ordinance. After commissioning a study, the City Council discussed implementing the fees on at least two occasions this year, but nothing was moved past a work session. City Administrator …

Council reactivates impact fee question
Charleston Post Courier, SC – December 28, 2009
Transportation impact fees haven’t hit the wall yet in Dorchester County. Less than a month ago, County Council postponed “for at least a year” asking its planning commission to recommend whether and how to impose the fees to improve roads. Now, council …

New study sheds light on county impact fees
News-Sun, FL – December 25, 2009
The (Highlands) county-appointed Impact Fee Board discussed last week several changes to land uses and the possibility of asking commissioners to re-address the impact fees in the upcoming year. In June, Commissioners voted to suspend impact fees for one year …

Orland fees go back to go forward
Orland Press Register, CA – December 24, 2009
The 2009 recalculation of building impact fees was supposed to make the schedule easier for business owners and others to understand. However, Orland officials discovered it had the opposite effect, so the City Council reversed the summer action this week – putting …

Orland council deals with fees, commissions
Enterprise-Record, CA – December 23, 2009
The Orland City Council made decisions Monday night that included changes to commercial and industrial impact fees and appointments to several city commissions. The council also talked about whether or not to re-establish a Planning Commission. However, it was …

Impact fee committee ponders new study
Tampa Tribune, FL – December 23, 2009
Unless the Highlands County Board of County Commissioners acted beforehand, a moratorium on impact fees would go away and the fees would automatically be reinstated on July 1. The impact fees initially went into effect on Jan. 1, 2007 and continued …

Future of local impact fees discussed
Greenville Herald-Banner, TX – December 23, 2009
An appointed committee has begun the process of updating how the City of Greenville assesses impact fees to help pay for local economic development. The Capital Improvements Advisory Committee (CIAC) met Monday evening, immediately after the end of the Planning …

Kalispell Council Votes to Ease Impact Fee for Downtown Business
Flathead Beacon, MT – December 22, 2009
Kalispell City Council members took away very different messages from a Monday night vote to reduce the burden of impact fees on a small business trying to relocate from one part of downtown to another. The debate concerned a request by PB&J, a Christian …

Hurricane to look at impact fees
St. George Daily Spectrum, UT – December 21, 2009
City officials have paired with local developers and representatives from homeowner’s associations to form a task force designed to find ways to reduce Hurricane’s impact fees. In recent years developers have been highly critical of Hurricane and its impact fees, which …

Guest column: Howard acts to aid building of homes
Green Bay Press Gazette – December 21, 2009
New homebuyers purchasing a home in Howard will find it more affordable to own a home. The Village Board voted to enact a new ordinance, effective Nov. 27, which will amend its current impact fee ordinance to reduce impact fees substantially for both single and …

On The Agenda: PB&J’s Fee Lowered
Flathead Beacon, MT – December 21, 2009
Kalispell City Council meets for the last time this year to vote on whether to lower the impact fees to be assessed the PB&J bookstore and cafe, in its plan to relocate, from about $1,800 to less than $200. PB&J’s owner, Nancy Johnson, previously asked to have her …

Transportation impact fees now law in Lower Macungie
Allentown Morning Call – December 20, 2009
Developers who build in Lower Macungie can now expect to get hit with thousands of dollars worth of fees when they add traffic to township roads with new homes and businesses. Township commissioners last week approved a new law that imposes an …

Pittsburgh debates ‘fair-share’ tax
Providence Journal, RI – December 20, 2009
Facing declining revenue and a growing presence of tax-exempt colleges and universities, a former manufacturing center proposes a student tax. Sound familiar? Earlier this year, it was Providence, as Mayor David N. Ciclline was looking to close a $17-million …

Farmington raises impact fees
StandardNet, UT – December 19, 2009
Impact fees for developments will be increased even as a developer warned city officials they are sending the wrong signal to companies that may want to locate here. A new road impact fee schedule was approved Tuesday night by a 4-0 vote of the city council and is …

Majority of road impact fees will decrease despite increase
Windsor Beacon, CO – December 19, 2009
Even with the approval of the road impact fees increase, there’s going to be an overall decrease in 20 land use categories for the fees in 2010. The contradictory resolution passed by the Windsor Town Board last Monday night is the result of a postponed increase …

Relocation Tests Kalispell’s Impact Fee Policy
Flathead Beacon, MT – December 17, 2009
Kalispell officials are attempting to mitigate the effect the city’s transportation impact fee policy would have on a small downtown business attempting to relocate, but currently can’t because the fees it may be charged are too high. The controversial fees …

St. Lucie OKs hike in impact fees of $3000 per new home
Fort Pierce Tribune, FL – December 16, 2009
Impact fees will go up by about $3,000 on new homes after Commissioners opted early Wednesday to follow staff recommendations on adjusting the fees. The County Commission voted 4-1 with Commissioner Chris Craft voting against. Impact …

City takes up sewer, water rate hikes
Bonner County Daily Bee, ID – December 16, 2009
The City Council is conducting a public hearing tonight to set new rates for water and sewer customers now that voters have approved a bond to update the lakeside water treatment plant. The full council meets at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. Base water and sewer rates for …

City of Miami may lose $317000 in overdue impact fees
Miami Today, FL – December 16, 2009
Taking action too late in the game, the City of Miami may never collect much of more than $317,000 in impact fees overdue since 2005. Legal deadlines limit lawsuits to four years after the original fees were due — and that line was exceeded in two of the …

City plan commission endorses impact fee
Greenfield Daily Reporter, IN – December 15, 2009
The Greenfield Advisory Plan Commission has recommended approval of an impact fee that would charge future home builders about $1,000 per building permit to fund parks infrastructure. Plan commission members asked a variety of questions about the …

County commission suspends impact fees
Santa Rosa Press Gazette, FL – December 15, 2009
Santa Rosa commissioners seem to be wavering over a fee they implemented in 2006. The transportation impact fee that was implemented in an effort to raise money for road improvements in Santa Rosa County is steadily becoming the road less traveled. At …

Miami inquiry treads familiar ground
MiamiHerald.com FL – December 15, 2009
As it explores how Miami moved millions from account to account to balance its troubled budget, the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation with striking parallels to an earlier case that pinpointed fraud in Miami’s books. A decade after the SEC …

Grand Junction City Council delays transportation fee increase again
Grand Junction Sentinel, CO – December 14, 2009
Grand Junction City Council members will delay increasing a transportation impact fee for a second year. The city asks commercial and industrial developers to pay Transportation Capacity Payments to help pay for traffic impacts brought on by new …

Tavares to consider waiving impact fees
Orlando Sentinel, FL – December 14, 2009
In an effort to spur development, City Council members will consider Wednesday whether to give builders a pass on impact fees for new construction. City staffers developed a proposal that would eliminate impact fees for a year to encourage developers to build …

Jerome Council to ponder impact fees
Twin Falls Times-News, ID – December 13, 2009
Growth in Jerome is projected to take off in the next 10 years. And somebody will have to pay for it. The Jerome City Council on Tuesday will consider adding a chapter addressing impact fees to the city’s proposed comprehensive plan. But questions loom over whether …

Developer sues Palo Alto over affordable housing requirements
San Jose Mercury News, CA – December 13, 2009
Palo Alto is defending its low-income housing program against a lawsuit from a private developer who argues the city has no right to require him to pay for below-market-rate units. John Mozart, the builder behind the 96-unit Sterling Park housing development …

NC court rules for developers in Union
CharlotteObserver.com, NC – December 10, 2009
The N.C. Appeals Court has ruled that Union County can’t require developers to pay for new schools, making Union the second county to unsuccessfully fend off developers who say they shouldn’t have to pay such fees. Homebuilders had sued Union County over its …

Sacramento County cuts some development fees
Sacramento Business Journal, CA – December 9, 2009
After a lengthy review of its fee structures, Sacramento County is reducing development fees by 20 percent for its North Vineyard Station area in the hopes that homebuilders with plans in there will be able to launch their developments. Lennar Homes expects …

Titusville may drop transportation impact fees
Florida Today, FL – December 8, 2009
Sandra Jankovich wants to turn an empty parking lot into a fast-food restaurant and create 37 new jobs. The lifelong resident said she planned to open the Taco Bell-Long John Silvers in Titusville, but it will save her almost $105,000 in transportation impact fees if …

Town may implement water resource fee
Explorer News, AZ – December 8, 2009
In 2010, the Town of Marana may establish the first groundwater resource acquisition and development fee in its water rate structure. Revenues from that proposed fee, up for public hearing Jan. 5, would be used to “isolate and pay for all the costs of water resource …

Dorchester County Council Strikes Down Impact Fee
WCIV, SC – December 7, 2009
It’s a win for builders in Dorchester County, but could it slow down drivers? Monday night Dorchester County considered charging builders a fee for each house they build to help pay for roads and ease traffic, but council shot it down for another year with a 4-3 …

Realtors oppose Dorchester impact fee
Greenville News, SC – December 6, 2009
Dorchester County Council is expected Monday to discuss a new impact fee that would generate new dollars for road widening and other highway projects.  But the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors is hoping to put the brakes on the idea, its government …

Impact fee would aid parks
Greenfield Daily Reporter, IN – December 5, 2009
Greenfield home builders would be charged about $1,000 per building permit next year under a new proposal to fund future trails and park space.  Local officials tout an “impact fee” for new houses as a fair way to raise money for future infrastructure like trails as the city …

Local mayors concerned over state finances
Cherokee Tribune, GA – December 4, 2009
The state’s lingering fiscal crisis and its potential impact on city governments is on the minds of Cherokee County’s mayors and council members.  The Cherokee Municipal Association this week heard an update from the Georgia Municipal Association regarding …

Cash crunch fuels fight over impact fees
CharlotteObserver.com, NC – December 3, 2009
The battle over who should pay the costs of growth in Cabarrus County is intensifying as a major developer now says it shouldn’t have to pay fees dedicated for new schools. Crescent Resources last month became the latest developer to sue the county over its …

County extends impact fee halt
Fernandina Beach News-Leader, FL – December 3, 2009
The Nassau County Commission has voted to extend by six months its suspension of impact fee collection. The commission voted 4-1 on Nov. 23 to continue the suspension, with Commissioner Mike Boyle dissenting. The commission suspended impact fees …

Realtor: Housing market stabilizing
Tampa Tribune, FL – December 3, 2009
In October, the average sales price for an existing single-family home in Hernando County was $117,932, down from $122,494 one year earlier. The median sales price of homes was down, as was the median list price. But despite all that, Marilyn Pearson-Adams, …

Wendle out as Collier builders executive director
Naples Daily News – December 3, 2009
After less than nine months at the helm, Bill Wendle is no longer leading the Collier Building Industry Association.  “It was by mutual agreement with David Aldridge,” Wendle said Thursday afternoon. Aldridge, who will replace Tom Lykos as association president …

Collier impact fee deferral program suspended
Naples Daily News, FL – December 2, 2009
With a glut of unoccupied properties crowding Collier County’s real estate market, there is no longer a need to develop affordable housing, with some exceptions, commissioners agreed Tuesday. Commissioners suspended the impact fee deferral program …

School fee proposal fair, pragmatic solution
Hilton Head Island Packet, SC – December 1, 2009
A recommendation to exempt the developer of 100 acres on Lady’s Island from some of the school development fees required by a Beaufort County ordinance raisesconcerns.  After all, new home construction tends to be accompanied by overcrowding …

Collier County votes to suspend affordable housing fee program.
Marco Eagle, FL – December 1, 2009
Collier County commissioners unanimously approved suspension of the affordable housing impact fee deferral program.  The exception: 36 agreements with Habitat for Humanity for 100 percent deferral of impact fees, valued at $531,498. An impact fee is money …

Harford’s School Impact Fee – Round 2
The Dagger, MD – November 30, 2009
Ready to see your taxes raised or your county services slashed again? What’s fair about that Background: In October, there was a great deal of controversy about canceling the school impact fee. This is the fee paid by people who purchase new homes, …

Easing impact fees won’t help economy
Orlando Sentinel, FL – November 29, 2009
Lake County commissioners have said that they want to talk about giving developers a break on impact fees to help kick the local economy back to life.  The fees theoretically pay most of the cost of providing services, ranging from parks and roads to schools, …

School Board does create construction jobs
The Daily Commercial , FL – November 29, 2009
In his “My View” piece Don Magruder quoted one sentence in a Daily Commercial story about a school board meeting and claimed it represented my views on the economy and jobs — even though he was not present when my comments were made. Among other …

Mr. Rogers discovers big government fees … that he approved
OregonLive.com, OR – November 26, 2009
When Roy Rogers set out to replace cubicles with offices at his Tigard accounting firm, he soon found himself swimming in fees that he actually approved as a Washington County Commissioner. Not that Rogers, who has been a commissioner since …

Critics, advocates disagree on Lower Macungie fees for developers
Allentown Morning Call, PA – November 24, 2009
As officials in Lower Macungie take a second crack at imposing traffic impact fees on developers, critics are saying the long-debated plan may do more harm than good.  Township commissioners plan to vote next month on a law requiring developers to pay an $1,800 …

PETER GADDY: Hometown Democracy starting to look good
Naples Daily News, FL – November 24, 2009
Each year, Collier County Commissioners are required to make an annual update and inventory report to determine the status of public facilities and provide a financially feasible plan to fund, construct, and maintain those public facilities — anticipating growth …

Planners approve impact fee regulations
Meredith News, NH – November 23, 2009
Following an extensive discussion and public hearing last week, planning board members voted to begin collecting impact fees on new homes and additions as a way to ease the tax burden of improvements to local schools.  The fees, which amount to $2.49 …

Council Could Raise Bellingham Transportation Impact Fee
KGMI, WA – November 23, 2009
One of the fees developers must pay to build a home in Bellingham could be going up. The Bellingham City Council today will consider raising the Transportation Impact Fee. The proposal is for a 14 percent increase, which would bring the fee to over $1,900 per …

County may join effort to challenge state on impact fees
Gainesville Sun, FL – November 23, 2009
Alachua County may join in a planned legal challenge against a state law that makes it more difficult for local governments to prevail in lawsuits over impact fees. House Bill 227, which Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law in May, puts the burden of proof on local …

Mansfield council will take final vote on higher road impact fees
Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX – November 22, 2009
The City Council today will consider increasing roadway impact fees to help cover the costs of expanding the city’s street system.  The increase would boost the city’s total impact fee to $7,750 — including water, sewer and park fees — which is charged …

Bellingham may raise transportation impact fee on developers
Bellingham Herald, WA – November 21, 2009
City leaders will consider a 14 percent increase in the fee developers pay to compensate for the transportation impacts of their projects. The City Council on Monday, Nov. 23, will discuss approving a base rate for 2010 of $1,932 per evening rush-hour trip generated …

City Council members embrace developer fees for parks
Capital Times, WI – November 20, 2009
Council member Shiva Bidar-Sielaff was thumbing through her first city budget weeks ago, she noticed several pages devoted to the city’s impact fee accounts and had the same question many outside city government would have: What the heck is an impact fee? The …

Brighton discounts permit fees to spur new home construction
Denver Post, CO – November 19, 2009
Officials here are slashing permit fees and deferring other costs in an attempt to ignite the stagnant home construction business. Building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical fees will be cut by 50 percent starting Dec. 1. Those reductions — including the virtual …

Sand Hollow requests impact fee relief
St. George Daily Spectrum, UT – November 19, 2009
For the second meeting in a row, the Hurricane City Council heard a request Thursday regarding relief from the city’s high impact fees. Drake Howell of Sand Hollow Resort appeared before the council, saying the 10-unit villa his company is looking to add to the …

Collecting impact fees: Now or later?
Orlando Sentinel, FL – November 19, 2009
Lake County School Board members said this week they want to continue discussing the possibility of giving developers a break on impact fees to help jump-start construction and the economy. Ordinarily, impact fees — meant to help offset the impact …

First Dewey-Humboldt impact fees should take effect early next year
Prescott Daily Courier, AZ – November 19, 2009
For Dewey-Humboldt to afford enhanced public services tied to future growth, the Town Council Tuesday narrowly approved the municipality’s first development impact fees ordinance.  In a 4-3 vote, with Vice Mayor Nancy Wright and councilmen Terry Nolan …

Panel gives developers a break on fees for projects already approved
Hilton Head Island Packet, SC – November 18, 2009
A northern Beaufort County developer should get a break on school-development fees, as should anyone else whose planned unit development was approved before the state outlawed school impact fees, a county committee determined Wednesday.  Fred Trask …

Lake School Board is open to giving developers break on fees
Orlando Sentinel, FL – November 18, 2009
Lake County School Board members said this week they want to continue discussing the possibility of giving developers a break on impact fees to help jump-start construction and the economy.  Ordinarily, impact fees — meant to help offset the impact new …

Brooksville City Council bucks county’s cut in construction impact fees
Tampabay.com, FL – November 18, 2009
The City Council voted 3-0 Monday to opt out of Hernando County’s plans to roll back impact fees to 2001 levels. Instead, the council wants to create its own impact fee ordinance and directed assistant city attorney Jennifer Rey to draft a proposal for the board …

PTC to clarify impact fee breaks
The Citizen.com, GA – November 16, 2009
Peachtree City staff is proposing additional language to clarify how proposed exemptions to the city’s new business impact fee will be handled.  The ordinance adopted in September allows the city to grant up a exemption of up to 50 percent for projects which …

County weighs using developer fees to bolster affordable housing
Palm Beach Post, FL – November 16, 2009
Palm Beach County commissioners on Tuesday will decide whether to use the interest the county earns on impact fees it collects from developers to pay for improvements in affordable housing projects. Commissioners tentatively approved the idea in August. County …

City seeks own impact fee ordinance
Tampa Tribune – November 16, 2009
Brooksville City council members are looking to go in a different direction than Hernando County Commissioners by not decreasing impact fees to 2001 levels. Instead, city officials may part ways from under the county and takeover impact fee oversight for the …

City considers impact fees
Hernando Today, FL – November 15, 2009
City council members will weigh whether to jump on board with Hernando County commissioners on cutting impact fees to 2001 levels or create the city’s own impact fee ordinance. During the city council meeting at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, at City Hall, council …

Who is promoting Hillsborough’s gravy train?
Creative Loafing Tampa, FL – November 14, 2009
I hate to derail this vision of a choo choo in Hillsborough before the tracks are even subsidized but somebody besides the anti-rail crowd has to ask the tough questions.  The MSM sure don’t seem to be asking many.  Peeling another layer off this proposed tax to …

Impact fees deferred for workforce housing
Bizjournals.com, FL – November 13, 2009
The Orange County Commission this month adopted a pilot program to defer impact fees for up to 4.5 years on workforce housing projects. The program, which follows an Orange County School Board approval in September of a school impact fee deferral, came about …

Lake School Board to discuss fee break for builders
Orlando Sentinel, FL – November 13, 2009
The Lake County school district, which has suffered several state-funding cuts in recent years, will be considering whether developers should get a financial break to help jump-start the local economy. County-government leaders have been discussing letting …

Officials won’t increase affordable housing fees
San Luis Obispo Tribune, CA – November 13, 2009
On a split vote, the Board of Supervisors has declined to increase “in-lieu fees” for affordable housing as originally planned, giving the housing industry a small, temporary and mostly symbolic break in tough economic times. The vote to hold off raising the fees …

Halving impact fees reveals Hernando County Commission’s faulty strategy
Tampabay.com, FL – November 13, 2009
Hernando County commissioners continue to aim low. Tuesday, commissioners halved the county’s impact fees on new construction for the next year after listening to unsubstantiated statements that it will stimulate home-building activity. The strategy hasn’t …

Collier commissioners approve report, ask questions later
Naples Daily News, FL – November 12, 2009
Every county and city in Florida has to guarantee a measure of service efficiency, known as level of service standards. That includes roads, schools, cops, jails, libraries, emergency medical response, fire control and parks. Much of that is paid for with impact fees …

Charge Hernando County developers the ‘real’ cost of growth
Tampabay.com, FL – November 12, 2009
County Commissioner Rose Rocco asked the crucial question about impact fees: “What’s the real level?” In other words: How much money is really needed to provide each new house with schools, roads, libraries, parks and fire- and crime-fighting equipment? …

Foreclosures down from 2008
Hernando Today, FL – November 12, 2009
Right now, taxpayers are willing to grasp any piece of good economic news, no matter how small. The latest report out of the county clerk’s office shows the number of foreclosure filings in Hernando County has declined for the second consecutive month over last …

Council Votes to Increase Incentives to Build Near Public Transit
News Channel 8, MD – November 12, 2009
Montgomery County is continuing its effort for smart growth in an effort to cut back on traffic congestion. The council’s vote Tuesday makes Metro stations more attractive to developers by offering them a way to save money. Currently every new development …

Volusia schools may cut impact fee
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL – November 12, 2009
Most Volusia County School Board members are ready to consider reducing the $6,066 impact fee on new homes or suspending it temporarily to help spark a recovery in the troubled housing market. Their opinions surfaced Tuesday in discussion of a consultant’s …

Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter must pay impact fee to Greene Township
Chambersburg Public Opinion, PA – November 12, 2009
Cumberland Valley Animal Shelter must pay a traffic impact fee for its planned shelter near Letterkenny Army Depot. Greene Township Supervisors refused this week to waive the $24,780 traffic impact fee for the nonprofit animal shelter. They fretted that other …

New Durham impact fee on new construction
Foster’s Daily Democrat, NH – November 11, 2009
The New Durham Planning Board will hold a public hearing on its proposed Impact fee for new construction on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7 pm at the Town Hall.  The Impact fee was approved by Town Meeting in 2008 by a large margin of voters. The Planning Board …

Fee freeze impacts Wickenburg
Wickenburg Sun, AZ – November 11, 2009
The League of Arizona Cities and Towns is taking the State of Arizona to court. It is filing a Special Action lawsuit with the Arizona Supreme Court over the state legislature’s two-year freeze on development/impact fees. The moratorium presents Wickenburg …

Dressing up a pig
Tampa Tribune, FL – November 10, 2009
Impact fees are levied on new construction to partially pay for required infrastructure — streets, schools, etc. When those fees are not paid, the county taxpayers must make up the difference. The county already has problems with reduced revenues. Florida …

Park Board won’t waive impact fee for The Birches
TheDoings-ClarendonHills.com, IL – November 10, 2009
The Clarendon Hills Park District denied a request from The Birches retirement community to reduce an impact fee from $30,000 to $5,000. The Birches is proposing a two-story expansion of 21 units in the Encore Memory Care wing, which will be secured …

League of Cities to File Lawsuit Over 2-Year Freeze on Fees
Prescott eNews, AZ – November 9, 2009
The Executive Committee of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns voted today to file a Special Action lawsuit with the Arizona Supreme Court over the issue of HB2008 as passed in the Third Special Session of the Legislature. Specifically, the League is concerned …

City ponders 18-month moratorium on requiring sidewalks
Jefferson City News Tribune, MO – November 9, 2009
As a result of the poor economy, the Jefferson City Council is looking to ease the requirements of constructing sidewalks to in-fill (non-residential) developments.  The city’s current sidewalks ordinance has three stages to address the construction of new …

Hernando County impact fee cut would benefit home buyers, builders
Tampabay.com, FL – November 8, 2009
On Tuesday, the Board of County Commissioners will consider temporarily reducing the impact tax to 2001 levels which would, in effect, cut the tax from $9,300 to around $4,700 for a single-family home. This impact tax was being collected at a time when material…

Charter govt., impact fee rollback in spotlight Tuesday
Tampa Tribune – November 7, 2009
Charter government and impact fees are among the hot-button topics awaiting county commissioners when they meet Tuesday.  Commissioner Jim Adkins broached the subject last month and wanted it put on the agenda for discussion. Commissioner Jeff Stabins also …

Farmington to consider higher impact fees
StandardNet, UT – Nov 6, 2009 – November 6, 2009
Building in this city could come with much higher impact fees for developers in the near future. In an effort to address the infrastructure needs and costs associated with anticipated growth, Farmington officials have started looking at impact fees associated …

Ariz. Cities Group to Challenge Budget Legislation
ABC News, AZ – November 6, 2009
Arizona municipalities will sue to challenge state budget legislation that local government officials contend went astray. The executive board of the League of Arizona Cities voted Friday to challenge a budget bill that included provisions on impact limits, housing codes …

Village withdraws Birches impact fee waiver request
Suburban Life Publications, IL – November 6, 2009
Because a proposed addition to The Birches in Clarendon Hills will not bring additional students into Hinsdale Township High School District 86, the developer will not have to provide impact fees to the district.  “The developer’s plan is to add efficiency units to the …

City Council hears pleas against high impact fees
St. George Daily Spectrum, UT – November 6, 2009
Nick Berg of the Pioneer Development Group, speaking on behalf of local developers, urged the Hurricane City Council Thursday to find ways to lower impact fees, saying the city’s fees on home development are much too high to provide competitive housing …

Impact fee reduction will help local families
Tampa Tribune, FL – November 6, 2009
On Tuesday, Nov. 10, the Board of County Commissioners will consider temporarily reducing the impact tax back to 2001 levels. If passed, this action will cut the tax from $9,300 to around $4,700 for a single family home. This impact tax was being collected …

County refunds $85000 in fees
Fernandina Beach News-Leader, FL – November 6, 2009
The Nassau County Commission has approved the refund of more than $85,000 in impact fees to a local developer. The commission agreed to refund $85,812 to Blackrock Crossing, LLC, owner of the Eagle’s Crossing shopping center on the corner of A1A …

Builders vow to reduce prices if impact fees cut
Hernando Today, FL- – November 6, 2009
Builder-members of the Hernando Builders Association have agreed to reduce the price of their homes “dollar for dollar” by the amount of the impact fee reduction,” according to an HBA press release issued Wednesday. “This will ensure that no builder will experience …

County to pass any reduction in impact fees to permit holders
Newnan Times-Herald, GA – November 5, 2009
Coweta County soon will be guaranteeing anyone who pulls a permit in the next few months that, if the county reduces impact fees in the near future, the difference between the current impact fee and the new impact fee will be refunded. The county has been …

Board agrees to accept loss of impact fees
Tampabay.com, FL – November 4, 2009
The Hernando School District agreed Tuesday to absorb a loss of more than a half-million dollars in impact fee revenue for one year to try to kick-start the local economy.  That’s the message that three members of the School Board agreed to send to the …

County moves forward with development fee
Times-Standard, FL – November 4, 2009
The Humboldt County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to take the next step toward imposing a development impact mitigation fee to support Humboldt Fire District No. 1. The district has long looked to have such a fee imposed to help cover …

Developer welfare in Hillsborough: Impact Fees (or lack of them)
Creative Loafing Tampa, FL – November 3, 2009
You probably already know that growth does not pay for itself and taxpayers are left holding the bill for things like roads, fire safety and parks despite what politicians would like you to believe. Impact fees should be funding these things, yet they don’t even fund the …

Mesa planning for another library branch
East Valley Tribune, AZ – November 3, 2009
Mesa is writing the first chapter in the story of new library as it looks to open a tiny branch in the city’s southeastern area.  The city calls the 2,500-square-foot facility an express library, though the demand for service is much greater than the size of the initial configuration…

Impact Fee Repeal Nixed by Harford County Council; Cut Proposed
The Dagger, MD – November 3, 2009
A bill to repeal Harford County’s development impact fee lost a co-sponsor and was defeated in a 6 to 1 vote of the Harford County Council on November 3 (Tuesday). Councilman Chad Shrodes was a co-sponsor of the repeal effort, but asked for his name to be …

Woodland mulls change on developer fees
Longview Daily News, WA – November 1, 2009
Under a change being considered by the city, Woodland developers wouldn’t have to immediately pay city-mandated impact fees.  Rather than pay when developers submit project applications, Woodland city officials are proposing letting developers pay the fees when …

Impact fee cuts could cost Hernando schools $630000
Tampabay.com, FL – October 31, 2009
To the majority of School Board members, giving up some impact fee money is a worthy sacrifice for the good of the county’s economy. Now, with some sense of the actual cost, board members have to decide whether the County Commission’s idea of an economic …

Hernando County’s rush to cut impact fees is short-sighted
Tampabay.com, FL – October 31, 2009
Hernando County’s reckless rush to forgive future impact fee payments as an economic stimulus is short-sighted and could lead to increased traffic congestion. In a matter of just minutes, the commission’s debate last week turned from giving a break to …

County officials outline priorities
Osceola News-Gazette, FL – October 30, 2009
With Florida positioned for another economically bleak year, Osceola County and other local governments vying for financial support from the state are at risk of not receiving much help once the new legislative session kicks off in March.  According to state Rep. …

San Jose Provides Model for Bay Area Growth and Transportation Needs
Streetsblog San Francisco (blog), CA – October 30, 2009
In our ongoing coverage of the adverse affects of trafffic engineer’s over-reliance on automobile level of service (LOS) measurements, we’ve examined how new amendments to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) would allow local jurisdictions …

Park impact fee jumps 52%
Indianapolis Star, IN – October 29, 2009
A 52 percent increase to a fee associated with new home construction is expected to boost Greenwood’s park and recreation amenities as the city expands.   At least one city official is wary of taking more money from future residents’ pockets as a recession …

Don’t flush community trust over sewer rate increase
Gulf Breeze News, AL – October 29, 2009
Twice in the last week, I’ve been involved in sewer rate increase debates during social occasions. Sewer is not a normal topic of conversation, and somewhere along the line, the real reason for the conversation – and the controversy itself I believe – came out. …

Eric Ernst: This fee has unfair impact on restaurant’s expansion
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL – October 28, 2009
Rick Shea thought he’d bring in a little extra business to his New Faull Inn restaurant in Grove City. He fenced in the vacant land next to his building, set up tables, hired musicians and opened the area for food and drinks from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Thursdays. That was …

Impact fee reduction may include commercial
Tampa Tribune, FL – October 28, 2009
To jumpstart the economy even more, county commissioners Tuesday voted 5-0 to expand its impact fee reduction plan from solely residential to add commercial and industrial construction. The vote calls for a public hearing on the matter, scheduled for …

Controversial bill may get 2nd look
Charleston Post Courier, SC – October 27, 2009
A referendum might be in the works on the controversial 15 percent property tax cap approved by voters only three years ago.  State Sen. Mike Rose, R- Summerville, is considering attaching a call for referendum on a bill passed by the House of Representatives …

Impact fees questioned for Bearizona
Williams Grand Canyon News, AZ – October 27, 2009
Developers for the planned Bearizona theme park in Williams faced a hurdle at the recent meeting of Williams City Council, held Oct. 22 at city hall. That hurdle came as council members questioned impact fees for the proposed animal park in the form of credits that …

Hernando considering residential, commercial, industrial impact fee cuts
Tampabay.com, FL – October 27, 2009
County commissioners next month will consider cutting not just residential impact fees but the fees for commercial and industrial construction as well. A public hearing will be held Nov. 10 on the reductions, which are seen by some in the building industry as a …

Watchdog claims $15000 accounting error at Hartsel Fire
Fairplay Flume, CO – October 22, 2009
The Hartsel Fire Protection committed a $15,000 accounting error on its impact fees account, according to comments made by Monica Jones at the Hartsel Fire Board meeting on Oct. 14. Jones, who has been serving as spokeswoman for ACT, Accountability Citizens …

District 86 likely to waive developer fees
Suburban Life Publications, IL – October 22, 2009
Hinsdale Township High School District 86’s Board of Education will consider a request from Clarendon Hills to waive fees related to the proposed expansion of a retirement community — but not before the board gets additional information from the developer. During a …

Harford’s Impact Fee Debate Sparks Tea Party Revolt/Rift
The Dagger, MD – October 20, 2009
A bill to repeal Harford County’s impact fee created some strange bedfellows when it was first introduced by Dion Guthrie, a Democrat representing Edgewood and Joppatowne and Chad Shrodes, a Republican representing the rural north.  Now, the repeal effort …

Vail on fees: yes and no
Vail Daily News – Vail,CO,USA – October 20, 2009
Communities around Colorado charge fire impact fees to make sure new growth pays its way for town services, but Vail says the timing isn’t right to start charging now. Vail town staff showed the Vail Town Council a comparison of various local impact fees and…

St. Lucie Commission debate the merits of increasing impact fees on new homes
Vero Beach Press-Journal, FL – October 20, 2009
County commissioners on Tuesday questioned whether raising or lowering impact fees had any effect on the construction industry as they discussed following staff recommendations to raise the fees nearly $3,000 for new homes. Impact fees are taxes designed …

Dorchester, Charlestonschool issues face tests
Charleston Post Courier, SC – October 19, 2009
Home builders, who have a powerful lobby in this state, have been particularly successful over the years in thwarting efforts to impose development impact fees for schools. But they lost one this past legislative session. Now they are trying to recoup that loss in …

Traffic impact fee affects consumers, so make it fair
Bakersfield Californian, CA – October 19, 2009
The Home Builders Association of Kern County has and will always be a defender of the consumer. After all, that is who buys the houses the various builders provide the community. I am not a builder but am informed about the nonprofit HBA, which protects the rights …

Builders: Impact fee plan flawed
St. Augustine Record, FL – October 18, 2009
The St. Johns County Commission plans the second and final public hearing Tuesday to hear public comment on its new impact fee deferral plan, but a spokesman for local builders said Saturday that the plan probably won’t work. Ed Paucek, representing the St. …

La Quinta holds off on developer fee hike
The Desert Sun, CA – October 15, 2009
In an effort to assist with the struggling building industry in the Coachella Valley, La Quinta city officials decided to wait on a fee hike that could compromise current and future projects.  The La Quinta City Council voted 5-0 Oct. 6 to continue deferral of the city’s …

County strips Beaumont of sales-tax money for road repairs
Press Enterprise, CA – October 15, 2009
Riverside County transportation officials stripped Beaumont of its sales-tax money for road repairs, continuing a feud among regional officials and the city over impact fees.  The money from the county half-cent sales tax, an estimated $470,000 meant for maintenance …

St. Lucie County may hike impact fees on new houses by $3000
Vero Beach Press-Journal, FL – October 15, 2009
The impact fee for the developer on a new single-family home in mainland St. Lucie County — a cost often passed on to the customer — could be rising by almost $3,000 on April 1. Impact fees are taxes designed to pay for the demands on parks, public buildings, law …

Bruce: Who Should Pay For New Schools?
The Dagger, MD – October 15, 2009
Do you support a tax increase to pay for recently-built schools? Should Red Pump Elementary School or other school construction projects be stopped? If your answer is NO to either of these, then oppose Bill 09-29, School Development Impact Fee, because this …

Hernando County may reduce impact fees to help jump-start home building
Tampabay.com, Fl – October 14, 2009
Hoping to breathe life into the flagging building industry, the Hernando County Commission on Tuesday seemed poised to cut residential impact fees in half for a year, and possibly longer. Under a proposal that will move to a public hearing and more discussion …

Legislature should call the League’s bluff on impact fee lawsuit threat
American Daily, AZ – October 14, 2009
The Arizona League of Cities recently threatened to file a lawsuit because the Arizona Legislature imposed a two-year moratorium on development impact fees during Governor Brewer’s special session. The League argues that the fee freeze is unconstitutional …

Tea Party Against Impact Fee, “This Tax Isn’t About Schools, It’s about jobs.”
The Dagger, MD – October 13, 2009
Since July 2005, the Harford County government has levied an Impact Tax on every new home construction permit. The idea of the Impact Tax seems noble enough- the money raised from the tax goes into the Harford County Public Schools Capital Budget account …

Proposal would cut impact fees by $4289
Tampa Tribune, FL – October 13, 2009
Saying they need to do something to spark the economy, county commissioners on Tuesday proposed rolling back single-family impact fees to 2001 levels and giving homeowners an option to either pay them all upfront or set up a payment plan spread over an …

Impact fee deferral gets traction
Tampa Tribune, FL – October 13, 2009
County commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday to schedule a hearing Nov. 10 to discuss adopting an ordinance that would allow commercial and industrial builders to defer payment of impact fees that total in excess of $25,000 for up to three years. Commissioners …

Proposed impact fees, projects topics of Dewey-Humboldt meeting Tuesday
Prescott Daily Courier, AZ – October 11, 2009
The Dewey-Humboldt Town Council and the municipality’s ad hoc Capital Improvement Program Committee will conduct a joint meeting this week for a public hearing on the town’s proposed development impact fees.  Tuesday at 3 p.m. inside Town Hall, 2735 S. Highway…

Suspending impact fees shouldn’t be Hernando County’s only option
Tampabay.com, FL – October 11, 2009
When the Hernando County Commission sits down Tuesday afternoon to ponder its impact fees, it needs a broader discussion beyond consideration of a builder-endorsed moratorium.  Builders are proposing a one-year suspension of the nearly $9,200 fee for a …

Hernando County home builders urge County Commission to cut impact fees
Tampabay.com – October 11, 2009
Faced with a virtual standstill in their industry — one that has long bolstered Hernando County’s economy — local home builders hope the County Commission can provide them with a stimulus package they say they need to get back on their feet.. The builders …

Plan would defer commercial impact fee payments
Tampa Tribune, FL – October 9, 2009
County commissioners on Tuesday will consider a plan that would allow commercial and industrial builders to defer payment of impact fees that total in excess of $25,000 for up to three years. County officials hope this will act as an incentive to spur development …

Impact fee freeze runs hot, cold
Tampa Tribune, FL – October 8, 2009
When it comes to lowering or suspending impact fees, there will always be two opposing schools of thought. This latest proposal from a local builder, calling for a temporary fee freeze, is no different. County commissioners will discuss it at Tuesday’s county …

Cape board asks BPW to lower water fee
Cape Gazette, DE – October 8, 2009
The Cape Henlopen School District Board of Education is seeking a reduction in a Lewes Board of Public Works $249,000 water and sewer utility impact fee for the new high school.  Camilla Conlon, school board president, says the fee is too high and there are …

Vancouver will halt some fee hikes
The Columbian, WA – October 8, 2009
Vancouver City Manager Pat McDonnell announced Thursday that in light of the continuing recession, the city will suspend planned increases in several fees that had been scheduled to go into effect next year.  “We are aware that these measures will impact our …

Greeley council puts brakes on development fee increase
Greeley Tribune, CO – October 7, 2009
The Greeley City Council on Tuesday night scrapped a proposed change to development fees that would direct funds to transportation, drainage and trails projects.  The council unanimously voted to deny the ordinance, which would have phased in the …

County to mull impact fee freeze
Tampa Tribune, FL – October 7, 2009
Supporters of a short-term moratorium on impact fees got some high-level backing Tuesday when the school board voted 4-1 to at least consider the possibility.  But the heavy lifting on the matter will come Tuesday, when county commissioners sit down formally to discuss …

Kalispell has two openings on impact-fee panel
Daily Inter Lake, MT – October 7, 2009
The city of Kalispell is looking for applicants for two openings on its Impact Fee Committee.  One opening was created with the recent resignation of Gerald Reckin, a general representative on the committee.  The second opening must be filled by a certified …

County mulls payment plan for impact fee
St. Augustine Record, FL – October 7, 2009
Trying to attract new business and industry to St. Johns County, the County Commission on Tuesday began a process that the board believes should lower the sticker shock some businesses feel when they learn how much they’d need to pay to move here.  The …

Homestead traffic light may eat up most impact fee funds
Pahrump Valley Times, NV – October 7, 2009
Nye County Assistant County Manager Pam Webster released the impact fee figures Tuesday, during a meeting of the Pahrump Regional Planning District Capital Improvements Plan Advisory Committee. While about 20 interested residents — which included members …

Trillium weighs in against dropping impact fees
Blaine Northern Light, WA – October 7, 2009
Blaine’s largest developer has considered the city of Blaine’s proposal to eliminate development impact fees and has decided it doesn’t like the idea.  In a letter dated September 28, vice president for development Chris Benner told the city that the Trillium …

Hernando School Board switches stance to back impact fee cut
Tampabay.com, FL – October 6, 2009
They stopped short of supporting a moratorium on collecting impact fees, but School Board members did say Tuesday they are willing to go with a little less revenue.  The board voted 4 to 1 at its workshop to send that message to the County Commission. The commission, …

County Commission gives new church an $82670 break
Grand Junction Sentinel, CO – October 5, 2009
A church, moving from within the city of Grand Junction to 33 acres in unincorporated Mesa County, is the first to successfully challenge Mesa County’s transportation impact fee since the fee was established in 2005, according to Ken Simms, senior transportation…

Cities, homebuilders differ over impact fees
East Valley Tribune, AZ – October 5, 2009
A homebuilders association official maintains that a two-year freeze on raising development impact fees or any new related fees would provide some stability to a battered homebuilding industry. But East Valley leaders say the move sets a bad precedent toward existing …

Vote eliminates ‘double dip’ for road impact fees
The Coloradan, CO – October 3, 2009
The board, after some discussion, passed an amended ordinance 5-2 that eliminates double-dipping, or the process by which the town is able to collect road impact fees twice from the same location in a short period of time. Town board member Michael Kelly and …

Chino Valley council examines regional impact fee study
Prescott Daily Courier, AZ – October 3, 2009
The Chino Valley Town Council will discuss a regional impact fee and buy-in fee study at its special study session at 6 p.m. Tuesday in council chambers at 1020 W. Palomino Road. This study, a town official said, is intended to identify the hierarchy of fees in the …

Town Council hears impact fee report
Pinedale Roundup – October 3, 2009
The Pinedale Town Council was presented with the results of an impact fee study at its meeting on Monday. The study was conducted by TischlerBise, a fiscal, economic and planning consulting firm with bases both on the east and west coasts. If implemented …

Impact fees here to stay
Ponte Vedra Recoder, FL – October 2, 2009
Impact fees will remain in place but the structure and application of the fees may change following a review ordered by St. Johns County Commissioners. The decision came in a special hearing Tuesday, one in which commissioners considered suspending impact fees to spur …

County: Study impact fee equity
St. Augustine Record, FL – September 30, 2009
At a St. Johns County Commission workshop on impact fee questions, the commission decided to explore fair alternative ways to cover the cost of infrastructure yet still encourage business and industry to relocate here. That seemed reasonable to the dozens of local …

Builders sue over school impact fee
The Post and Courier, SC – September 30, 2009
The school district’s new impact fee isn’t legal, alleges a lawsuit by local and state home builders. S.C. Supreme Court decisions allow it, said the legislator who sponsored the bill.  The lawsuit filed Tuesday argues that special legislation passed to create the fee wasn’t …

Chatham weighs impact fee hike
Chapel Hill News, NC – September 30, 2009
Holland Gaines was selling dozens of homes a month. Then the economy tanked, and the numbers plummeted. That’s at least one reason why Gaines, builder of The Legacy at Jordan Lake, and other local developers are telling the Chatham County commissioners to …

County reviews impact fees
Bradenton Herald, FL – September 30, 2009
A consultant presented Manatee County commissioners with proposals on how to be ready when the transportation impact fee reduction plan expires in 2011.  The proposals outlined a plan on how the county assesses impact fees to pay for roads needed for new …

Council postpones decision on impact fee removal
Blaine Northern Light, WA – September 30, 2009
After much deliberation, Blaine City Council agreed Monday to extend the public comment period on a proposal to waive traffic and park impact fees for development.  The proposal came shortly after the council eliminated all water and sewer connection fees within city …

Judge rules township can charge impact fees
Dayton Daily News, OH – September 30, 2009
A Warren County judge has ruled Hamilton Twp. can charge impact fees on new construction, making it the only township in the state with such authority. A group of home builders and the Home Builders Association of Greater Cincinnati filed suit five months after the …

Home builders challenge Dorchester’s school impact fee
Summerfille Journal. SC – September 29, 2009
Legal action has been taken against the Dorchester School District 2 over recently-passed legislation that allows the school district to charge developers $2,500 on new homes to pay for the construction of new schools. The Home Builders Association of South Carolina …

F’ville looks to encourage business development
The Citizen.com – Fayetteville, GA – September 28, 2009
The agenda for the Oct. 1 meeting of the Fayetteville City Council will include a first reading to extend the partial exemption on the impact fee and sewer proportionate fee ordinance and the removal of several job positions.  The proposal to extend the partial …

Editorial: County’s Future: End ‘Bedroom’ Mentality
St. Augustine Record, FL – September 27, 2009
The St. Johns County Commission, fresh from raising property taxes last week to cover essential community services, on Tuesday confronts the next single most important financial revenue issue — impact fees. Impact fees — the money paid by property owners …

Blaine to hold meeting on impact fee elimination
TheNewsTribune.com, WA – September 25, 2009
The public will have a chance to voice its opinion about the city’s impact fee elimination ideas at the City Council meeting Monday, Sept. 28. On the heels of eliminating the city’s water and sewer fees to help stimulate development, the City Council is considering …

Windsor plans growth-related uses for eight-year-old road impact fee
Windsor Beacon, CO – September 24, 2009
Windsor has a plan to make its road impact fee fund sing for its supper. The fund, which has sat largely untouched except for the annual payouts to developers, is being targeted by the town board to pay for more growth-related projects. “I see the decision about …

Impact Fee: School Construction Revenue Source Or Unfair Home Sales Tax?
The Dagger, MD – September 24, 2009
Is Harford County’s impact fee a vital source of revenue for public school construction, or an unfair tax that has stymied new home sales? Councilman Dion Guthrie (Dist. A) says it’s the latter. Along with co-sponsor Chad Shrodes (Dist. D), Guthrie …

Schools want impact fee doubled
News Chief, FL – September 23, 2009
The Polk County School Board may ask the county commission to more than double school impact fees next year.  School Board members are talking about increasing fees to house an extra 8,500 students expected to enroll in public schools during the next five ...

Cities blast impact-fee freeze
Arizona Republic, AZ – September 20, 2009
A newly imposed two-year freeze on development-impact fees is a win for Arizona’s battered construction industry but a blow to cities eyeing fee hikes to pay for services tied to new projects. “It definitely changes the definition of growth paying its own way …

Developers tell St. Johns County lower fees would spark growth
Florida Times-Union, FL – September 18, 2009
A large contingent of St. Johns County builders, developers and material suppliers on Tuesday asked the County Commission if it would suspend or reduce its high impact fees to encourage business and job growth. “If we sell nothing, nobody gets anything,” said …

Impact Fee Court Battle: ‘Low Down Dirty Deed’ Is Done
The Ledger, FL – September 18, 2009
The “dastardly, low-down dirty deed … an attack on the youth in [Polk] county … that will tear down this county” has come to an end. That was the way Polk County School Board member Margaret Lofton characterized a lawsuit when it was filed in the spring …

Developers may pay services impact fees
Frederick News Post, MD – September 17, 2009
Frederick County is on its way to charging new developments for the increased demand they put on fire and rescue services.  The Frederick County Commissioners decided Tuesday to do research on establishing a fire and emergency medical services impact fee. …

Former Anne Arundel County attorney may be sanctioned
Daily Record, MD – September 17, 2009
Former Anne Arundel County officials Phillip F. Scheibe and Robert Dvorak could yet face sanctions for violating the county’s ethics laws in their later employment. The Court of Special Appeals on Wednesday ordered a circuit judge to consider penalizing Scheibe, …

North Port unmoved by refund request
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL – September 16, 2009
City leaders refused on Tuesday to refund $1.3 million in impact fees to Lowe’s Home Centers. The City Commission rejected the request 3-2 after wrestling over how much the company should pay to compensate for increased traffic generated by a large home- …

Council favors lower movie theater impact fees
Log Cabin Democrat, AR – September 15, 2009
The Conway City Council voted in favor of adjusting the impact fee rate for movie theaters as an incentive for Cinemark’s plan to rebuild the existing theater at the Conway Towne Centre. As explained to the council, the current impact fee rate for movie theaters …

Bay County Commission Impact Fees Reduced Again
WJHG-TV, FL – September 15, 2009
Eighteen months ago, Bay County Commissioners reduced impact fees in a move to help the sagging housing market. Those reductions were supposed to end next month, but Wednesday the commission decided those reductions are still needed. The commissioners …

Court Impact Fee Ruling a Victory for School Board
The Ledger, FL – September 15, 2009
In a victory for the Polk County School District, the Florida Supreme Court has refused to hear the Polk County Builders Association’s case against school impact fees. The court voted 4-2 not to hear the case. Justice Charles Canady recused himself because he …

Council to look at increasing development impact fees
InMaricopa.com, AZ – September 14, 2009
The Maricopa City Council will decide Tuesday whether to hire an outside firm to update the city’s development impact fees, a process that could make Maricopa one of the costliest cities for new business development in the state. Currently, the city of Maricopa …

Builders seek zero impact fees
St. Augustine Record, FL – September 13, 2009
Some St. Johns Countycommercial developers plan to ask the County commissioners on Tuesday if they’d agree to suspend all impact fees for two years to encourage new business to locate here. That’s a major request in tough times because in 2009 …

Candidates offer views on impact fees
Cape Coral Daily Breeze, FL – September 12, 2009
Editor’s Note: Each week, The Breeze will ask candidates for city council their views on an issue of interest to the voters. Each candidate is asked the same question in a phone interview This week’s question is: On the subject of impact fees, are there any …

Windham’s school impact fees could double
Eagle Tribune – North Andover, MA – September 12, 2009
For instance, the School impact fees are expected to rise, maybe even double, when they are considered by the Planning Board later this year.  The fees are assessed on new residential construction to offset the potential cost of educating additional students. …

Residents could see water, sewer rate increase
Jacksonville Daily News, NC – September 11, 2009
As the result of a policy change voted on by the Jacksonville City Council, residents could see another increase in their water and sewer rates in the future. The council voted 4 to 2 to revise the city’s current sewer allocation policy to make flow allocated for …

Phoenix West condo developers to pay Orange Beach $450000
Press-Register – Mobile, AL – September 10, 2009
City officials have negotiated a payment plan under which Brett/Robinson can satisfy the $450,000 unpaid portion of the $2.5 million it pledged to taxpayers as part of its Phoenix West condominium tower. The City Council is scheduled to vote on a …

Stakeholders Advisory Group’s first meeting set for Friday
Citrus County News, FL – September 9, 2009
The first meeting of a new advisory group to the county commission is set for Friday. The Stakeholders Advisory Group (SAG) is a collection of 28 commission-appointed representatives from a wide array of stakeholder groups and organizations. SAG’s …

County’s Impact Fees Kill Construction
St. Augustine Record, FL – September 5, 2009
Editor: I have a lot in the Sea Grove neighborhood off of State Road A1A in St. Augustine Beach. My wife and I had started plans to build on the lot when we came upon all of the new fees and taxes associated with construction. There is a $9,800 impact fee …

Peachtree city Tabers Hike on Impact Fees
The Citizen, GA – September 4, 2009
New homes in Peachtree City will now be subject to a higher impact fee, but not the maximum amount that was originally under consideration by the city council. Instead the city will assess 75 percent of that maximum amount, totaling $2,599.83. Several …

Charter school boosts Redding’s permit values
The Redding Record, CA – September 4, 2009
Council members approved a construction incentive program that includes the deferral of sewer and water impact fees for commercial projects in redevelopment areas. But any short-term savings a builder might receive from a delay in impact fee payments doesn’t …

Coweta Commission reduces pay for jurors
Times-Herald, Newnan, GA – September 3, 2009
The [Coweta County Board of Commissioners] approved an agreement with Ross and Associates for amendments to the impact fee ordinance.  The agreement is for an amount some $9,000 less than the original proposal, said County Administrator Theron Gay.

All fees taken out of Bullitt storm-water proposal
Courier-Journal, Louisville, KY – September 2, 2009
All fees — which some have said would dampen development — have been taken out of a controversial subdivision and storm-water regulations proposal.  The Bullitt County Joint Planning Commission held a special meeting Thursday on the regulations …

Vail still weighing new fees
Vail Daily, CO – September 1, 2009
During an economic time when developing property in Vail, Colorado is already on shaky ground, the Vail Town Council is questioning whether impact fees for fire and emergency services and traffic are in the town’s best interests. Vail council members heard…

Big houses in Avon could pay more for water
Vail Daily News, CO – August 29, 2009
Builders of big houses in Avon may have to pay more for water rights.  The Avon Town Council might impose a fee for water rights for large new homes. The town would charge an extra $1.40 for every square foot over 3,000 square feet the home spans. For…

Engineering funds go to the school
Hampton Union, NH – August 28, 2009
Although they have been delayed longer than expected, the Hampton Falls School Board is still working on plans for a two-classroom addition at the Lincoln Akerman School. Board Chairwoman Ellen Christo went before the Board of Selectmen last week to request…

Builders, North Port try to settle dispute over road fees
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL – August 28, 2009
A legal showdown between builders and North Port over an experimental “construction traffic road fee” has been abruptly canceled, as the plaintiffs say it would be cheaper to try negotiating a settlement before going to trial. North Port’s desire to cut legal costs…

Recession takes toll on Volusia County roads
The DeLand-Deltona Beacon, FL – August 28, 2009
County government can no longer realistically plan to cut new thoroughfares through undeveloped land, or add additional lanes to roads already loaded with traffic. Many projects are on hold, as county officials now speak about a 10-year or even a 20-year road…

Impact fees discussion on tap for Vail
Vail Daily News, CO – August 28, 2009
The town of Vail has completed two studies that are being used to evaluate the need for traffic and fire impact fees to offset future development impacts on existing infrastructure and services within the town. The studies, one for fire department impacts…

Plano ends impact fees on developers in hopes of attracting projects
Dallas Morning news, TX – August 28, 2009
Call it evidence that growth in Plano, once among the nation’s fastest-expanding suburbs, has slowed to a trickle. Plano has ended its practice of charging developers impact fees, a tool that growing cities use to pay for new infrastructure. The city began…

Plano ends impact fees on developers in hopes of attracting projects
Dallas Morning News, TX – August 28, 2009
Call it evidence that growth in Plano, once among the nation’s fastest-expanding suburbs, has slowed to a trickle. Plano has ended its practice of charging developers impact fees, a tool that growing cities use to pay for new infrastructure. The city began…

Peter O’Bryan: Indian River County Commission tries to balance economy, equity
TCPalm, FL – August 27, 2009
Larry Reisman’s column of Aug. 19 once again exemplifies the Press Journal motto, “Only report half the story and then screw up the half you report.”  About the only thing Larry got correct was, yes, the County Commission did vote to waive five of our nine…

City to vote on sewer impact, hook-up fees
Dothan Eagle, AL – August 27, 2009
Two city department heads recommended several changes to regulations affecting Dothan Utilities customers earlier this week, most of which would realign various wastewater fees so customers are paying the actual cost of services.  Another proposal…

Developer impact fee pulled from this year’s ballot
The Aurora Sentinel, CO – August 25, 2009
Aurora residents Duane Senn and Arnie Schultz said this week that they are abandoning their efforts get a proposal on the city ballot that would raise Aurora’s development impact fee from its current sum of $1,204 to $4,041. The organizers of the citizen…

Senator loses impact fee fight over Citrus County “barn”
Tampabay.com, FL – August 22, 2009
The Inverness Republican then sought to have the impact fees waived because he claimed that vested rights had been transferred to it from an old mobile home on the same 25-acre property. In a ruling released Friday, County Administrator Brad Thorpe said…

There are other UEP payment options
Cape Coral Daily Breeze – Cape Coral, FL – August 22, 2009
While impact fees are designated to pay for utility capital facilities they are not capable of being the revenue source of bond amortization. Their receipt as revenue is not timely and any revenue bond could not be sold based on impact fee revenue at any realistic…

Broomfield construction fee extension set for council vote
Broomfield Enterprise, CO – August 22, 2009
The average impact fee for a new single-family home in Broomfield is $2,400. The comparable fee in Westminster is $1,654. Thornton doesn`t charge a fee, although it has much less new construction. When compared to seven metro-area communities, Broomfield…

Impact fees to increase in Buckeye
AZ Central.com, AZ – August 21, 2009
The Town Council voted Tuesday to raise development-impact fees. However, if the governor signs the state budget into law, an impact fee moratorium could block Buckeye and other cities from increasing those fees, retroactive to July 1.  The fees are charged…

Hernando commission urged to grant fee relief to builders to boost construction
Tampabay.com, FL – August 19, 2009
Figuring that such a break would work best for larger projects, the staff proposed a $250,000 threshold, an impact fee that would reflect a building project about the size of the Publix and affiliated shops at County Line Road and Anderson Snow Road, according…

Moreno Valley may give developers a break
Press Enterprise – Riverside, CA – August 19, 2009
In 2008, the average impact fee in California was $19,536, according to Duncan Associates, a nationwide consulting firm on development fees. Foster touted the fee trimming strategy in a report he presented Tuesday night at a council study session. His report…

Reno council moves toward impact fee vote
Reno Gazette – Journal, NV – August 19, 2009
The fees on new development would help pay for up to three police stations, six fire stations and new parks. As required by state law, current property owners would have to pay their fair share for the new facilities and that could require higher taxes.  The council…

City talks homebuilder suit…in private
Bakersfield Californian, CA – August 19, 2009
A legal fight between local homebuilders and the city of Bakersfield took a quiet step forward Wednesday evening when the city council agreed to postpone consideration of three large projects, including the Canyons, until they better understand the lawsuit’s…

Dropping impact fees still a short-sighted idea for Hernando County
Tampabay.com, FL – August 19, 2009
Suspending impact fees — one-time charges on new construction to help cover the cost of new infrastructure — is being pitched by the private sector as an economic stimulus. The stated goal is to allow home builders to better compete with the prices available…

Has suspending the charges had an impact?
Tampa Tribune, FL – August 18, 2009
“I thought it would have stirred things up a little more than that…, but we have the rest of the year to go,” said Helen McKinney, building administrator. No building permits had been issued two months prior, in apparent anticipation of the vote. It was…

Lois Henry: Developers have had the wheel long enough
Bakersfield Californian, CA – August 18, 2009
Here’s an idea: Those who put an extra burden on the system by building housing subdivisions should help ease that burden by paying a fee toward traffic improvements from the profits they’ll reap from that very subdivision. That’s fair and appropriate. The only…

Change environmental impact fee for every dog
Shore News Today, NJ – August 17, 2009
Instead, Margate can by ordinance impose a modest yearly “environmental impact fee” on every dog housed or visiting the city. The fee would be $15 per year. A dog must have a valid local or out-of-town registration and proof of rabies vaccination for the owner…

Reno wants impact fees in new master plan
Reno Gazette – Journal, NV – August 16, 2009
Under state law, impact fees can be imposed on new construction only if current property owners also share in the cost, most likely by voting to allow bond sales repaid with taxes or other tax increases. Under the law, the council would have up to five years…

Low land prices create buzz to add county parks
Orlando Sentinel, FL – August 15, 2009
The rain clouds of the real-estate market have a silver lining for those who want more public baseball and soccer fields: cheaper land. Orange County’s parks and recreation department has been scouting dozens of tracts 20 acres or larger across the county. The idea…

Starke audit full of recommended changes
Bradford County Telegraph, FL – August 14, 2009
The audit also found the city was out of compliance with Florida statutes because impact fee revenue was not being accounted for in a separate accounting fund. City Clerk Linda Johns opened five separate banking accounts to deposit impact fees for roads, …

Impact fees on Sen. Dean’s property called into question
Citrus Daily – Local Citrus County News – August 14, 2009
The news release concludes by saying, “Dean was not required to pay an impact fee on the structure because there had been a mobile home on the property prior to the new structure. That is normal procedure in replacement of a structure. Dean’s application…

Lawsuit may delay development approvals
Bakersfield Californian, CA – August 14, 2009
A lawsuit challenging Bakersfield-area traffic impact fees could trigger a delay for city building projects Wednesday. Three development projects — including the controversial The Canyons tract on the Kern River bluffs — will likely have their review postponed…

Salem impact fee will soon be townwide: All new developments will contribute now
Eagle Tribune, NH – August 13, 2009
An expanded impact fee system will require all new developments to contribute to road projects aimed at increasing traffic capacity. The change goes into effect March 1. Salem was one of the first towns in the state to implement such a fee in the 1980s, but only…

D-H says yes to impact fees plan
The Daily Courier – Prescott, AZ – August 12, 2009
Municipalities use impact fees, which are not taxes, to offset the cost of building new infrastructure, including roads, brought on by growth. Town Manager William Emerson said Wednesday that the fees likely will not go into effect until the end of December and…

Minot considers refunding homeowners impact fee
SunJournal.com – August 12, 2009
For the past five years, the town has collected $2,800 with each housing permit it issued: $2,000 of it was earmarked for the school; $500 was to be held for public safety improvements, and $300 was for recreation. Selectmen noted that while subdivisions…

Builders criticize PTC Council’s impact fee hike
The Citizen.com – GA – August 11, 2009
By Georgia law, impact fees are to be spent only to account for the additional service needs created by a new home. The funds cannot be redirected to the city’s general fund. The city is in the process of creating a system to begin charging impact fees to…

Peachtree City leaders get conflicting advice on impact fees
Fayette Daily News – Fayetteville, GA – August 10, 2009
The city currently charges impact fees only for new residential development, a practice it began in 1992. Also, the amount a builder must pay currently differs based on where the new development is located within the city. Under the new staff-recommended…

City expected to arrive at budget that holds property taxes steady, but increases fees
Lawrence Journal World – Lawrence, KS – August 10, 2009
Commissioners also are set to increase a set of rates that are tied directly to new housing growth. Corliss is proposing significant increases in the city’s water and sewer impact fees, which are charged to new homes and businesses that hook into the city’s…

Salem sets third hearing on impact fee changes Tuesday
Eagle Tribune, NH – August 9, 2009
The Planning Board is looking to change the system used to determine the road impact fees developers pay, to expand the area where they apply from two highway corridors to the entire town, and to increase the fee to take inflation into account. But local…

Dewey-Humboldt council to delve into impact fee report
Prescott Daily Courier – Prescott, AZ – August 9, 2009
At a special meeting this week, the Dewey-Humboldt Town Council members will hear about a new report outlining the municipality’s revised impact fees and likely adopt a notice of intention to assess those fees. Tuesday at 3 p.m. inside Town Hall, 2735 S. Highway…

Mayor Kenoi urges BOE to abandon West Hawai’i school impact fee plan
Hawaii 24/7, HI – August 8, 2009
The Department of Education selected West Hawai’i to be a pilot project to test out the school impact fee program, citing high rates of growth projected for the area over the next 25 to 30 years. The proposal will be considered by the Board of Education’s Committee…

‘Menu of choices’ urged to help Surprise developers with fees
Arizona Republic, AZ – August 7, 2009
At this week’s special City Council work session, Mihelich suggested offering developers a “menu of choices” instead of what the city does now: Ask for an up-front impact fee. These fees are determined by traffic count. The alternatives include…

Refunds look unlikely for Atherton’s road fee
The Almanac Online – August 6, 2009
It doesn’t look like that will be the case with the town’s controversial road-impact fee, meant to cover the cost of repairing roads battered by construction trucks. The fee, 0.71 percent of the project’s valuation, is charged to builders as part of the permitting process. …

County considering two new impact fees
Gunnison Times – Gunnison County, CO – August 6, 2009
As the number of people and businesses in Gunnison County increase in coming years, and that growth creates increasing demands for services, taxpayers will be left with the tab. That’s a scenario that two impact fees on new construction Gunnison County is…

Board schooled on road impact fees’ needs, uses
Windsor Beacon, CO – August 6, 2009
The board, which updated its fees in two years ago, had stated recently that it was unclear about the road impact fee process and wanted more information about how those fees are determined and just how the money collected could be used. Bob Felsburg, …

HBA sues city and council
KGET 17, CA – August 5, 2009
The Home Builders Association filed a lawsuit against the city of Bakersfield and Kern County challenging traffic impact fees. The city and county recently doubled their traffic impact fees on new residential development. The goal is to generate local matching…

Yankees try squeeze play on $42000 Tampa water fee
Brandon News and Tribune, FL – August 4, 2009
The impact fee is being charged for switching from a 2-inch to a 3-inch water meter. “An increase in meter size will result in no additional demand on the city’s water supply system or wastewater collection system,” Daniel Vickstrom, vice president of Charlotte…

NY Yankees call ‘foul’ over water-meter fee
Water Technology Online – August 4, 2009
The owners of the New York Yankees baseball franchise are questioning a $42,000 impact fee from the Tampa water department for installing a new water meter at the club’s spring training stadium, The Tampa Tribune reported August 4. Yankee owners have…

Home Builder Lawsuit
TurnTo23.com – Bakersfield, CA – August 4, 2009
The Home Builder’s Association of Kern County is claiming, among other things, that the joint agreement between the city and county is invalid. The impact fee was raised last month from around $7,100 to just under $13,000 for every home.  The city hopes to match…

ABQ city council takes up impact fees, charter amendments veto tonight
The New Mexico Independent, NM – August 3, 2009
A proposed one year impact fee moratorium is also on the agenda tonight. It’s been characterized as a way to give a much needed kick start to a struggling building industry that’s been hit hard by the recession. Supporters say it’ll make it easier to get…

Tonopah has impact fee records
Pahrump Valley Times – Pahrump, NV – August 3, 2009
Garlough said local developers contributed to that impact fee account and have a right to know how their money is spent. He added the accounts are supposed to be earning interest. Budahl said the town has impact fee funds for the fire department and…

Developer suing city over impact fees
Santa Rosa Press Democrat, CA – July 31, 2009
A company looking to develop the former Royal Tallow property in south Petaluma is in the midst of a legal battle with the city, claiming that impact fees charged to new development are too high. Baywood LLC, run by Sonoma County developer Larry Wasem, …

Impact fee cut from storm-water regulations
Louisville Courier-Journal, KY – July 31, 2009
The Bullitt County Joint Planning Commission voted Thursday to eliminate a proposal to make developers pay 2.5 cents per each square foot in site plans, said Martin Riedling, commission chairman. But other fees might be added to the plan, he said. A $250 fee per…

Chatham may increase school impact fees
News & Observer – July 30, 2009
Impact fees are charged on new housing units to help pay for growth and go toward school construction. The commissioners asked for a study to review options for basing the impact fee on housing unit size in addition to the current method of varying the fee by…

Noblesville gets reprieve on impact fee ordinance
Indianapolis Star, IN – July 30, 2009
The action, which overturned a ruling issued in April, gives Westfield a temporary reprieve from having to repay some of $3 million in road impact fees it collected. Judge William Hughes of Hamilton Superior Court 3 said a hearing is still needed to determine whether…

Leon County Housing Assistance
WCTV, FL – July 30, 2009
Thanks to a $1.5 million dollar grant from the State of Florida’s Impact Fee Proviso Program, two Leon County housing programs will get a big funding boost. One is geared toward foreclosure prevention and the other provides aid to first-time home buyers…

Water surcharge proposed to fund improvements for Orchard City users
Delta County Independent, CO – July 30, 2009
The surcharge if adopted would not be an “impact fee” on new development. It would be a fee added to the monthly water bills of current customers. It would be in addition to the monthly bill for water use and base fee for every water tap, both inside and…

Judge overturns road-fee ruling and calls for a trial
Indianapolis Star, IN – July 30, 2009
According to the lawsuit, the trouble started in 2005 when the town charged Gerhard Martens, owner of Westfield-based Metric Seals, $9,130 in road-impact fees for warehouse space he added to his office at 17030 Westfield Park Road. Metric Seals is a supplier…

Madera Co. evaluates road fees
Sierra Star – Oakhurst, CA – July 30, 2009
After 13 years, Madera County is making another run at revised road improvement fees on new construction. The fees, paid by the builder, would help pay for improvements on Highway 41 and other areas of the county. The Madera County General…

Judge overturns ruling against impact fee ordinance
Indianapolis Star, IN – July 29, 2009
A Hamilton County judge this morning overturned a ruling that Westfield’s road-impact fee ordinance violated state law. If Superior Court 3 Judge William Hughes had upheld his ruling, Westfield could have been forced to repay some of the millions of fees it…

Storm clouds rising over new drainage regulations
Louisville Courier-Journal, KY – July 29, 2009
The chairman of the Joint Planning Commission, though, said the regulations will lead to quicker resolution of storm water issues with less hassle for residents. “We wanted a better plan for Bullitt County,” said Chairman Martin Riedling after the Thursday…

County revisits impact fees on growth
Culpeper Star Exponent, VA – July 29, 2009
Culpeper County Board of Supervisors will consider implementing an impact fee on new construction to generate local transportation funding.  Discussion about the fee, which is intended to make up for ongoing reductions and shortfalls in federal and state…

Westfield asking judge to uphold impact fee
Indianapolis Star, IN – July 29, 2009
The city is fighting a Hamilton County court ruling that found its use of a road-impact fee ordinance violated state law.  If the ruling holds, Westfield might have to refund some of the $3 million it collected in road-impact fees under the ordinance. A hearing is…

Developer fees go up in San Carlos
San Jose Mercury News, CA – July 29, 2009
Developers looking to build in San Carlos will have to pay higher fees to fund several major traffic improvement projects under a fee hike approved Monday by the city council. Council members voted 4-0 to increase the city’s traffic impact fees by 9 percent…

Traffic fees to jump
San Mateo Daily Journal – San Mateo, CA – July 27, 2009
Developers and homeowners looking to build in San Carlos will pay more traffic impact fees to help the city pay for needed capital costs under a proposal coming before the City Council Monday night. The proposal, if passed, will hike traffic impact fees 8.9 percent to…

Despite heat, pioneering Rio Blanco County stands by energy impact fees
The Colorado Independent – Denver, CO – July 27, 2009
In the nearly 25 years Rio Blanco County Commissioner Ken Parsons has been living west of Rangely in rugged and remote northwestern Colorado, he has experienced three significant downturns in natural gas drilling. During the first two he was working for Texas-based…

County Will Keep Impact Fees Halved
The Ledger – Lakeland, FL – July 26, 2009
That study was presented Wednesday by Duncan Associates, one of the impact fee consultants the commission uses. Scott Coulombe, executive director of the Polk County Builders Association, assured commissioners the previous impact fee cut had helped the local…

Westfield tries to protect its road-fee ordinance
Indianapolis Star, IN – July 25, 2009
Westfield is fighting a Hamilton County court ruling that said the way the city applied a road-impact fee ordinance violated state law.  If the ruling holds, it could cost the city millions of dollars. In April, Judge William Hughes’ court ruled without trial in a lawsuit against…

PLAIN SPEAK: What are impact fees, and why are they used?
Florida Times-Union, FL – July 24, 2009
Recently, there has been a discussion in Nassau County about impact fees. Government officials and county commissioners have made public statements on the subject, and several community leaders and developers also have weighed in. So, it seems like a good time…

Town officials discuss plan to reimburse $1.2M in road fees
Windsor Beacon, CO – July 23, 2009
The Windsor Town Board is tentatively planning to pay about $1.2 million in road impact fee reimbursements to two developers  “This would retire the debt for these two developers on these projects,” Windsor Town Manager Kelly Arnold said during Monday…

Proposed Corvallis impact fee defeated
Montana’s News Station – Missoula, MT – July 23, 2009
Ravalli County Commissioners voted against imposing a new impact fee for the Corvallis School District during a Wednesday evening meeting.  A unanimous vote was needed to pass the measure, but three of the five commissioners voted against the fee. …

Chatham Commissioners to hold public hearing about increasing impact fees
Chatham Journal Weekly – Chatham County, NC – July 21, 2009
The 2009 study shows that the county could reasonably charge an impact fee as high as $8,507, compared to the current maximum of $3,500 for a single-family unit. However, if the impact fee structure is revised to consider the number of bedrooms, the new…

Council votes against development impact fee exemption
Desert Dispatch – Barstow, CA – July 21, 2009
The Council voted 2 to 3 against extending the development impact fee exemption another year, allowing the exemption to expire Aug. 1. Councilmembers Julie Hackbarth-McIntyre and Timothy Silva voted in favor of extending the fee exemption. Councilmembers…

Development fees on the rise in Loudoun
Loudoun Times – Leesburg, VA – July 21, 2009
Fees for developments in eastern Loudoun will increase by as much as $12,651 per home. Seven developments currently in the approval process will be affected by the increase, including Dulles World, Dulles Town Center and Kincora Village. “If we do not charge…

UEP solution must start from the top
Cape Coral Daily Breeze, FL – July 18, 2009
A Seven-Point Plan to address the proposed UEP initiative: 1. Place a moratorium on all non-essential capital spending, including the proposed UEP initiatives. Instead, focus on getting our financial house in order in direct response to the continuing ratings…

Riverside County cuts cost of developer fees temporarily
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin – CA – July 18, 2009
Riverside County is the latest California jurisdiction to reduce development impact fees charged to home builders, which the California Building Industry Association said is a growing trend. According to a news release, the Riverside County Board…

Cactus Needles
East Valley Tribune – Mesa, AZ – July 18, 2009
The Goldwater Institute is appealing Tuesday’s court ruling that would allow Mesa to continue attaching the cultural fee to the construction of new homes. The institute is convinced museums and art attractions are not necessary services, which is the standard…

Mesa impact fee ruling to be appealed
AZ Central.com – AZ – July 17, 2009
The decision allows Mesa to continue collecting impact fees from developers to pay for the city’s cultural facilities. Goldwater Institute attorneys and representatives of the building industry had challenged the fees, saying that cultural facilities weren’t essential. …

Clay County Commission spares schools’ impact fees
Florida Times-Union – Jacksonville, FL – July 17, 2009
After hearing from 15 speakers, most of whom supported maintaining the fees, commissioners gave the school district the nod. By a 4-1 vote, they approved an ordinance renewing the fees and maintaining the current amounts: $7,034 for single-family homes, …

Fees for some new homes may be lowered in Willows
Enterprise-Record – Chico, CA – July 16, 2009
Fees charged for building new homes in Willows will likely be less after the City Council approves a development impact fee schedule. The first reading of a resolution that revises the existing impact fee schedule was read by title only and approved…

Salem planners delay impact fee decision
Eagle Tribune – North Andover, MA – July 16, 2009
The Planning Board has put off for a second time making any decisions on controversial proposed changes to the town’s impact fee regulations. The Planning Board decided during a public hearing Tuesday night to seek answers to more questions…

Institute appeals impact fee ruling
East Valley Tribune – Mesa, AZ – July 16, 2009
Goldwater attorney Clint Bolick is fighting the case on behalf of the Homebuilders Association of Central Arizona. They contend that such fees ought to be limited to improvements on basic services such as water and sewer facilities. Mesa charges $218 as part…

Kuna faces tight budget: City property tax hike is possible
Kuna Melba News – Kuna, ID – July 16, 2009
Even if the city of Kuna does all of that, it will still only end up with about $60,000 in its general fund, a paltry sum for a city with a $13 million budget, according to an exclusive story in this week’s Kuna Melba News. Kuna city officials are in the middle of a series of…

Mesa wins key ruling on impact fees on cultural facilities
AZ Central.com – Mesa, AZ – July 16, 2009
Mesa will still be allowed to collect impact fees from developers to pay for the city’s cultural facilities, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge has ruled. The ruling settles a 2-year-old lawsuit by the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona, which contended…

Judges uphold road impact fee
Stockton Record – Stockton, CA – July 15, 2009
Calaveras County’s government has won a long-simmering legal dispute about the legality of the fee it charges on new construction to pay the costs of roads required to serve those projects. Calaveras County Counsel Jim Jones said a panel of judges at the Third…

BCC extends school impact fee on new homes
Clay Today Online – Orange Park, FL – July 15, 2009
County commissioners have voted to keep school impact fees at their current level after listening to Clay County school officials and members of the Clay Builders Council plead their cases. School Superintendent Ben Wortham reminded each commissioner during a…

Higher proffers hurt Chesterfield County
Chesterfield Observer (subscription) – Chesterfield, VA – July 15, 2009
Some believe this was a good decision, since they view new residential development as the root cause of Chesterfield’s current problems. The reality is that the cash proffer system provides a serious impediment to the county’s overall growth and it, not new…

Judge dismisses challenge to town’s impact fee law
Pierce County Herald – Ellsworth, WI – July 14, 2009
The original Home Builders Association complaint filed in March 2008 claims the town’s law places an unequal burden for improvements on new development, and has thus injured the business of association members and diminished the value of their properties. …

Judge: Mesa impact fees for museums OK
East Valley Tribune – Mesa, AZ – July 14, 2009
Mesa can charge developers impact fees for its museums and other cultural facilities, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday. The decision involves a lawsuit filed in 2007 by the Goldwater Institute on behalf of the Home Builders Association of Central…

Developers decry Salem’s proposed impact fee hikes
Eagle Tribune – North Andover, MA – July 13, 2009
Local developers say a proposed impact fee system could have a devastating effect on future development in town. Christopher Goodnow of Goodnow Real Estate Services said the increase and expansion of the fees comes at a bad time and is too much for…

County taking road-fee input
The Durango Herald, CO – July 12, 2009
“We are more than happy to take comments on the details (of the plan),” Jim Davis, director of Public Works, said at a workshop Tuesday night. After the plan is finalized, Davis said he hopes it will head to the Planning Commission in August and then to the Board…

School district to start charging impact fees
SnoValley Star – North Bend, WA – July 10, 2009
At the school board meeting, the board approved the 2009 Capital Facilities Plan, a six-year plan detailing the expansion of Snoqualmie Valley schools. If the King County Council approves the fees, the district will begin collecting them in 2010. Impact fees for a…

School district to start charging impact fees
SnoValley Star – North Bend, WA – July 10, 2009
At the school board meeting, the board approved the 2009 Capital Facilities Plan, a six-year plan detailing the expansion of Snoqualmie Valley schools. If the King County Council approves the fees, the district will begin collecting them in 2010. Impact fees for a…

Will the city of Twin falls impose impact fees?
KMVT – USA – July 9, 2009
Six months ago the Twin Falls City Council adopted impact fees, but put off implementing them until the First of August. An advisory committee has been hashing out whether or not to start charging those fees. Dusty Tenny, advisory committee member…

Cities dump fees to bolster building in recession
Contra Costa Times – Walnut Creek, CA – July 8, 2009
Meridian is among a growing list of hard-hit communities across the country that are lowering or suspending impact fees. Measures have been debated in Washington state, Texas, New Mexico, New Hampshire, California and elsewhere. Florida made it easier…

Capital improvement panel seeks impact fee accounting
Pahrump Valley Times, NV – July 8, 2009
“If I pay an impact fee, I have a right to go ask where my impact fees went to, what they were spent on and, if they’re still there, how much interest they got,” said committee member Bill Garlough, representing the citizens at large. “Good thing you brought…

Fees up, morale down
Bakersfield Californian – Bakersfield, CA – July 7, 2009
The increase will add thousands in up-front costs to each new home, effectively raising prices as builders scramble to compete in a market dominated by foreclosed properties. City councilmembers, especially vice-mayor Zack Scrivner, focused on more than…

Home builders, City Council discuss impact fee exemption
Desert Dispatch – Barstow, CA – July 7, 2009
The Barstow City Council voted to table an amendment to the municipal code Monday that would allow home builders to refrain from paying development impact fees associated with their project for an additional year.  According to the municipal code, developers…

Impact fees approved by city council
KGET 17 – Bakersfield, CA – July 7, 2009
With frustrated developers looking on, members of the Bakersfield City Council Tuesaday voted unanimously to increase traffic impact fees for metropolitan Bakersfield. City officials say higher fees are needed to finance a new network of transportation…

Vail mulls “impact fees” for fire department
Vail Daily News, CO – July 6, 2009
Vail is the only town in Eagle County that does not impose an impact fee for fire protection, Miller said. The money could help pay for remodeling fire stations and buying and replacing new fire trucks. It could also go toward building the station planned…

Fee accounting stinks… but will it matter?
Bakersfield Californian, CA – July 4, 2009
The homebuilders have a point.  The city of Bakersfield screwed up — maybe even broke state law — by failing to write reports every year for its traffic impact fee program.  An informal Californian survey of eight other cities and counties with traffic impact…

Prescott raising impact fees July 11
KSWT – TV – Yuma, AZ – July 3, 2009
City officials say they will lock in current impact fee rates for all completed applications submitted by 4 pm July 10Prescott is raising water and sewer impact fees on July 11.  The Prescott City Council approved the higher fees last October and reaffirmed…

County returns impact fee cash
Fernandina Beach News – Leader, FL – July 3, 2009
Nassau County has returned more than $21,000 in impact fees since November after missing the deadline to use the money on new growth. The fees were all returned to SEDA Construction Co., a Jacksonville-based homebuilder.  Impact fees, which are charged…

Dispute rises for impact fees
St. George Daily Spectrum – St. George, UT – July 2, 2009
Enoch City Water Board members at the meeting said the impact fee would pay for new lines and hollding tanks to store the water, that general fund money in the budget cannot legally be used for. City treasurer Susan Lewis gave an example during staff…

Petition asks Surprise to lower impact fees
Arizona Republic – Phoenix, AZ – July 2, 2009
A community activist says city officials are dragging their feet in addressing residents’ concerns of higher development-impact fees in north Surprise, keeping retail developers away from the area. Before raising the issue at a recent council meeting, James Collis…

Gov’s veto likely kills QC’s tax hike
East Valley Tribune – Mesa, AZ – July 2, 2009
A sales tax increase Queen Creek’s Town Council approved just in case a state budget provision passed appears to be history. A moratorium on collecting development impact fees, which town officials worried would cut $4.6 million out of its budget, wasn’t in…

Bonita Springs plans criteria for impact fee refunds
The News-Press – Fort Myers, FL – July 1, 2009
Bonita Springs city officials are worried developers who defer projects during the recession may ask for money back on impact fees they’ve already paid. City Council is expected today to provide staff with answers on how to deal with potential requests. Beverly…

Deena Winter: Cities trying to spur building by reducing impact fees
Lincoln Journal Star, NE – July 1, 2009
The city of Hickman is trying to attract home builders by cutting building permit fees by 40 percent through the end of the year. A flier sent to area builders urges them to “Come build in Hickman and move to the Norris School District.” Hickman is temporarily reducing…

Council awards 16th Street bid
Yuma Sun – Yuma, AZ – July 1, 2009
In addition, the council approved requests for the deferral of development fees, also known as impact fees, for a number of residential development projects. The fees can amount to up to $20,000 on a house. In an effort to stimulate the construction…

State leaders seek budget compromise
Explorer News – Tucson, AZ – July 1, 2009
The issue of principal concern for many municipalities is a budget proposal, passed in June, which would place a three-year hold on the collection of impact fees. Impact fees, charges applied to new construction to help pay for the infrastructure needs that it…

LA Fitness sues developer of Windemere Point in Stuart over unpaid impact fees
TCPalm, CA – July 1, 2009
The developers of Windemere Point in Stuart are being sued by LA Fitness International for an alleged failure to pay impact fees, which a lawsuit claims is holding up a building permit needed to complete construction of the sports club. The breach of contract…

Budget stalls plans for better roads in Orange
Orlando Sentinel, FL – June 30, 2009
Because roads are so costly, counties and cities plan these projects long in advance. The five-year capital blueprint for Orange County carries a $520 million price tag, and it relies in part on fees that developers are expected to pay. The fees are intended to offset…

Supervisors want to suspend impact fees 6/17
Plumas County Newspapers – Plumas County, CA – June 30, 2009
The action is an attempt to encourage any citizens who are considering a building project to move forward immediately, rather than waiting a month for the board’s next meeting. The fees amount to $1,392 per dwelling unit, $193 per 1,000 square feet for…

Council to adopt town spending plan tonight
AZ Central.com, AZ – June 30, 2009
The development impact fee moratorium survived negotiations between the governor and state legislators to resolve their differences over the state budget. Proponents say it will give a much-needed shot in the arm to Arizona’s ailing new home…

Bonita puts about 80 homeowners on notice for sewer hookups
Naples Daily News, FL – June 30, 2009
The deadline is approaching for some Bonita Springs homeowners who have yet to ditch their septic systems for sewer hookups. Bonita Springs Utilities put about 80 homeowners on notice that they need to sign up or pay up. Letters mailed in May notified…

Kane board members question waiving fees to draw development
Aurora Beacon News – Elgin, IL – June 29, 2009
Aiston recommended that the county consider waiving transportation impact fees and stormwater detention fees in order to provide extra incentives for developers to bring their business here. Board member Bonnie Lee Kunkel, D-Aurora, was not convinced that waiving…

Troy may agree to cut fees
Joliet Herald News – Joliet, IL – June 29, 2009
The fees on new construction were established to offset the impact of students entering the school system prior to the first tax bills issued on the home. The fees are based on the number of bedrooms and whether it is a single-family or multifamily residence. …

Stumbling Toward Shutdown
Tucson Weekly, AZ – June 29, 2009
Rather than a moratorium on impact fees overall, they propose a two-year moratorium on the imposition a new development impact fee and on any increase in existing development impact fee. God forbid that the cities actually recover the costs of these…

Time to slice and dice: Collier commission begins budget talks Monday
Naples Daily News – Naples, FL – June 28, 2009
Impact fees are dollars paid by developers to offset, and compensate for, the effects of growth in any particular neighborhood. Looking at it from a neighborhood standpoint, in 2008, Feder counted on $15.4 million for roadwork in East Naples and Golden Gate. …

Home builders’ study fails to make the case
Hilton Head Island Packet, SC – June 28, 2009
The study was presented as support for killing the proposed school impact fee legislation. Our senator, Tom Davis, withdrew the proposed school impact fee bill over opposition of real estate agencies and builders. Tom is a real estate lawyer with something…

Florida counties shelve impact fees to help builders
Business Journal, FL – June 26, 2009
Four Northeast Florida counties are suspending their impact fees in an effort to stimulate development and the economy. “They have rolled fees to help businesses,” said Doug Baxter, the president of the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce & Affiliates. …

Impact – fee cuts would worsen glut
Arizona Republic, Phoenix, AZ – June 25, 2009
Are lawmakers nuts? Why on Earth would anyone want to reduce or eliminate impact fees now?  As the home builders themselves admit, this would only encourage them to build more houses.  We already have more houses for sale than anyone wants to buy. How could…

Council Green Lights Huge Sewer Rate Increase
Mesquite Local News – Mesquite, NV – June 25, 2009
“I’ve got real issues with bumping the impact fee up front here,” Bennett said. “I hate to see impact fees go up 40, 50, 60%. I’m worried about it hitting right in the middle of the current economic conditions. I’d rather see us go halfway in January, the rest of the…

Fear of Rio Blanco-style energy impact fees colored Garfield County election
The Colorado Independent – June 24, 2009
An impact fee support study conducted in 2007 estimated the county would have collected $22.7 million had the fee been in place during the heart of the boom (from 2000 to 2006). Over the next 15 years, when Rio Blanco expects to see another 16,500…

Impact fees ensure growth pays for itself
Arizona Daily Star, AZ – June 24, 2009
Arizona cities and towns have required growth to pay for a percentage of the cost through development impact fees, and that seemed fair to all involved. But, in fact, today’s impact fees don’t cover the full cost of growth. To sustain a community takes more…

City development fees may be altered to kick-start building
The San Francisco Examiner, CA – June 24, 2009
Building in San Francisco means paying money up front to help fund neighborhood services and improvements — a practice that could be altered to help stimulate construction activity. San Francisco levies a wide range of development impact fees, which are…

Revised impact fee schedule released
Read It Here – Prescott, AZ – June 23, 2009
Impact fees collected for new water and sewer facilities are necessary to serve new growth. These projects often include capacity augmentation which provide service improvement to customers in our existing neighborhoods. “When a water main is…

County to keep fees down, cut Building Department
Fernandina Beach News – Leader, FL – June 23, 2009
The Nassau County Commission voted Wednesday to keep reduced building permit fees and suspended impact fees.  The permit fees, and portions of the impact fees, are used to fund the Nassau County Building Department – which has been operating at a…

2500 school impact fee OK’d
Charleston Post Courier, SC – June 23, 2009
New home builders in the rapidly growing suburban area around town now must pay an extra $2,500 per house to help cover the cost of building new schools. The Dorchester District 2 school board on Monday unanimously approved a resolution to levy the school…

Corvallis grapples with impact fees
The Missoulian, MT – June 23, 2009
Ravalli County’s growth rate has slowed considerably since the 1990s when it was the fastest-growing county in the state.  But community leaders say further population growth is inevitable, so they’re asking: Who should pay for capital improvements required…

Aurora citizens look to triple fees on new home construction
Face The State – Denver, CO – June 23, 2009
The City and County of Denver recently waived fees for some building permits, with citizens clearing the way for over $6 million in construction spending. Meanwhile, a group of Aurora citizens are working to place an initiative on the November ballot that would…

Aurora citizens look to triple fees on new home construction
Face The State – Denver, CO – June 23, 2009
The City and County of Denver recently waived fees for some building permits, with citizens clearing the way for over $6 million in construction spending. Meanwhile, a group of Aurora citizens are working to place an initiative on the November ballot that would…

Town lays off 8; council to consider more cuts
Easy Valley Tribune – Mesa, AZ – June 22, 2009
Queen Creek handed out eight layoff notices to town employees last week, one of the last steps in the process to cut $3.1 million out of the budget.  While this round of cuts is over, the Town Council will meet Thursday to determine what more could be cut out if some…

VIEWPOINT/Pat Keogh, Phil Griffin/Fernandina Beach
Fernandina Beach News-Leader, FL – June 22, 2009
Suspend impact fees, reexamine policies.  Now is the time to suspend city impact fees and make significant changes whenever they Suspend impact fees, reexamine policies are reinstated. There should not be much question that our city economy is suffering and it…

Surprise layoffs possible if governor oks proposed budget
Arizona Republic – Phoenix, AZ – June 19, 2009
A grim scenario could play out if Gov. Jan Brewer approves the state budget in its current form, Surprise’s legislative liaison says. Surprise could face layoffs, cancel some capital projects and raise property tax rates, said Michael Celaya, the city’s Intergovernmental…

Park impact fees take hike in city
Pinnacle News – Hollister, CA – June 19, 2009
For the first time in 20 years, the City of Hollister has increased the fees it charges builders to help fund parks projects in the city.  The City Council this week voted to raise the existing park development fee for new developments from $1,123 per parcel to a two-tiered…

Belleview adjusts its policy on impact-fee calculations
Ocala – Ocala, FL – June 19, 2009
During its two most recent meetings, the City Commission adjusted policy on impact-fee calculations, lessened gardening restrictions and said their effort to attract new business is now visible, with city signage. In adjusting the policy on impact-fee calculations, …

Board hears feedback on fees
Charleston Post Courier, SC – June 17, 2009
The current plan for levying the fee, which homebuilders will have to pay on new homes in the rapidly growing neighborhoods around town, requires that it be paid before a certificate of occupancy is issued for the new dwelling. But Auxt wants the Dorchester…

Officials: State budget could have dire impact on Avondale
AZ Central.com, AZ – June 17, 2009
If the state Legislature’s budget should be approved, the consequences would be devastating to Avondale, Mayor Marie Lopez Rogers said Monday. Her concern is shared by the City Council and city manager. In a high-stakes game of state-budget chicken, the…

Council to seek court rulilng on real estate tax
Sequim Gazette, WA – June 17, 2009
The city will ask a judge to rule whether real estate excise taxes can be used to fund impact fee rate studies. At its June 8 meeting, the city council unanimously authorized City Attorney Craig Ritchie to seek the “declaratory judgment,” which probably will be done in…

Commission rejects impact-fee increase
Ocala, FL – June 17, 2009
Despite recommendations to raise the fees from both their own staff and the school district, and a lack of public opposition from the building industry, the commission voted down the increase 3-2. No one from the public spoke in favor of or against the increase during…

EV mayors sound alarm over budget hits
East Valley Tribune – Mesa, AZ – June 17, 2009
Three East Valley mayors held a press conference Wednesday in an attempt to raise awareness among residents about the potential impact of the ongoing state budget battle on city finances. John Insalaco, Apache Junction mayor, said his city had been anticipating…

Impact fees jump to help fund future park projects
Hollister Free Lance – Hollister, CA – June 17, 2009
For the first time in 20 years, the City of Hollister has increased the fees it charges builders to help fund parks projects in the city. The Hollister City Council this week voted to raise the existing park development fee for new developments from $1,123 per parcel…

Borasky prefers keeping impact fees
Pahrump Valley Times – Pahrump, NV – June 17, 2009
In his opinion, the most immediate affect of repealing impact fees would be, “this source of future revenues would be eliminated and either the taxpayers would have to make up the difference or the levels of service would diminish since the facilities…

Century Considers a Business Impact Fee, Public School Plan
NorthEscambia.com – near Pensacola, FL – June 17, 2009
Opening a business along Highway 29 or East Highway 4 in Century could cost more; the town is opting out of a county public school plan; and Century is looking at $1.1 million to improve drainage problem along a portion of Highway 29. The town council has considered…

Water and Sewer Impact Fees Hiked
The Ledger – Lakeland, FL – June 16, 2009
The municipal impact fee ordinance requires an annual review and limits increases to the rise in construction costs based on a respected national index of construction costs, City Attorney John Murphy said. The base residential fee will go to $1,285 from $1,226…

Traffic impact being considered
Florida Today – Melbourne, FL – June 16, 2009
That caused city leaders to think about starting their own impact fee, Planning Director Christy Fischer said. The city also found out the county is refunding impact fees paid to projects that already are built but have not yet received permits to open. That means…

Bakersfield City Council to vote on traffic impact fees
KGET 17 – Bakersfield, CA – June 16, 2009
Traffic impact fee would jump from just over $7,000 per home to nearly $13,000. Revenue generated by the fees would be used as local matching funds required to secure some $630-million for the Thomas Road Improvement Program, a network of transportation…

Push to revisit impact fees falls short
Sun Newspapers – June 16, 2009
After further consideration, Charlotte County’s new tiered impact fees will remain in place. A push to revote on last week’s divisive issue fell flat, thwarted Tuesday by the technicalities of the county charter. It all started at the end of Tuesday’s land-use meeting, …

Impact fees gone for a year
Tampa Tribune, FL – June 16, 2009
But, Bates said, suspending impact fees will be “worthless” unless people and businesses in this county actually start spending money on construction projects. Bates said county government can put unemployed people back to work, too, by going ahead…

Proposed ABQ impact fee moratorium stirs debate on development
The New Mexico Independent – Albuquerque, NM – June 15, 2009
The Albuquerque City Council will soon take up the issue of whether a moratorium on impact fees makes sense given the new construction in the city over the last year. And it’s a subject that has already reignited a long-simmering debate about how to best manage…

County considers impact fee increase
Ocala, FL – June 14, 2009
Marion County’s impact fees might be going up. And, for once, local builders are O.K. with it.  But builders say they will remain watchful to make sure Marion County remains competitive in offering people a place to live and launch a business. The County Commission on…

Impact fee exemption policy set
Morgan County Citizen, GA – June 12, 2009
Madison City Council members unanimously approved last Monday a document outlining potential exemptions to its new impact fee policy.  The policy is meant to allow council members some leeway in assessing impact fees-fees paid by developers as pro-rata shares…

Commissioners Review ‘Green’ Initiatives
The Ledger – Lakeland, FL – June 12, 2009
County commissioners got a glimpse Friday of some of the issues that are emerging as Polk County tries to expand green initiatives. The initiatives include a proposed green building ordinance, redrawing of urban growth boundaries to preserve more green space, changes in…

Suit challenges Mesa cultural impact fees
East Valley Tribune – Mesa, AZ – June 12, 2009
Mesa and conservative think tank the Goldwater Institute await a court decision on whether the city can charge impact fees for cultural facilities.  Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Douglas Rayes heard from both sides Friday involving a lawsuit filed in…

Impact fees too often a fallback for local governments, economist says
Naples Daily News, FL – June 11, 2009
On Thursday yet another voice was added to the Collier County growth and impact fee discussion.  Elliot Eisenberg, senior economist for the National Association of Home Builders, presented his report on growth in Collier County to a group of more than 100 community…

Keep impact fee plan out of state budget
East Valley Tribune – Mesa, AZ – June 11, 2009
The Valley’s homebuilders might have a great argument for a bit of fiscally responsible economic stimulus — suspend those hefty impact fees that cities and counties charge, which can increase the price of a house by up to $20,000.  Give people a chance to buy…

Milpitas traffic impact fees could offset Calaveras widening
Milpitas Post, CA – June 10, 2009
A planned $55-million Calaveras Boulevard widening project on the books for the last few years needs to obtain more funding before it can advance. That money may come from commercial and residential development expected along the route.  City officials say the…

County: Rail terminal’s impact fees difficult to track
News Chief, FL – June 10, 2009
Representatives from the county and CSX say they are pleased to have a blueprint for calculating future impact fees related to the planned rail terminal in Winter Haven, but stress that current dollar amounts may change before the site is developed.  The county…

Loss of impact fee money would hurt Mesa residents
AZ Central.com, AZ – June 10, 2009
Mesa residents will pay higher-than-expected water and sewer bills in the future if the state slaps a three-year moratorium on development impact fees.  The ban is included in a pile of bills passed late last week as the Legislature approved its budget for the 2010 fiscal…

Leaders oppose moratorium on impact fees
Arizona Republic, AZ – June 10, 2009
Arizona home builders say a proposed three-year moratorium on development impact fees will stimulate development and reduce housing costs. But West Valley leaders fear it will mean even less money for communities and is a move away from the philosophy…

Collier commissioners say they won’t meet with legislators
Naples Daily News, FL – June 9, 2009
For the first time that anyone can remember, the Collier County Commission will not hold a post-legislative workshop with the county’s Southwest Florida delegation.  Commissioners are so ticked off by how legislators voted in the Tallahassee session that just…

Housing contribution: ‘Extortion’ or charity?
Payson Roundup, UT – June 9, 2009
On a split vote Thursday, the Payson Town Council eliminated a system that asked developers to make a “voluntary” contribution to an affordable housing fund at the same time they received their approvals to build.  Council critics of the system that has raised…

State plan could force higher Chandler water rates
Arizona Republic, AZ – June 9, 2009
Chandler is set to raise water and sewer rates for the second time in two years on Thursday, but residents could see their bills go up even higher if a three-year moratorium on development impact fees stays in the state budget. Management Services…

Tiered impact fees approved
Sun newspapers, FL – June 9, 2009
Nearly two years in the making, Charlotte County’s new tiered impact fee structure needed one more last-second push to gain approval from the County Commission Tuesday.  In a 3-2 vote — with Chairwoman Tricia Duffy swayed in its favor from the dais…

El Dorado County to hold lline on traffic impact fees
Sacramento Bee, CA – June 7, 2009
El Dorado County will hold the line on traffic impact fees charged for new development.  The Board of Supervisors last week agreed not to boost fees, although estimated costs for road projects needed to serve growth over the next 10 years have increased…

City delays builder fees to help out
Grand Junction Sentinel, CO – June 7, 2009
Confronted with sinking building permit numbers and developers struggling to get their projects off the ground, Grand Junction city planners are instituting what they think will be a small but helpful change to get cash flowing into developments.  The city no longer…

Lowe’s wants road fees returned
Sarasota Herald – Tribune, FL – June 5, 2009
Lowe’s Home Center Inc. made an unprecedented bid Friday to get back more than half of a nearly $2.5 million transportation fee paid to North Port to build a home improvement store in the city last year.  The City Commission spent more than seven hours considering…

Study: Champaign should consider developer impact fees
Urbana / Champaign News – Gazette, IL – June 4, 2009
Most residential development in Champaign does not pay for itself when compared to the cost of providing city infrastructure and services, according to a city consultant.  And that’s one reason the city might want to consider impact fees on new development, …

Impact fee debate moves to Legislature
Verde Independent, AZ – June 4, 2009
Calling it an issue of economic development, lobbyists for the home building industry have managed to insert a provision in the state budget to bar cities from imposing impact fees on new homes and apartments for the next three years.  Spencer Kamps, who…

Santa Maria latest city to cut fees
Fresno Business Journal, CA – June 4, 2009
The city of Santa Maria this week became the latest California jurisdiction to reduce development impact fees it charges homebuilders, which the California Building Industry Association said is a growing trend that is paying off.  The City Council voted…

Council opts not to change impact-fee increase schedule
Sun – Shopper, Prescott, AZ – June 3, 2009
“I see no reason not to get on with it,” Hellman said Tuesday, referring to the water and sewer impact fee increases that the council first approved in October 2008, and then deferred from the original January effective date until July 11. “I’m perplexed; it…

Builder impact fee in works
Charleston Post Courier, SC – June 3, 2009
The impact fee will have to be paid before an owner occupies a new house. Builders often pass on impact fees to buyers, so the move could make new homes more expensive. The school board tentatively agreed to hold a public hearing on the impact fee…

Impact – fee rule could cost Tucson $4.6 million
Arizona Daily Star, AZ – June 3, 2009
A provision recently inserted in the state budget barring cities from collecting development impact fees could force Tucson to slash another $4.6 million from its newly approved tentative budget.  City Budget Director Marie Nemerguth was unable to say…

Pitkin County mulls impact fee increase
Aspen Times – Aspen, CO – June 2, 2009
Construction costs may be coming down these days, but a transportation impact fee tacked onto the cost of building a home in Pitkin County may soon be going up. County commissioners will review proposed new fees Tuesday that would generate a…

Builder gets YC fee deal
Appeal – Democrat, Marysville, CA – June 2, 2009
Paying the 2004 impact fee rates gives Interwest a savings of $6,932 per lot. The council chambers were standing-room only for the hourlong discussion. Several residents, businessmen and developers spoke about the potential impact, mostly…

Guest Commentary: Cutting impact fees won’t help turn around the economy
Naples Daily News – Naples, FL – June 2, 2009
Our high fees did not inhibit our growth rate and new construction when the building industry was setting new construction records each year and impact fees were being paid to provide the new infrastructure (roads, water and sewer facilities, schools, parks, …

Candidates agree on increased impact fees
Brownsville Herald – Brownsville, TX – June 2, 2009
Before the Brownsville City Commission votes on raising utility rates, at least two future commissioners will vote to increase impact fees to $3,486 per lot assessed developers to offset the cost of extending water and sewer lines to new construction. That’s…

Garfield County faces ‘tens of millions’ in road work
Glenwood Springs Post Independent – Glenwood Springs, CO – June 1, 2009
In the case of 300 Road, he reported, preliminary estimates indicate that needed improvements to the intersection will cost between $1.2 million and $2 million. The county’s policies concerning capital improvements for roads are codified in the 1997 Capital…

Impact fees on table again
Delmarva Daily Times, DE – June 1, 2009
The Salisbury City Council is expected to bring impact fees to the table again today during a work session and could push legislation forward for a public hearing. Impact fees are one-time payments used to construct system improvements needed to…

Brent Batten: This is one column commissioners say you won’t want…
Naples Daily News – Naples, FL – June 1, 2009
That will encourage challenges to impact fees, forcing the county to hire lawyers and consultants to justify the fees, the commission majority argues. Henning says, “The burden should be on the government.” Of greater concern to Coyle is Senate Bill 360, which…

Two More Jurisdictions Reduce Development Fees in Half
RealEstateRama – CA – June 1, 2009
The city of Menifee in Riverside County and the Scotts Valley Unified School District in Santa Cruz County are the latest California jurisdictions to significantly reduce fees charged to homebuilders, which the California Building Industry Association said is a growing…

Taxes in new Boulder developments could skyrocket
Colorado Daily, CO – May 31, 2009
For more than a year, the council has been studying whether to replace the city’s voter-approved excise tax structure with an impact-fee system that circumvents voter approval and raises the amounts charged on new development. The city currently…

Impact Fees Get Review
Prescott Daily Courier – May 31, 2009
City Manager Steve Norwood explained that City Council members asked to bring the impact-fee increase back, after hearing a recent appeal from Prescott Chamber of Commerce Executive Director David Maurer about the effects the impact fee increase could…

Salem eases impact fee timing
Desert News – Salt Lake City, UT – May 29, 2009
Deferring the impact-fee payments until then protects the city, because banks won’t fund a loan until the home has passed its final inspection. It also allows builders to put their money into construction, city officials said. “We’ll still get the fees,” said Jeff…

Builders promote fee rollbacks
Inman News – May 27, 2009
Nation’s Building News, a National Association of Home Builders publication, notes that some government agencies are rolling back development-related impact fees in an effort to attract construction and stimulate local economies. The city of Fremont, Calif., …

West Melbourne will pay more for Melbourne water, sewer service
Florida Today – Melbourne, FL – May 27, 2009
The new rates go into effect Oct. 1 and would mean lower bills for most of Melbourne’s customers. But the change also means rates will go up in West Melbourne about 12 percent on top of a 5 percent increase that already was set to start Oct. 1. “Obviously, …

Collection rate on impact fees lowered to zero
Dawson News and Advertiser – Dawsonville, GA – May 27, 2009
The Dawson County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on May 21 to lower the county collection rate on impact fees to zero. The meeting Thursday also included the second public hearing on the proposed change. The two hearings brought out potential…

Court gives Bellingham victory over developer in parks impact fee dispute
Bellingham Herald, WA – May 27, 2009
A decision on Tuesday, May 26, by the state Court of Appeals, Division I, stated that city officials were right to charge Belleau Woods II LLC more than $300,000 in fees meant to pay for new parks and trails. The fees were charged for phase two of the Belleau…

Impact Fees May Change Once More
The Ledger – Polk County, FL – May 26, 2009
The decision to revisit the impact fees just two months after cutting them came at a commission workshop to review a study by Duncan Associates, an Austin, Texas, growth management consultant. The study was done under a state law requiring a review…

Judge rules against Westfield on road fees
Indianapolis Star, IN – May 25, 2009
Westfield might have made a costly mistake.  Ruling on a lawsuit without holding a trial, a Hamilton County judge has found that a road-impact-fee ordinance Westfield used from roughly 2004 to 2008 violated state law.  Now, the city might have to refund some…

Salem planners propose revamped impact fee system
Eagle Tribune, NH – May 25, 2009
The town’s Planning Board is looking to change the system used to determine the road impact fees developers pay, expanding the area where they apply from two corridors to the entire town. The current road impact fee applies only to development along Route 28…

Can break on fees breathe life into Lake’s sagging economy?
Orlando Sentinel, FL – May 25, 2009
“The county is trying to be business-friendly,” Commissioner Jimmy Conner said. “It shows we’re trying to work with businesspeople during difficult economic times.” The county recently considered suspending its impact fees. Such a moratorium might help…

School district reduces developer impact fees
Press – Banner.com, CA – May 24, 2009
School officials informed city leaders at an April committee meeting that the developer fee, currently set at $6.31 per square foot for a new house or apartment building, will be reduced to $3.27. The new amount was affirmed by the school board May 12. The fee is…

Changes to road impact fee are on hold for now
The Coloradoan – Fort Collins, CO – May 23, 2009
The Windsor Town Board debated the community’s road impact fee payments this month, but officials decided they need more time before making any changes. “This discussion was spurred by some concerns about the impact fee as an upfront cost impacting…

State gives Charlotte $2 million
Sun newspapers – Port Charlotte, FL – May 22, 2009
Charlotte County’s proactive reduction of impact fee taxes will bring a surprise windfall of revenue from the state. State Rep. Gary Aubuchon, R-Cape Coral, will be on hand at Tuesday’s Charlotte County Commission meeting to present the county with a $2 million…

Building industry welcomes new Fla. legislation as plus
Cape Coral Daily Breeze, FL – May 22, 2009
A bill signed into law Thursday by Gov. Charlie Crist means local governments must prove impact fees are justified when challenged by developers.  Rep. Gary Aubuchon, R-Cape Coral, co-sponsored the legislation and said the law makes impact fee rules more equitable. …

Now wait a minute…
Morgan County Citizen, GA – May 22, 2009
To the Editor:  It was disheartening to read Glenn Eskew’s letter to the Citizen. He seems to have misunderstood my objections to the current impact fee ordinance.  I am not opposed to impact fees or the amount to be collected from such fees. I support…

Crist signs bills to cut impact fees, add business incentives
Brandon News and Tribune – Tampa, FL – May 21, 2009
Gov. Charlie Crist signed new laws Thursday intended to boost Florida’s economy, including measures to reduce impact fees on new development and provide tax incentives for businesses to locate in low-income communities. Crist, also a Republican candidate…

Suspending impact fees
Tampa Tribune, FL – May 21, 2009
As the impact fee committee report states, Highlands County has an over abundance of unoccupied residential dwellings. It only stands to reason that by suspending the impact fees on residential dwellings in an attempt to start another housing boom and further flood…

Duffy’s expansion proposal hampered by impact fees
York County Coast Star, NH – May 21, 2009
Kennebunk isn’t doing enough to help its business owners succeed, Economic Development Committee chairman Bob Georgitis told the Board of Selectmen recently.  While advocating for an economic development director position in town, Georgitis used David…

Officials hammering out incentives
Keller Citizen, TX – May 20, 2009
The Keller City Council seems poised to approve an incentive policy proposed six months ago as a tool to lure developers.  The policy calls for tax breaks and fee waivers. In a work session last week, officials were also considering another incentive rarely…

Alternate impact fee payment method eyed
Tampa Tribune, FL – May 19, 2009
Factoring in interest, roughly three times that amount, the $10,000 impact fee now become $30,000 over that time period. Lower upfront costs could make the home more attractive to potential buyers, committee members reasoned. Committee member Laurie Pizzo…

Manatee commissioners suspend impact fees for 2 years
Bradenton Herald, FL – May 19, 2009
An impact fee is a one-time charge placed on new development to pay for new roads, parks, emergency equipment and more. Manatee County estimates that the temporary impact fee reduction will amount to $7 million over two years. Without that money, certain…

Lake Alfred Lowers Impact Fees Downtown
The Ledger – Lakeland, FL – May 19, 2009
City officials hope $1,100 will provide enough incentive to commercial developers to build in downtown Lake Alfred. City commissioners on Monday unanimously gave initial approval to an ordinance creating a “core improvement area” along the entire stretch of U.S. …

Supervisors OK fee change over developer objections
Bakersfield Californian, CA – May 19, 2009
A passionate appeal from home builders, workers and industry leaders failed Tuesday in the face of Bakersfield’s practical need to build roads and freeways.  Kern County supervisors approved a decrease in the county’s transportation impact fee from $12,958…

Impact Fee Cut Moves Forward
The Ledger – Lakeland, FL – May 18, 2009
The commission gave initial approval to an ordinance creating a ‘core improvement area’ along the entire stretch of U.S. 17-92 in Lake Alfred. The ordinance would allow the city to waive all but municipal water and sewer impact fees in the core area, City Manager Jan…

Salt River tribe votes to raise impact fees
Arizona Republic, Phoenix, AZ – May 17, 2009
Members of the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community acted last week after months of debate over a plan to raise impact fees for new shopping centers, office buildings and other commercial development on community land along Loop 101 near Scottsdale. …

Much at stake with development fee vote
Bakersfield Californian, CA – May 16, 2009
The battle over Bakersfield’s traffic impact fee has waged for a year. Action to raise the fee from $7,066 to $14,940 has been delayed for 12 months and the maximum fee has already been chopped by just less than $2,000. But the fight is far from over.  City and…

Another look at impact fees
Newspaper Tree – El Paso, TX – May 16, 2009
There have been numerous articles and comments in local media following the impact fee assessment vote by Council on May 12. First, the presumption that “build it and they will come” is nearly always incorrect regarding development and building; they have to…

Impact Fee vote was right
Morgan County Citizen, GA – May 14, 2009
It is heartening to see the leadership of this community continuing in the footsteps of the previous stewards who through hard work and foresight have over the decades made Madison the crown jewel of the Georgia Piedmont. I commend City Council members…

Park district board adopts impact fee schedule
Enterprise-Record – Chico, CA – May 14, 2009
Marking the end of a two-year long debate with city officials over impact fees, the Feather River Recreation and Park District board officially adopted a fee schedule Wednesday that district officials say will benefit the parks as well as the entire community…

Builders say home buyers will absorb fees
El Paso Times, TX – May 14, 2009
The $1,500 the city will charge developers to hook up new houses to water and sewer systems will ultimately be passed on to homebuyers, El Paso builders said Wednesday. The City Council late Tuesday voted to create fees of between $1,469 and $1,617 to help offset…

Construction impact fee rollback extended in Charlotte County
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL – May 13, 2009
Staff presented a new fee schedule and methodology to the County Commission on April 14. But some commissioners, as well as builders, said some fees seemed high. The proposed ordinance amendment was delayed for 60 days. In the meantime, residential…

County moves to suspend impact fees
News-Sun, Sebring,FL – May 13, 2009
The county commission voted 4-1 Tuesday morning to move forward on suspending impact fees for residential and commercial building projects for 12 months. Although the commission put July 1 as the effective date, the county has to give the local municipalities…

City Council votes in favor of impact fees
KVIA – El Paso,TX – May 13, 2009
Tuesday night, city representatives debated the hotly contested issue before a packed house in its chambers downtown. Dozens of current homeowners and home builders wanted to hear what City Council decided. The issue centered around the current…

Latest state budget fix would allow other uses of impact fees
Kingman Daily Miner – Kingman,AZ – May 13, 2009
According to a bulletin from the League the idea for the impact fee legislature came from the Homebuilders Association of Central Arizona – a claim that struck Kingman’s Financial Services Director, Coral Loyd, as very unusual. “I find it highly irregular that the…

City Council decision on impact fees makes waves
KVIA – El Paso, TX – May 13, 2009
El Paso City Council approved a controversial decision to support impact fees on Tuesday, and that decision continues to make waves. In a 4-4 tie with the Mayor casting the deciding vote, City Council decided to create a fee to cover the cost of infrastructure…

Surprise provided edge in Dorchester 2’s lone impact-fee win
Charleston Post Courier, SC – May 12, 2009
If you are a property owner in the Dorchester 2 School District, a new law allows your school board to give you some long-sought tax relief for new construction. Unfortunately, taxpayers in Beaufort and Jasper counties won’t be given the chance for the…

Collier jail impact fees to jump at least 25 percent
Naples Daily News, FL – May 12, 2009
Impact fees that help build jails – and other correctional facilities – will increase this year, just not as much – or as soon – as Collier County employees had hoped.  The proposed rate hike primarily affects residential construction, with Phase I – or 25 percent…

Impact fees, burning ban among hot topics at Tuesday’s Collier commission meeting
Naples Daily News, FL – May 11, 2009
Impact fees will again be the subject of discussion Tuesday when the Collier County Commission meets.  This time, the question will revolve around the county’s collection of impact fees that pay for correctional facilities.  Impact fees are collected from developers…

Guest commentary: Collier impact fees: playing catch-up in tough economy
Naples Daily News, FL – May 9, 2009
Collier County government assesses impact fees which are essentially a tax on new construction that must be paid in advance of drawing permits. Within Collier County, fees typically vary in amount from 10 percent to more than 100 percent of the cost of constructing…

Developers, districts near compromise on school impact fees
The Columbian – Vancouver, WA – May 8, 2009
Two weeks after a public backlash persuaded county commissioners to scale back a proposed fee break for struggling builders, schools and developers seem to be nearing a new compromise.  Under the new proposal, schools would receive the full fees they’re…

Tiered fees could direct redevelopment
Sun newspapers – Port Charlotte, FL – May 8, 2009
Impact fee systems now treat all areas alike. Charlotte County is headed in another direction, and Sarasota County may follow. While counties and cities sway back and forth between raising and lowering impact fees depending on the economic climate, they are…

Wrong time for impact fees
Morgan County Citizen, GA – May 8, 2009
Last week Madison’s Council adopted impact fees. Such fees are appealing. In theory growth pays for growth and will not be at the expense of existing citizens. How could one not support adoption? And one would be correct…if the ordinance were properly drafted…

Top Maryland court favors developers, property owners on impact fees
Baltimore Sun, MD – May 8, 2009
The state’s highest appeals court Wednesday ruled in favor of several Anne Arundel County developers and property owners who sued the county to recover millions of dollars in impact fees paid from 1988 to 1996.  Development impact fees, which the county…

County on hook for impact fee refunds
Annapolis Capital, MD – May 7, 2009
After an eight-year legal battle, the state’s highest court yesterday ruled that the county government must repay impact fees to some homeowners.  The ruling said county officials must return fees that either were not spent or misspent. The Court of Appeals…

City Council discusses impact fees
St. George Daily Spectrum, UT – May 7, 2009
Debate over a proposed six-month moratorium regarding impact fees in Cedar City topped the agenda during Wednesday night’s City Council meeting.  Proposed by council member Georgia Beth Thompson, the idea to do away with impact fees for six months…

Sarasota County refuses to lower impact fee
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL – May 6, 2009
Sarasota County commissioners voted Tuesday against a proposal to cut impact fees for new construction by 26 percent, expressing doubts that the reduction would help the local economy. They also approved coming up with a plan later this year that would…

County mulls impact fees future
St. Augustine Record – St. Augustine, FL – May 6, 2009
Doug Timms, director of the county’s Office of Management and Budget, said the state’s poor economy has meant a 48 percent decline in impact fee collections since 2006. For 2009, the county will collect $9.7 million. Next year it will raise $10 million. Each year, …

League fights state use of local impact fees
Sun Shopper – Prescott, AZ – May 5, 2009
Prescott needs its impact fee money for projects such as wastewater treatment plant expansion, Mayor Jack Wilson said, adding that the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality was close to halting new development because of the system’s lack of capacity…

Redding council rejects new impact fee for widening I-5, interchanges
Record-Searchlight – Redding, CA – May 5, 2009
The Redding City Council this evening rejected a regional impact fee that would have raised about $116 million over 20 years to widen Interstate 5 and beef up major interchanges between Shasta Lake and Cottonwood. The council voted 3-2 to reject the fee, which…

It may be moot, but Redding council will vote on highway fees
Record-Searchlight, CA – May 5, 2009
The Redding City Council will vote tonight on a proposal to raise fees on new homes and commercial buildings for widening Interstate 5 and key interchanges between Cottonwood and Shasta Lake.  But the Shasta County Regional Improvement Program (SCRIP) is already…

Council discusses future of impact fees
Bethany Beach Wave, DE – May 5, 2009
The City Council discussed the potential implementation of impact fees in what has become an age-old ritual which may soon see its end.  Councilwoman Terry Cohen said while she was not comfortable voting on the legislation at the next regular meeting on…

Showdown At The County Seat
The Daily Record, NC – May 5, 2009
Amid all the passionate debate at yesterday’s Harnett County Board of Commissioners meeting, the most heated battle had nothing to do with the property revaluation or the Harnett Forward Together Committee.  Instead, it was between Board Chairman Tim McNeill…

Developers propose stimulus package for buyers of new homes
Morris Daily Herald, IL – May 5, 2009
Monday evening’s Channahon Village Board meeting began with a discussion of a local economic stimulus package some developers are asking the village board to consider.  Developer Gene Briscoe told trustees he represented developers, builders, and tradesmen…

City Likely To Slash Impact Fees
The Ledger – Lakeland, FL – May 2, 2009
City officials Monday will almost certainly reduce transportation impact fees to the same level as Polk County’s reduced fees.  City Manager Doug Thomas and other city officials met with city commissioners individually to discuss impact fees. On Friday during…

PAG wary of Legislature’s impact fee desires
Tucson Citizen, AZ – April 30, 2009
State lawmakers have pulled back on an effort to raid up to $210 million in development impact funds raised by cities and towns, but area officials say they are not convinced the issue has gone away.  The Pima Association of Government’s Regional…

Money Grab Begins: City balks at proposed raid on impact fees
Kingman Daily Miner, AZ – April 29, 2009
City officials are balking at a proposal in the state Legislature’s joint draft budget outline that would sweep approximately $210 million in municipal impact fee collections in order to offset the state’s $3 billion budget shortfall for fiscal year 2010.  The proposal…

Committee recommends suspending impact fees
Tampa Tribune, FL – April 29, 2009
In early May, Highlands County commissioners will consider suspending impact fees.  During a meeting April 13, the Citizens Advisory Committee on Impact Fees called to suspend the fees, assessed on construction projects to finance infrastructure…

Some buildings to be exempt from impact fees
Daily Inter Lake – Kalispell, MT – April 29, 2009
Wal-Mart Supercenter, a Hilton Homewood Suites hotel and another proposed Hutton Ranch Plaza building won’t have to pay road impact fees if they obtain building permits by Oct. 1.  A proposed Kohl’s department store — which now has been canceled — also would…

Impact fee considered to pay for parks
Greenfield Daily Reporter, IN – April 29, 2009
Developers, builders would kick in to contribute to amenities in new neighborhoods.  The Greenfield Parks Department is looking to get a boost from construction of new homes in the city.  An advisory committee made up of area business owners and city officials…

Local officials deride impact fee plan
YourWestValley.com, AZ – April 29, 2009
A legislative plan to balance the state budget by stripping cities of $210 million collected from developers is actually coming from the people who have been working to limit the ability of cities to collect the fees in the first place. Connie Wilhelm, executive…

PAG to discuss legislative plan to grab impact fee funds
Tucson Citizen, AZ – April 29, 2009
A proposal in the Legislature to raid cities and towns development impact fee programs for up to $210 million to help cut into the state budget deficit has area officials challenging the legality of such a move.  Enough so that it will be discussed at Thursday’s…

New park impact fee formula approved
Tampa Bay Newspapers, FL – April 29, 2009
Largo City Commissioners gave final approval on April 21 to an ordinance that reduces park land impact fees that new developments pay.  The ordinance calls for a new method of determining fees, establishing a rate of $1,915 for a fixed multi-family unit. The…

Cities worry about state plans for local impact fees
Prescott Daily Courier, AZ – April 29, 2009
Legislative leaders are looking for another $600 million in cuts as they come down to the wire on their cash-strapped 2009-10 state budget.  One of the ideas on the list of $600 million in cuts, which leaked out Monday, is drawing the ire of local municipalities. That…

County considering road-impact fee
The Durango Herald, CO – April 29, 2009
La Plata County is considering implementing a road-impact fee similar to that being charged by the city of Durango. The City Council in August voted to increase the fee imposed on new development to help cover the cost of road improvements made necessary…

Republicans postpone hearing on impact fee grab
KSWT-TV – YUMA, AZ – April 28, 2009
Republican legislative leaders have postponed an airing of a new element of their budget-balancing proposal, saying it needs more study.  The proposal would save the state $210 million by reducing municipal revenue-sharing. Affected cities would make up that…

State raid on city funds could force higher fees, officials say
AZ Central.com, AZ – April 28, 2009
Chandler and Gilbert officials are angry and worried that Arizona lawmakers might raid municipal treasuries to balance the state budget. The move could force cities to raise rates and fees for residents and cut services even more in lean budget times, leaders…

GOP budget proposal targets Ariz. schools, cities
Forbes, NY – April 28, 2009
Republican legislative leaders’ budget-balancing plan includes “revenue enhancements” sweeping hundreds of millions of dollars from school districts and municipalities into the state general fund.  An outline released late Monday of the “joint draft budget proposal”…

Sewer fees go up in July
Ogden, UT – April 28, 2009
Many North Davis and Roy residents could see their sewer bills jump by 20 percent a month beginning July 1.  The North Davis Sewer District, serving the area from Roy to Kaysville, is proposing increasing its monthly user fees from its current rate of $5.80 per…

Kalispell Criticized for Traffic Impact Fee Exemptions
Flathead Beacon, MT – April 28, 2009
Kalispell Planning Director Tom Jentz defended his department Monday night against accusations that city officials had not been forthright regarding which developers would have to pay transportation impact fees.  Mayre Flowers, executive director of…

County starts fee deferral for builders today
Ramona Sentinel, CA – April 24, 2009
Starting today, builders can voluntarily defer paying traffic, parks, drainage and sewer  impact fees until they finish building their projects in unincorporated areas of the county.  County supervisors in March unanimously approved the plan, which will run through…

Guest commentary: Pirates overtake Tallahassee with the stroke of a pen
Naples Daily News, FL – April 24, 2009
Not all of the world’s pirates are in Somalia. Our current Florida legislators are holding us for ransom.  Here is how the shakedown unfolds.  Ultimately, the state legislators want control of our county’s basic destiny. They continue to maneuver control away from local…

Hike proposed for schools impact fee
Ocala, FL – April 23, 2009
The School Board agreed at a workshop Thursday to raise impact fees used to build schools by 3.6 percent, though the group must vote on the hike at an official board meeting before the proposal is sent to the County Commission for final approval. The impact fee, …

Impact fee idea scrapped
Tampa Tribune, FL – April 23, 2009
County Commissioner James Adkins said he is dropping plans to pursue a short-term moratorium on impact fees because he found no support from his board members.  Adkins’ plan called for eliminating the fee for six months to a year. He said six other counties…

Legislature considering proposal to shift impact-fee burden of proof from developers to governments
Orlando Sentinel, FL – April 23, 2009
Legislation that would make it easier for developers to challenge local governments’ impact fees has so alarmed county officials that they have proposed freezing the fees for two years, according to the Florida Association of Counties.  State House and Senate…

County impact-fee stimulus could begin 3 months early
Bradenton Herald, FL – April 22, 2009
Manatee County could start an impact-fee reduction program aimed at stimulating local housing construction three months earlier than initially planned, a move that could cost it another $1 million.  County commissioners on Tuesday told county attorneys…

Possible statewide impact fee freeze chills some Southwest Florida government officials
Naples Daily News, FL – April 22, 2009
Florida legislation, passed last week, freezes impact fees for two years at current levels and prohibits local governments from imposing any new impact fees.  House Bill 227 would wrest control from Florida’s 67 counties, more than 400 cities, and thousands…

Mapleton builders: Fees hurt business
Salt Lake Tribune, UT – April 22, 2009
At least one homebuilder claims impact fees are hurting the future of this southern Utah County town. While Richard Lewis would like to see the fees reduced, he recently offered the city another option: Defer the payments to when building permits are issued…

Proposal to freeze builders’ fees stirs debate
The Columbia, WA – April 21, 2009
Taxpayers and developers fumed at one another Tuesday over a proposal by county commissioners to cut struggling home builders a multimillion-dollar break. Commissioners, whose 51 phone calls and 15 e-mails on the proposal before Tuesday’s hearing…

Impact fees, federal stimulus discussed
Bradenton Herald, FL – April 21, 2009
As Manatee County commissioners get ready to vote on a two-year impact fee moratorium today, they want to know if their counterparts at the school board are willing to do the same.  In a budget workshop Monday, Superintendent Tim McGonegal relayed the…

City ducks Building Industry Association lawsuit
The Desert Sun, CA – April 21, 2009
Desert Hot Springs avoided getting hit with a Building Industry Association lawsuit Monday, with the two parties agreeing to try to resolve their differences in the next 90 days.  The BIA faced a Monday deadline to file suit against Desert Hot Springs for its new…

Palm Beach County holds off on development fees increase
Sun-Sentinel.com, FL – April 21, 2009
With the housing market still suffering, the Palm Beach County Commission today agreed to hold off on increasing fees on new homes and other development.  For a second year in a row, commissioners decided to delay for one year a decision about…

Developers: Impact fee changes threaten PTC’s village concept
The Citizen.com, GA – April 21, 2009
A consultant is proposing that Peachtree City should significantly increase its impact fees and eliminate a requirement that part of the funds be spent in a particular service area, generally, one of the city’s villages.  Ross and Associates also is recommending the…

$500000 in transportation impact fees during March
Florida Today, FL – April 20, 2009
During the initial months of Brevard County’s transportation impact fee moratorium, the economic-stimulus effects have been hardly stimulating. In early March, the county commission enacted the two-year freeze, which was designed to entice developers…

Commissioners to vote on impact fee increase
Brownsville Herald, TX – April 20, 2009
There will be a second and final reading on adopting an increase to the impact fees charged developers to offset the cost of extending infrastructure to development this evening.  Commissioner will then vote whether to adopt the increase.  The commission’s…

Boerne considers valet parking ordinance
Boerne Star, TX – April 19, 2009
The Boerne City Council will be considering optional valet parking for Boerne business owners and increased impact fees for developers in the next few months. Both matters were discussed in a workshop session prior to Tuesday’s regular meeting.  While there…

Lower Macungie forced to delay new impact fees
Allentown Morning Call, PA – April 18, 2009
Lower Macungie Commissioners were ready Thursday night to officially enact controversial traffic impact fees that some say developers should have been forced to pay years ago.  There was just one problem: The committee formed to study the fees wasn’t…

Noblesville offered generous incentives for mall
Indianapolis Business Journal, IN – April 18, 2009
The old adage that retail follows rooftops is only partially true; retail also follows taxpayer-funded incentives. Simon Property Group Inc. built central Indiana’s newest mall, Hamilton Town Center, along a major thoroughfare in one of the state’s most appealing…

Impact fee decision not fair, balanced
Bradenton Herald, FL – April 17, 2009
In prior years our county commissioners were not only pro business but also pro community, factoring in all constituents’ concerns. However, under the mantra of “jobs, jobs, jobs” the fair and balanced approach has been shunted.  It is ironic that the…

Housing is hurting, but Palm Beach County ponders fee increase
Sun – Sentinel.com, FL – April 16, 2009
Despite a hemorrhaging housing industry, Palm Beach County is considering fee increases on new homes and other development that builders warn will worsen the economic pain.  County Commissioners on Tuesday decide whether to boost “impact fees”…

Council votes to drop school impact fees
SnoValley Star, WA – April 15, 2009
The council voted April 8 to drop school impact fees. That same night, the council and city leaders celebrated the end of North Bend’s building moratorium, which should lead to new development in the community. The two issues are related, because with new growth…

Chance of settling builders’ dispute spurs council
The Desert Sun, CA – April 14, 2009
The Desert Hot Springs City Council discussed a possible settlement to the looming Building Industry Association lawsuit against the city in a last-minute emergency closed-session item Monday.  The builders’ association has until April 20 to file a complaint…

County to examine fees, potential 3-year budget plan
Hollister Free Lance, CA – April 14, 2009
“It is a government code requirement that you re-visit those impact fees every year and get a report on the balance of each impact fee and what is there, what has been constructed with that money and any changes you may want to make in the projects,”…

County Council supports efforts for sewer system
Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC – April 14, 2009
The Annie Village resolution, which passed with no opposition, came after a meeting in which officials explained the project costs and the community development block grant being sought to help install the system. Residents of Annie Village are in support of getting…

Bellingham City Council approves impact fee exemptions for certain projects
The Bellingham Herald, WA – April 14, 2009
In a 7-0 vote, council members approved adding language to the ordinances for parks, schools and transportation impact fees that would allow for exemptions of the City Council determined a project served a “broad public purpose.” In the case of the National…

State rethinking growth laws
Daytona Beach News – Journal, FL – April 12, 2009
When lawmakers made major changes to Florida’s growth-management system in 2005, the state was awash in development. Leaders feared that Florida was falling further and further behind in building enough roads, schools and other infrastructure to keep up…

Panel approves suspending impact fee collections, 7-0
Florida Times – Union, FL – April 12, 2009
The Clay County Planning Commission approved a proposed two-year moratorium Tuesday on collections of the county’s transportation impact fee. Next step for the moratorium is the County Commission, where the idea to suspend the fee originated. The County…

Action on Impact Fee is Delayed
The Ledger – Lakeland, FL – April 10, 2009
Plans to come up with a transportation impact fee for the planned Evansville Western Railway freight terminal in Winter Haven stalled Wednesday. County commissioners delayed action until June 3 after a lawyer for the railroad company asked for a delay to work…

Development imapct fees in Fremont lowered temporarily
Fremont Bulletin, CA – April 10, 2009
Fremont City Council unanimously voted Tuesday to collect development impact fees at 75 percent of their normal amount as part of a greater effort to attract residential developers and business to the city, to boost the local economy. In March, city staff…

Council to review imapct fees’ punch
Today’s News – Herald, AZ – April 10, 2009
The Lake Havasu City Council will look at the impact of impact fees in the city Tuesday. With the implementation of the fees in August 2008, the city expected the fees would help to pay for growth within the community. Several times, Mayor Mark Nexsen has…

E.V. cities defend fees for roads, sewers
East Valley Tribune, AZ – April 10, 2009
Top officials across the East Valley say an Arizona homebuilder coalition’s legislative efforts to get a suspension or rollback on impact fees — those fees developers pay to help offset cost of infrastructure like roads, water and sewer lines — would cripple…

What’s the future of impact fees in PTC?
Fayette Daily News, GA – April 9, 2009
Peachtree City Mayor Harold Logsdon and council members Doug Sturbaum and Don Haddix got a preview Tuesday night of what could be the future of impact fees in Peachtree City.  During a workshop meeting with council, staff and several members of the…

County considers impact fees
Waukegan News Sun, IL – April 9, 2009
Lake County officials are ensuring that significant school impact fees and other protections will be outlined in an agreement to provide sewer service for the Alter Group’s Cornerstone development in Grayslake.   Under the agreement being crafted, the county will…

Bill would allow local-option fees for roads
Dallas Morning News, TX – April 9, 2009
Voters in at least 19 Texas counties could impose taxes on themselves to build road, bridge and rail projects under a bill approved Wednesday by the state Senate.  The proposal, which could not take effect until statewide voters sign off on it, would…

Taxpayers could soon decide if taxes should be raised to pay for roads and bridges
WFAA – Dallas, TX – April 9, 2009
The Texas legislature is moving forward with a bill to let voters decide if taxes should be raised to build roads, bridges and rail projects. The Senate gave tentative approval to the measure last night. But another vote is still needed.  It would allow county…

Zionxville returns $400000 in park fees to homebuilders
Indianapolis Star, IN – April 9, 2009
Following a lawsuit by builder, Zionsville returned nearly $400,000 in park-impact fees to area homebuilders this week.  But the town is already making plans to charge a similar fee in the future.  Clerk-Treasurer John Yeo said $391,914 was mailed to area builders, …

HB 3265 – landmark legislation at last?
Bandera County Courier, TX – April 9, 2009
Attempting to secure more regulatory authority, Bandera County Commissioners accompanied Judge Richard Evans to Austin on Monday, April 6, at the request of District 73 Rep. Doug Miller. Along with Comal County Judge Danny Scheel, Evans and Precinct 2…

North Port is finding impact fees dwindling
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL – April 8, 2009
This year’s impact-fee dependent construction projects, including a new fire station and the widening of a section of Sumter Boulevard, will not be affected by the cash crunch, thanks in part to federal stimulus money. But future projects and items bought with…

Impact fee dispute case gets resolved
Martinsburg Journal, WV – April 8, 2009
A battle between Jefferson County and the city of Ranson over who has the right to collect impact fees within the municipality’s borders appears to have reached a conclusion. The Jefferson County Commission asserted that the city was not exempt from its…

School fee raise defeated
Tampa Tribune, FL – April 8, 2009
The county needs to sign off on any impact fee increase because it issues building permits, regulates construction in Pasco and collects the money. The impact fee increase is needed to help deal with overpopulation at schools, about half of which are over…

County to cut road impact fees 50 percent
Bradenton Herald, FL – April 8, 2009
The board asked the county attorney’s office to prepare a resolution to accomplish the impact fee waiver. County Administrator Ed Hunzeker presented figures showing a 50 percent suspension would cost the county about $9 million over the two years. Hunzeker…

Manatee County slashes impact fees for roads
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL – April 8, 2009
The County Commission reduced road impact fees by 50 percent for two years in an effort to stimulate the construction industry. The fees are levied on new buildings to pay for new or expanded roads required because of the additional traffic. The new rates…

City Commission delays action on impact fees
Brownsville Herald, TX – April 7, 2009
The City Commission tabled action Tuesday, delaying an increase on impact fees charged to recoup the cost of extending water and sewer service to new developments.  The commission did not take the second and final required vote to increase…

Pro business county
Bradenton Herald, FL – April 5, 2009
From promoting public-private partnerships to fast-tracking the permitting program, Manatee County government continues to pursue economic development.  Thursday’s commission meeting put two other strategic ideas in the spotlight. A new plan on planning…

Impact Fees Harmful
The Ledger, FL – April 5, 2009
The County Commission boosted impact fees for building private homes by 85 percent several years ago. Along with other fees required to get a building permit, the average cost added to a private residence is about $20,000, before any construction starts. Sadly, …

Town faces budget woes over next few years
East Valley Tribune, AZ – April 4, 2009
Gilbert is moving to fill some holes in its General Fund through contingency funds and other measures for the fiscal year that will begin July 1, but the patches won’t hold much longer than that, the town’s manager told the Town Council at a Saturday meeting…

Elimination of impact fees would devastate cities, towns
East Valley Tribune, AZ – April 4, 2009
A legislative proposal is being considered that, if enacted, would devastate many cities and towns across Arizona. The proposal is a five-year moratorium on development impact fees (also known as growth impact fees). The proposal would not only prohibit…

County looks at suspending impact fees
Bradenton Herald, FL – April 3, 2009
The Manatee County administrator recommended Thursday cutting road impact fees by 25 percent, while commissioners leaned more toward eliminating all impact fees for a year. Citing the need to create jobs, Commissioner Donna Hayes was the first to suggest…

SLO County Supervisors debate on collecting development fees from health center
San Luis Obispo Tribune, CA – April 3, 2009
It was a textbook government quandary. Do they give a guy a break because he has given his fellow citizens — and the county government — a break? Or go strictly by the rules and formulas as written, no matter how arcane or inflexible?  Ultimately, the county…

Art lofts hastened by waiver
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL – April 3, 2009
A developer who specializes in building artist lofts hopes to expedite a proposed apartment complex on 14th Street West and take advantage of Bradenton’s recent decision to waive impact fees for a year. Depending on the building’s square footage and number of…

Manatee County plans to reduce road impact fees
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL – April 3, 2009
Hunzeker said that road construction costs have dropped by roughly 25 percent because of the recession and that fees should be adjusted accordingly. In addition, the 30-year time frame may no longer be accurate because of the economic downturn, …

CSX terminal impact fee may be delayed
The Ledger, FL – April 3, 2009
The idea of adding a new category in the county’s impact fee ordinance to specifically cover the proposed CSX rail terminal in Winter Haven may be slowing down.  A consultant has proposed a $12,739-per-acre fee, but that amount is still in play and may be…

Brunswick revisits impact fees on new development
Business Gazette, MD – April 2, 2009
Eleven months after voting to commission a study on impact fees on what new development costs the city, Brunswick officials are again looking at ways to ensure new residents pay their fair share for city services and capital projects. The study, released March 23, …

Rail North Texas: legislature considers local option funding
Royse City Herald Banner, TX – April 2, 2009
Rail North Texas — locally levied taxes and fees could support regional light rail projects, should the gist of several bill proposals pass the Texas legislature this session.  Receiving heavy local attention is Rail North Texas, proposed in Senate Bill 855, with HB 9…

Lakeland Considers Impact Fee Reduction
The Ledger, FL – April 2, 2009
In the wake of Polk County reducing its impact fees, Lakeland is about to follow suit by lowering its transportation impact fees.  If approved by city commissioners April 20, many of the transportation fees assessed on the construction of new buildings will be…

Recent government action on impact fees
Bradenton Herald, FL – April 2, 2009
The Manatee County commission’s consideration of a possible suspension of impact fees follows the Bradenton City Council’s decision to suspend impact fees, and the Manatee County School Board asking the county commission to suspend the school impact…

Parks in Duvall
Woodinville Northwest News – April 1, 2009
Last night they approved an ordinance increasing the Park Impact Fee a staggering 122%.  Essentially this will increase from approximately $1900 per home to $4100 per home.  This fee will be applied to any new construction projects within the city.  Not only…

Local option transportation bill will face challenges in Texas House
Fort Worth Business Press, TX – April 1, 2009
The Texas Local Option Transportation Act passed through the State Senate’s Transportation Committee, and area transportation officials believe the bill will face challenges in the House of Representatives. Officials at the Tarrant Regional Transportation…

Despite Council Vote, Impact Fee Issue Not Going Away
Flathead Beacon, MT – April 1, 2009
Anyone attending the March 23 Kalispell City Council meeting could be forgiven for questioning whether the vote earlier in the month to adopt transportation impact fees actually happened. As the meeting began, a spokesman for the business community railed against…

Impact Fee Freeze
WCTV, FL – April 1, 2009
A Florida House Committee approved legislation to freeze impact fees for two years.  Impact fees are levied by cities and counties on new developments.  The municipalities use the money for new infrastructure like utilities and roads.  Florida Association of…

Hotchkiss and Paonia weigh fiscal impact of growth, development
Delta County Independent, CO – April 1, 2009
Last year in May, Delta County municipalities had the opportunity to have a fiscal impact analysis done by RPI Consulting Inc. Funding from the Department of Local Affairs assisted in the project. Crawford declined to be involved in the analysis of what growth…

Library district pitches impact fees to county commissioners
The Coloradoan, CO – March 31, 2009
The Council Tree Library, which opened Saturday in the Front Range Village shopping area in southeast Fort Collins, was paid for primarily through the city’s impact fee, said Ken Draves, interim executive director of the district. A county-imposed fee that would be…

Martin commissioners decide to temporarily halt impact fee for new construction
TCPalm, FL – March 31, 2009
But, as Commissioner Sarah Heard said, “If we reduce impact fees, then we will stick that burden on existing tax payers. This commission has several big bond issues and if we don’t get the funds from impact fees then we need to get them from somewhere else.” Jim…

Mesa looks at raising utility rates
East Valley Tribune, AZ – March 31, 2009
Mesa’s utility rates may soon increase to make up for the city’s ongoing budget shortfall. The increase could potentially infuse an extra $6.2 million annually to its coffers.  The city’s $62 million in cuts approved in December through June 2010 already fall…

Lake City considers new fees
Laconia Citizen – March 30, 2009
The city is moving closer toward establishing impact fees that would be charged to developers for the burdens their projects place upon municipal infrastructure and services. A final draft of the proposed fee structure will be available in two to three weeks, said…

Shorewood cuts impact fees to lure developers
Joliet Herald news – March 29, 2009
After much debate, the village board Tuesday approved an ordinance temporarily reducing a portion of the village’s impact fees for construction of single-family homes and duplexes. The village will forgo a projected $274,000 in capital improvements and $82,000 in…

Shorewood cuts impact fees to lure developers
Joliet Herald News, IL – March 29, 2009
After much debate, the village board Tuesday approved an ordinance temporarily reducing a portion of the village’s impact fees for construction of single-family homes and duplexes. The village will forgo a projected $274,000 in capital improvements and $82,000 in its…

Town tables proposal to defer payments of road impact fees
Windsor Beacon, – March 28, 2009
The benefit area road system, where the fees are collected from and spent in, includes the Windsor growth management area, arterial and collector roads, existing and planned roads, state highways and also the Interstate 25/Colorado Highway 392 interchange…

Builders Association Lawsuit Puts Impact Fees Out of Reach for Schools
The Ledger, FL – March 27, 2009
Scott Coulombe’s letter of March 18 concerning impact fees [“Builders’ Impact-Fee Lawsuit Is Not Delaying School Construction”] requires a measured response. The constitution and laws of the state of Florida allow counties to impose impact fees in order to fund…

Recommendations of the Study Group
OurayNews.com, CO – March 27, 2009
Citizens in Ouray County might be forgiven if they think local government has gone study crazy. It did, creating the Study Group to study the Theobald build-out study and the RPR study of what it’s going to take to keep up levels of county government services. …

Kona Sea Crest Development moving forward
Big Island Video News, HI – March 27, 2009
A 289 multifamily unit development on 46.3 acres between Alii Drive and Kuakini Highway is moving forward, after the Hawaii County Planning Department accepted the environmental assessment for the Kona Sea Crest condo project.  The $70 million Kona Sea…

Impact fee public hearings begin
Morgan County Citizen, GA – March 27, 2009
Madison City Council members held the first of two public hearings on whether or not to enact impact fees in the city.  Impact fees are heavily regulated costs associated with new development that are collected by local government and set aside for specific public…

Martin County commissioners to vote on lowering impact fees
Stuart News, FL – March 27, 2009
Acting on directions from the Martin County commissioners, a consultant said he did his best to calculate the lowest possible impact fees the county could charge for the construction of new business buildings.  If the commissioners approve the updated…

Construction: Impact fees? Builders say industry pays for itself
Ocala, FL – March 26, 2009
Developers are pushing municipalities to relax or eliminate impact fees, one-time charges imposed by local governments on proposed development projects to defray some of the costs of constructing or improving off-site infrastructure such as sewers, roads, parks…

Kohl’s, PetSmart No Longer Plan to Open in Kalispell
Flathead Beacon, MT – March 26, 2009
And while Kalispell City Council’s recent vote to adopt transportation impact fees may not have been the chief reason Kohl’s opted out, Goldberg said it played a large role, given that Kohl’s bought the Mervyns locations when debate over the traffic impact fees – and…

State should study impact fees
Columbia County News Times – March 25, 2009
With Columbia County’s proximity to the city of Augusta, which seems to spend money on, and then shelve, consultants and studies as often as cars crash on Washington Road, there’s every reason to be skeptical of such spending. But local lawmakers, including one…

Brunswick considers impact fees again
Frederick News Post, MD – March 25, 2009
The Brunswick City Council is revisiting the concept of impact fees for future development and could decide the issue in April.   Tuesday’s meeting was the second time the issue has come before the council.  A few months ago, the council directed TischlerBise, …

Winchester disputes Poolesville impact fees
Business Gazette, MD – March 25, 2009
Winchester Homes has asked Poolesville to review the amount of impact fees it charges developers seeking to build in the community.   In a letter to the town dated Feb. 23, Winchester Homes Vice President Mike Conley asked that Poolesville officials…

Impact fee policy should look forward
Sun newspapers – March 25, 2009
We’re having trouble understanding our local politicians. While we agree on many preferred outcomes and the policies we believe will help produce those outcomes, we just can’t fathom the logic behind one policy all local governments seem to agree on: lowering…

City council suspends imapct fees for a year
Bradenton Herald, FL – March 25, 2009
The city council suspended impact fees for one year, hoping to stimulate construction and create jobs. Tim Polk, director of the city planning and community development department, told the council before three votes Wednesday night that the various impact fees…

Impact-fee increases delayed
Orlando Sentinel, FL – March 24, 2009
City leaders voted to delay an impact-fee increase, hoping the move will jump-start construction. Mayor Buddy Dyer and the City Council also voted to waive transportation impact fees for affordable housing. “The hope is that it will be a stimulus for development, …

City establishes transportation impact fee
KMAS, WA – March 24, 2009
The Shelton City Commission has adopted the ordinance that establishes a Transportation Impact Fee in the City. The T-I-F will help off set the cost of growth created transportation improvements. The fee is $1,610 per trip generated forresidential development, …

Infrastructure issues highlight city’s growing pains
KSLA, LA – March 24, 2009
A Shreveport City Council member is concerned that as the city grows, the water and sewer infrastructure in some of the city’s older neighborhoods is being left behind. “I want these citizens of the city to have the water service that they should,” say City Councilor…

Indian River County suspends some building impact fees for six months to jumpstart economy
TCPalm, FL – March 24, 2009
Dr. Valerie Biehl, a Vero Beach veterinarian, whispered cheers Tuesday in the back of the County Commission chambers.  In a 4-1 vote, the commission had just approved a six-month suspension of some of the fees builders pay to offset growth. And for Biehl, …

Acrimony over impact fee vote continues
The Ledger, FL – March 24, 2009
Al Whittle, who’s a frequent critic of county government decisions on fiscal and growth policy, has had more to say about last week’s impact fee vote than what was posted recently by Lakeland Local. In a separate communication,Whittle took offense at Commission…

Board defends charge
The Republican, MA – March 24, 2009
The Sewer Commission is holding a meeting tonight to discuss why the department needs to be able to assess an impact fee for those who want to tie into the sewer system. The commission in March approved the impact fee to help pay for $3.2 million in needed…

Collier freezes impact fees on some buildings to stimulate business
Naples Daily News – March 24, 2009
The freeze is for two years, but county staffers will report back to the commission on an interim basis, said Amy Patterson, the county’s impact fee director. The approval is a reiteration of last month’s discussion, when commissioners agreed to freeze some impact fees…

Idaho sifts through impact fees: Leaders, builders debate who pays for growth
Idaho Business Review, ID – March 23, 2009
The city of Middleton is feeling the wrath of the building industry these days. The city is trying to figure out how to make growth pay for itself, and the solution it came up with involved developers paying a flat fee per house. Commercial development would also…

Audit: County cuts lead to less tax scrutiny
Annapolis Capital, MD – March 23, 2009
An annual financial audit has revealed that the county no longer makes sure it collects all the sales taxes due to it.  Lean budget times have prevented the hiring of an employee to look over county sales-tax receipts, a job that in the past has uncovered errors as…

Impact fees, county clerk litigation among issues Collier board will consider Tuesday
Naples Daily News, FL – March 23, 2009
Large sums of money will change hands when Collier County commissioners meet Tuesday.  At the same time, county leaders are preparing to freeze some impact fees for certain properties; take to the shade to discuss ongoing litigation with Collier Clerk of Courts…

Commissioners to discuss impact fees on Wednesday
Brownsville Herald, TX – March 23, 2009
The City Commission will hold a public hearing Wednesday to discuss possible increasing impact fees, which are use to recoup the cost of extending water and sewer service to new development. A decision as to whether to adopt an increase could also be made later…

North Texas transportation bill facing multiple challenges
Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX – March 21, 2009
A month after it was introduced with a burst of fanfare from North Texas officials, supporters of a major transportation funding bill are now confronting the challenges of trying to advance the measure in an economic downturn against emerging opposition on…

Pitco eyes new transit impact fee
Aspen Times, CO – March 20, 2009
Developers hoping to build homes in rural parts of Pitkin County might soon be required to pay a “transit impact fee,” designed to help offset any expansion of the local bus system caused by the development.  No one is sure how much it would be, or against…

Water district rolls back impact fee
Desert Valley Times, UT – March 20, 2009
Virgin Valley Water District’s Ordinance 2 fee, one of the impact fees the district collects from new development, has been rolled back to $3,300.  The action came Tuesday, nearly two months after the water district board voted on Jan. 20 to raise the Ordinance…

Alderman vote to study impact fees
Northwest Arkansas Times, AR – March 20, 2009
The city of Elkins does not yet impose impact and sewer fees, but it plans to have a blueprint on how to go about calculating the fees if it decides to implement them. The basis for that will be an analysis and study the council commissioned on impact fees. …

Council addresses housing
Morgan County Citizen, GA – March 20, 2009
Madison City Council members met Tuesday evening in a called work session to talk about the current multi-family housing moratorium, a draft impact fee ordinance, and what topics might be on next month’s joint meeting of council members and Morgan County…

Sarasota County weighs rollback
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL – March 19, 2009
If the plan is finalized at an upcoming public hearing Sarasota County would join Charlotte County, North Port and other governments across the state who are lowering fees in a bid to jump-start the economy. The Manatee County Commission and School…

County impact fees to be reduced
News Chief, FL – March 19, 2009
With the 4-1 vote – Commissioner Jean Reed cast the dissenting vote – the commission approved a recently completed transportation impact fee study, selected a rate reduction schedule based on the study and instituted a 50 percent rate cut across the board…

Editorial: Transportation funding bill makes progess
Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX – March 19, 2009
Local funding options are the goal of SB855 and its House companion, HB9, sponsored by Rep. Vicki Truitt of Keller. It’s a concept that this Editorial Board has supported for years. The initial hearing on the draft bill in Carona’s Senate Transportation and Homeland…

Supervisors approve impact fee deferrals
Village New Network, CA – March 19, 2009
The deferral program would cover Transportation Impact Fee payments, Park Land Dedication Ordinance fees, and drainage fees. It would also cover sewer connection fees to county sanitation districts and sewer maintenance districts which are operated by…

Polk Impact-Fee Fairness: In Deepest Sympathy
The Ledger, FL – March 18, 2009
A few months after the Marion County experiment ended, Duncan Associates, a Texas-based impact-fee consulting firm, released a national impact-fee study. Among the conclusions: “Despite the obvious fact that the problem is one of oversupply, some governing…

Local governments face impact fees
Jax Daily, FL – March 18, 2009
Saying the current system is vulnerable to abuse and impact fee rates are skyrocketing, Rep. Gary Aubuchon, R-Cape Coral, told members of the House Civil Justice & Courts Policy Committee that the measure (HB 227) is needed to provide a check to…

Perry City Council amends impact fees
Macon Telegraph, GA – March 18, 2009
The amendment also will exempt any property in the impact fee area constructed before 2000. City manager Lee Gilmour said the fee was reduced because an evaluation of the fee found that the portion to create a park was too high. The impact fees…

Jerome Co. Commissioners looking for ‘impact fee’ committee members
KMVT, ID – March 18, 2009
Commissioner Cathy Roemer says that Planning and Zoning Administrator Art Brown gave the commissioners a list of names of possible members for an impact fees committee. She says they need at least five people for the committee. Roemer says the…

State bills could have multimillion-dollar impact
Sun newspapers, FL – March 18, 2009
Duffy said an impact-fee moratorium, which would cost the county an estimated $8.5 million each year, would be a poor move. “That doesn’t make any sense to me,” Duffy said. Skidmore concurred. “I don’t think we ever want the state telling us what we…

Builders’ Impact-Fee Lawsuit Is Not Delaying School Construction
The Ledger, FL – March 18, 2009
In regard to your story on March 7 “County, Schools Meet on Funding,” the conversation of impact fees arose by Superintendent of Schools Gail McKinzie ,wherein she said that more school-construction money may be available soon, depending on whether…

Chavez proposes impact fee reduction
New Mexico Business Weekly, NM – March 18, 2009
Impact fee collections have dropped dramatically since the recession hit the Duke City as few building permits have been pulled by residential and commercial builders. Chávez said that impact fee collections have dropped from $1.2 million a month…

Schools consider impact-fee freeze
Bradenton Herald, FL – March 18, 2009
“In our present position, growth has stopped. We find ourselves with several thousand empty seats in schools,” said Walter Miller, chairman of the school board. “How can we say we need impact fees when we have so many empty seats in our schools?” The move is…

Eagle Lake commission waives impact fees for redevelopment zone
News Chief, FL – March 17, 2009
Providing an incentive for new business development, Eagle Lake City Commission voted unanimously Monday night to waive impact fees for construction and redevelopment within the city’s designated core improvement area. The vote affirmed last week’s…

City Commission Moving Foward With Transportation Impact Fees
Mason County Daily News, WA – March 17, 2009
The City of Shelton is moving forward with its proposal to charge developers Transportation Impact Fees. The fee, $1,610 per trip generated for residential and $3,219 per trip generated for commercial, would help the city offset cost of growth generated…

Ideas to boost Pasco’s economy are few, far between
Tampabay.com, FL – March 17, 2009
The suggestion of altering the county’s impact fee of $20,000 per single-family home made it to a County Commission agenda earlier this year, but never was discussed. The staff yanked it for more research. Translation: They killed it, for the time being…

City looks at jump starting construction
Douglas Daily Dispatch, AZ – March 17, 2009
City Manger Curtis Shook also pointed out that there currently is legislation in Phoenix, which would call fro a moratorium on development impact fee increases. Michael Martinez of Southern Arizona Real Estate said that the impact fee really isn’t taxing the…

Brian Carman: Proposed Florida impact fee moratorium a bad idea
TCPalm, FL – March 17, 2009
Two bills recently introduced in the Legislature most likely will result in higher taxes for Florida’s residents and, even worse, Florida business owners. Senate Bill 630 (Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton) and House Bill 1129 (Denise Grimsley, R-Lake Placid) seek a three-year…

Slow economy may have impact on impact fees
Verde Independent, AZ – March 16, 2009
Not only has the economic slowdown put a crimp on impact fee revenues, but it is also generating interest in having the fees suspended, temporarily or otherwise. The Home Builders Association of Central Arizona has never taken a stance against the fees in…

County approves impact fees special allocation
Boca Raton News, FL – March 16, 2009
Impact fee credits are allowed on a first in – first out permit basis, commissioners said. However, the law does allow for a special allocation of credits upon approval from commissioners. The special allocation requested by BTC will assign road impact fee…

Transportation planners back with fee plan for I-5 improvements
Record-Searchlight, CA – March 15, 2009
Although the recession has north state development virtually on hold, transportation planners are taking another crack at trying to finance Interstate 5’s future growth.  Representatives from the Regional Transportation Planning Agency Fox 5 Partnership will present…

Eagle Lake to consider waiving some impact fees
News Chief, FL – March 15, 2009
During its scheduled Monday meeting, the Eagle Lake City Commission will consider waiving impact fees for construction and redevelopment within the city’s designated core improvement area.  If passed on second reading, the impact fee-related ordinance should jump…

Impact Fee Suspension Won’t Solve Housing Woes
Tampa Tribune, FL – March 15, 2009
The issue: Moratorium on county impact fees. Our opinion: It won’t help the housing market.  We tried to convince Hernando County commissioners last summer to cut impact fees by 25 percent to become eligible for a $20 million pool of state funding for…

Transportation impact fee scuttled
Florida Times-Union, FL – March 15, 2009
After hearing about layoffs and shrinking paychecks from struggling workers, and sharply declining profits and threatened businesses from their bosses, the Clay County Commission decided this week to temporarily remove at least one of the financial…

City Commission to talk parking and transportation impact fees
Mason County Daily News, WA – March 15, 2009
Transportation Impact Fees and downtown parking enforcement top tonight’s Shelton City Commission meeting agenda. The Commission will hold the first reading of the ordinance establishing a Transportation Impact Fee during the 6 PM meeting in the…

Editorial: Being careful with those impact fees
Camp Verde Bugle, AZ – March 14, 2009
Yavapai County is toying with the idea of suspending its road impact fees, thinking perhaps that this will promote growth in hard times. However, the idea immediately stings with unfairness.  Imagine if Camp Verde or Clarkdale suddenly decided to temporarily…

County Commission to consider impact fee reductions
News Chief, FL – March 14, 2009
County commissioners are expected to decide on Wednesday exactly how much transportation impact fees will be reduced in an effort to stimulate construction and boost the local economy.  The commission will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the Neil Combee…

Park impact fee questions plague Cheney council
Cheney Free Press, WA – March 13, 2009
Cheney City Council’s discussion Tuesday evening about park impact fees ground to a halt after more questions surfaced regarding how fees would be assessed, whether they could be paid at the time a building permit was issued and providing developers an on site…

Hernando County Commissioner Jim Adkins’ impact fee idea is bad
Tampabay.com, FL – March 13, 2009
Here is the latest bad idea from Commissioner Jim Adkins: Suspend the collection of impact fees on new construction in Hernando County. It is the wrong approach to fiscal management and follows on the heels of his other poorly conceived notions to eliminate…

Fee break seen as building stimulus
Bradenton Herald, FL – March 12, 2009
Hoping to spur the construction industry and create jobs, the Bradenton City Council on Wednesday preliminarily approved suspending impact fees for one year. The next step before a final vote is a March 25 hearing to get public input. Alan Anderson, …

County impact fee refunded
Fernandina Beach News – Leader, FL – March 12, 2009
A local builder has finally been refunded more than $26,000 in impact fees after a yearlong battle with Nassau County. In 2007, Yulee Professional Plaza LLC remodeled the former IGA Supermarket at the corner of A1A and US 17, turning the building into office space…

Impact Fee Moratorium Proposed
Tampa Tribune, FL – March 11, 2009
County Commissioner Jim Adkins is proposing a short-term moratorium on impact fees to jumpstart the economy and put builders back to work. Eliminating the fee for six months to a year would spur people sitting on the home-buying fence, Adkins said. That in turn…

Delaying impact fees studied
Arizona Daily Star, AZ – March 10, 2009
Developers could be allowed to delay impact-fee payments under one of several recommendations by a city committee looking for ways to get Tucson’s economy moving.  Deferring or suspending the payments, which would have to be approved on a case-by-case…

Bradenton may suspend impact fees
Bradenton Herald, FL – March 10, 2009
In an effort to spur business during the economic slump that has smacked the area, the City Council will vote on suspending impact fees for parks and recreation and public safety.  The proposed impact fee ordinances, which will be presented to the council at the…

Commission reduces impact fees by half
Sun newspapers, FL – March 10, 2009
Hoping to spur economic growth, city commissioners voted Monday to reduce most impact fees on new development by 50 percent.  The builder of a new, single-family residential home in North Port currently pays $10,467 in impact fees to three jurisdictions — $6725…

Clay Considers Cutting Impact Fees
WOKV, FL – March 10, 2009
Clay County Commissioners say they hope to stimulate the local economy, possibly by cutting at least one of their impact fees.  Clay County Government is working with a budget that’s several million dollars in the hole.  “The next fiscal year which is 2009-2010…

St. Petersburg adds impact fee funds to federal grants building north bay trail
Tampabay.com, FL – March 10, 2009
North Bay Trail, the city’s branch of the regional trail system, has gotten $1 million worth of work, but the city of St. Petersburg hasn’t paid for any of it, yet. Last week, the City Council agreed to contribute toward the bill.  On the consent agenda, the council…

Kalispell Adopts Transportation Impact Fees
Flathead Beacon, MT – March 9, 2009
Kalispell City Council voted, 8-1, Monday night to impose transportation impact fees after two years of debate and deliberation. The decision left many in the business community, which opposed the fees, disappointed, while supporters of the fees…

NJ Supreme Court to hear builders case
Asbury Park Press, NJ – March 8, 2009
The state Supreme Court on Monday will be the arbiter of a second dispute over a local ordinance, this time involving the requirement that developers set aside land for open space and recreation or pay a fee to the township.  This is the second time in six months that…

Developers in Lower Macungie to pay more toward future road improvements
Allentown Morning Call, PA – March 7, 2009
Taxpayers in Lower Macungie who have shouldered the brunt of many costly township road improvements over the years will be getting much more help from developers when paying for future projects.  Township commissioners Thursday night approved a…

Impact fee in for bumpy ride
The Record-Courier, NV – March 6, 2009
Douglas County has long had trouble with its roads. One of the first reader-written diatribes in the old Carson Valley News decried the expense of building a bridge over the Carson River to serve the center of the Valley.  Near the beginning of the 20th century, the…

Warren court to judge township impact fees
Cincinnati.com, OH – March 6, 2009
A court case filed more than a year ago that challenges the right of an Ohio township to collect impact fees on new construction opens today in Warren County Common Pleas Court.  Judge James Flannery will hear oral arguments in the civil case that pits the Greater…

Developers ask water board to roll back fee increase
Desert Valley Times, UT – March 6, 2009
A group of developers asked the water district to reconsider the current $11,170 in fees it currently charges for construction of new projects saying a recent hike in Ordinance 2 fees would have disastrous consequences for development.  Mesquite Mayor…

County approves impact fee moratorium
Bradford County Telegraph, FL – March 5, 2009
The county commission has approved a 365-day moratorium on the collection of impact fees.  County impact fees amount to $550 for a new single-family home, and commercial impact fees are based on the square footage of the new construction.  Tom Tatum of…

City Council: Council raises impact fees despite contractors’ protests
Kingman Daily Miner, AZ – March 5, 2009
After a five-month period of studies, work sessions and public hearings, the Kingman City Council on Monday voted to raise development impact fees for new water and wastewater connections.  In a unanimous vote, Council adopted a set of…

County waives transportation impact fees
Florida Today, FL – March 5, 2009
Citing “a deep economic recession” gripping the Space Coast, Brevard County leaders have suspended transportation impact fees to try to encourage commercial development.  The Brevard County Commission today unanimously enacted a two-year moratorium…

Our Views: Not so fast
Florida Today, FL – March 4, 2009
County commissioners should put the brakes on a rush move to waive commercial impact fees for two years due to the stalled economy.  The board voted unanimously last week to put a moratorium on four fees that have been collected since 1989.  The money goes…

County commits $3 million to housing
Aspen Daily News, CO – March 4, 2009
The Pitkin County commissioners are ready to get back in the local housing game and committed Tuesday to spend $3 million to buy or help develop some employee rental units.  “We’ve got some money and we’re ready to play,” said Commissioner George Newman, …

Transportation impact fees raise more concerns
KMAS, WA – March 3, 2009
The City of Shelton’s proposed Transportation Impact Fees have raised more concerns. The proposal is to charge commercial developments $3,217 per trip generated and residential developments $1,610 per trip generated with that fee increasing to $3,217 per…

County, city officials need joint talks on impact fees
Newnan Times-Herald, GA – March 3, 2009
It’s past time for Coweta County and Newnan officials to sit down at the same table and discuss impact fees. Impact fees are a necessity in our community because of the massive growth we have experienced in the past two decades. As more people come, …

Pitkin County ready to spend its housing funds, but where?
Aspen Times, CO – March 3, 2009
Pitkin County commissioners are willing to put the county’s money where their mouths are when it comes to worker housing.  At a discussion Tuesday, commissioners directed staffers to find out what, specifically, can be done to acquire housing with $3 million…

After Public Hearing, Council Poised for Road Impact Fee Vote
Flathead Beacon, MT – March 3, 2009
With a vote set for March 9, opponents and supporters of the proposed transportation impact fees made their impassioned cases before the Kalispell City Council one last time in a public hearing on the issue Monday night.  After two years of deliberation…

Mount Pleasant considers cutting impact fees in half to spark development
Charleston Regional Business, SC – March 2, 2009
The fees, charged to new development to help pay for infrastructure and services, have generated revenues in the millions of dollars in recent years, Burdette said. This fiscal year they might bring in $400,000.”That shows the state of the development industry,” …

Public Hearing on Traffic Impact Fees Tonight
Flathead Beacon, MT – March 2, 2009
Kalispell City Council will hold a public hearing at its 7 p.m. meeting tonight to collect feedback on the implementation of the controversial transportation impact fees, which are scheduled for a March 9 vote.  A transportation impact fee would charge…

Housing fee moratorium questioned
Cherry Hill Courier, NJ – March 2, 2009
For many South Jersey towns, a proposed measure that would eliminate a fee commercial developers have to pay to help fund the creation of more affordable housing units is a double-edged sword.  The measure would make it easier for towns to attract…

Impact fee quandry
Bradenton Herald, FL – March 1, 2009
One person’s stimulus for growth is another person’s road to ruin.  That’s the case with impact fees. The money, collected from developers for residential and commercial construction, pays for infrastructure — roads, parks, schools, utilities and more.  On one…

Chandler city funds half-depleted
East Valley Tribune, AZ – February 28, 2009
The bad economic news continues for Chandler, with finance officials reporting that about half of the funding for the city’s $900 million list of capital projects like roads and libraries has dried up.  Next Saturday, the City Council plans to hold a second retreat…

Impact fees ongoing subject of debate
The Sun, AZ – February 28, 2009
The debate over the city of Yuma’s impact or development fees has heated up again. City officials defend the fees assessed on new development, saying that “growth needs to pay for growth.” Business leaders, on the other hand, say that during the economic downturn…

Town prepares
Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC – February 28, 2009
It wasn’t hard to predict that the Georgetown County Council, despite numerous good reasons against it, would adopt totally unfair impact fees for new construction and at totally the wrong time.  While the federal government is trying to create…

New impact fees will exacerbate problems
Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC – February 28, 2009
It wasn’t hard to predict that the Georgetown County Council, despite numerous good reasons against it, would adopt totally unfair impact fees for new construction and at totally the wrong time.  While the federal government is trying to create…

Recession has slowed growth to a crawl
Charleston Post Courier, SC – February 27, 2009
The Scotts Creek development on Rifle Range Road has a lot going for it: A 6-acre landscaped park with fish-stocked ponds, walking trails, grand oaks and a kayak dock. Decorative fountains. A creek that connects to the Intracoastal Waterway. Nearby beaches, …

Suspension of development fee advances in Senate
Asbury Park Press – February 27, 2009
A plan to exempt nonresidential construction projects approved before mid-2010 from a 2.5 percent tax intended to help provide affordable housing cleared another hurdle Thursday in the state Senate. Citing the recession, Gov. Jon S. Corzine called for a…

Seeking growth, county waives impact fees
Florida Today, FL – February 27, 2009
The Brevard County Commission decided Thursday to put a one- to two-year moratorium on commercial impact fees, effective Sunday.  Commissioners hope the temporary moratorium can spur new commercial construction and jobs. All five voted for it.  “It will…

Impact fee legislation targets Dorchester County growth, creates controversy
Charleston Regional Business, SC – February 27, 2009
Dorchester District 2 — the state’s fastest growing school district — may soon gain the authority to levy impact fees on home builders. A bill sitting on Gov. Mark Sanford’s desk would allow the school to charge up to $2,500 per every newly built home. If signed into…

Council narrowly votes to keep town’s no-impact-fee zones
Casa Grande Valley Newspapers, AZ – February 26, 2009
A bare majority of Town Council members voted to continue allowing new construction in the old part of town and North Florence to be exempt from the “impact fees” charged in other parts of town. This was despite the fact that it was the council that asked town staff…

Council reaffirms charging developers impact fee
Arizona Republic, AZ – February 26, 2009
A majority of Surprise elected officials recently reaffirmed their stance that growth should pay for itself.  The dismal economy raised a question at the City Council retreat last week: Should the city change its policy of imposing a one-time development impact fee…

Impact fees stir a hot debate
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL – February 26, 2009
Area developers say that if local governments temporarily waive impact fees on construction, they could jump-start the sagging housing market by taking thousands of dollars off the price of a new home. In appeals before the Manatee County Commission and…

Bill giving developers a break on housing fee gets panel’s OK
The Star-Ledger, NJ – February 26, 2009
A fee assessed on the state’s commercial and industrial developers to fund affordable housing would be suspended until mid-2010 under a bill released yesterday by a Senate committee. Proponents told the Senate budget committee the fee has stifled…

Dade City Ups Water, Sewer Rates
Tampa Tribune, FL – February 25, 2009
Water and sewer customers can expect to see higher rates in March.  City commissioners adopted a new rate structure that could raise the average customer’s bill $5.46 a month. Customers who live outside the city limits will be charged 25 percent higher rates, …

Tightened oversight of impact fees panel urged
El Paso Times, TX – February 25, 2009
The City Council Legislative Review Committee voted Wednesday to recommend that the city’s impact fee advisory committee disclose potential conflicts of interest and televise its meetings. West-Central city Rep. Susie Byrd, West Side city Rep. Ann Lilly and Southwest…

Editorial: St. Lucie considering proposal that could have positive impact for region
TCPalm, FL – February 25, 2009
Beyond considering how federal stimulus funds might be used, Treasure Coast governments are investigating steps they can take independently to promote jobs creation and economic development. Some have talked of tax waivers and impact fee reductions or…

Dade City Residents Get Higher Water Fees
MSNBC, FL – February 25, 2009
City Manager Billy Poe said the city needs to raise its rates and impact fees to pay for improvements to the utility lines and for a future expansion of the wastewater treatment plant. The city won $16 million in grants to help pay for the improvements. The plan…

Collier votes to limit increased impact fees
Marconews, FL – February 24, 2009
It was a bit confusing to all concerned, but if the plan works, Collier County’s businesses could see a little more action.  Collier leaders approved a plan to limit increased impact fees to stimulate the economy. By a vote of 4 to 1, with Commissioner Jim Coletta…

Clay County to consider suspending road impact fee
Florida Times – Union, FL – February 24, 2009
The Clay County Commission will on March 10 consider suspending the county’s transportation impact fee for six months, in a bid to help the county’s struggling housing and construction industries.  At their Tuesday meeting, commissioners heard from homebuilders and…

Greenville County balks at releasing document on impact fee
Greenville News, SC – February 24, 2009
To make up the difference, and pay for the improvements required by county growth, consultant Carson Bise of TischlerBise said in a report to County Council that the county should consider impact fees to fund new roads, parks and public safety. Optional sales taxes could…

Don’t forget city residents in impact fee equation
Sun Publications Chicago, IL – February 24, 2009
Late in Feb. 17’s City Council meeting, the discussion turned to impact fees — how much they should be, who should pay them and whether reductions in these user charges can provide an economic stimulus in a challenged economy by increasing sales tax revenue…

Council candidates debate impact fees
Explorer News, AZ – February 24, 2009
As Marana Town Council candidates faced off at the last of several public candidate forums last Thursday, Feb. 19, they found themselves addressing impact fees — more specifically, whether the town should collect them. The fees can stir controversy, though…

Council Wants Fees Recalculated
The Morning News, AR – February 23, 2009
Council members say impact fees must be fair. For that reason they want the consultant responsible for recommending an increase in the water impact fees to recalculate them based on what they consider to be a reasonable basis for charging new customers. TischlerBise…

Editorial: Collier County Commission … impact-fee enticement worth more discussion
Naples Daily News, FL – February 23, 2009
Collier County commissioners eye a stimulus plan of their own, with impact-fee breaks for new businesses that move into space now sitting empty.  County staff members are proposing a two-year test period for waiving fees above and beyond the base level of…

Meeting on proposed impact fee changes Tuesday
Arizona Daily Star, AZ – February 23, 2009
Pima County is holding a meeting to let people know about its proposed impact fee changes for development on the southwest side of the metro area. The proposed changes are detailed in a story here.  The meeting is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow, …

Growth should pay for schools
BlueRidgeNow.com, NC – February 22, 2009
To The Editor: An Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance is a law to enable county planning staff to assess classroom space of a given school to determine if a proposed subdivision will overcrowd that school.  The County Commission has the opportunity to provide…

Aurora’s magnificent seven
YourHub.com, CO – February 20, 2009

Impact fee debate shifts to commercial development
The Ledger, FL – February 19, 2009
Polk County commissioners heard more about the evils of impact fees Wednesday. This time the issue was whether Polk County’s impact fees are a deterrent to commercial development that was chasing new development – in this case an unnamed restaurant chain…

County suspends impact fees
Gulf Breeze News, FL – February 19, 2009
Businesses or industries purchasing a building permit in Santa Rosa County in 2009 will not have to pay county impact fees.  Also, any business already making installment payments on its impact fees will have those payments suspended until 2010. The county also…

City eyes cutting impact fees in bid to lure business
Ocala, FL – February 19, 2009
An ordinance addressing a moratorium on impact fees would be necessary because the waiver will not be granted to all properties. The moratorium will be applied to for-profit businesses with a few exceptions, such as car washes, where the city feels the loss…

Salisbury officials discuss fee
Delmarva Now, MD – February 18, 2009
City officials sought to answer questions and continue their discussion on a proposed impact fee. Jack Lenox, Salisbury-Wicomico Planning and Zoning director, addressed a short-handed City Council during a Tuesday afternoon work session regarding aspects of the…

New developer fee OK’d amid dispute
The Desert Sun, CA – February 18, 2009
The Desert Hot Springs City Council on Tuesday approved the first increase to developer impact fees in seven years — but not at the levels recommended by a recent study that local building industry representatives have threatened to challenge in court. …

Non-residential progress tops growth chart
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL – February 18, 2009
While Palm Coast’s recent past was focused on residential development, its present and future are following a different path.  According to the city’s 2008 annual report on Growth and Development Trends in the City of Palm Coast, non-residential…

Sycamore considers traffic impact fee
MidWeek, IL – February 18, 2009
The city of Sycamore could have another source of revenue to offset future development.City officials are considering implementing a transportation/traffic impact fee.  Members of the Sycamore City Council discussed the issue during their Feb. 2 meeting. …

Impact fees a start on handing growth
Charleston Post Courier, SC – February 18, 2009
Lower Dorchester County stands face to face with the differences between growth and progress. The very lifestyles and community values that define the Dorchester residential development market are now threatened by developments that take little account of…

Editorial: Rails and roads
Fort Worth Star Telegram, TX – February 18, 2009
Finally, the legislative train is rolling in Austin toward allowing local voters to decide on new ways to fund new road and rail projects. As with any proposal at this early stage of the legislative session, there are questions about exactly where this one is heading and how…

Senator proposes impact fee ban Mike Bennett also suggests change to growth reviews
Bradenton Herald, FL – February 18, 2009
A local state senator has filed a bill in the Florida Legislature that would block collection of developers’ impact fees for three years. Another bill proposed by the senator would eliminate most state growth management review of big, new developments by revising…

Desert Hot Springs council adopts new fees at reduced amount
The Desert Sun, CA – February 17, 2009
The Desert Hot Springs City Council approved Tuesday the west Coachella Valley city’s first increase to its developer impact fees in nine years – but not at the levels recommended by a recent city consultant study.  The Development Impact Fee Calculation and…

Commissioners say ‘no’ to Monforton impact fees
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle, MT – February 17, 2009
Gallatin County Commissioners said ‘no’ to easing Monforton School’s growing pains by charging builders a fee for new homes constructed in the school district, though parents, trustees and administrators pled their case for overburdened infrastructure.  As it stands, …

Fate of Project Jumpstart unclear
Yuma Sun, AZ – February 17, 2009
to jumpstart the economy, but no one is saying much about the results. The meeting was reported to the Yuma City Council during its roundtable Tuesday by City Administrator Mark Watson. “We had an informative meeting Friday,” Watson reported to the council. …

City closer to implementing impact fees
Delmarva Now, MD – February 16, 2009
The City Council discussed impact fees during a work session in October, but wanted to know where the money fit in with the city’s Capital Improvement Plan. Impact fees are one-time payments made by developers to pay for the increase in use of parks, fire, police…

Impact fees under assault in Tallahassee
The Ledger, FL – February 16, 2009
SB 630, filed by Mike Bennett, would put a three-year moratorium on all impact fees, beginning Oct. 1, 2009. The bill has been referred to five committees, which means it may undergo some review and may well disappear by the time the session ends. Many bills are…

Bill would let voters in urban Texas counties decide on fees, taxes for transit projects
Dallas Morning News, TX – February 16, 2009
North Texas officials have been saying for years that residents here would willingly pay more taxes if only they could get better roads and expanded rail service. If a bill introduced Monday becomes law, they may finally get to test their theory.  The bill would permit counties…

Proposal to cut impact fees would hurt schools
Orlando Sentinel, FL – February 15, 2009
Bennett’s proposal would prohibit cities and counties from collecting the impact fees levied on new development for three years. This would help slingshot us back in time to the days when homebuilders could build as many houses as they wanted — without having…

Capell proposes rescinding fees
St. Joseph News-Press, MO – February 13, 2009
Rather than trip over its own red tape, the city is ready to pull out the scissors and cut it away. City Manager Vince Capell suggested the city abandon its policy of collecting transportation impact fees from developers this week during a work session with the City…

Impact Fees: After 2 Years, County Collects 12% Of Budget
Tampa Tribune, FL – February 13, 2009
By now, Highlands County commissioners thought they would have collected $17 million in impact fees. Instead of that fat bank account, two years after they started collecting a tax on new homes and businesses, only $2.16 million has come into the coffers. …

Tucson City Council sends impact fee suspension to committee
Inside Tucson Business, AZ – February 13, 2009
More than 150 people in the construction industry rallied at El Presidio Park Feb. 10 to show support for a proposal to suspend some residential construction impact fees in the city of Tucson for one year.  The City Council agreed to establish a committee to study…

Homebuilder’s study says new construction pays for itself
Charleston Regional Business, SC – February 13, 2009
A study released Thursday by the Charleston Trident Home Builders Association suggests that new development in the Charleston region pays for itself within seven years, negating the need for impact fees.  The study was rolled out the day after the S.C. General…

Impact fee promising, but store vote is not
Beaufort Gazette, SC – February 11, 2009
First a “bouquet” for Sen. Tom Davis and Rep. Shannon Erickson, who spoke simple truth to a large, well-organized and motivated meeting to discuss impact fees for school infrastructure costs generated by new development.  Undeniably, new development generates…

Builders, developers protest Georgetown impact fee plans
Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC – February 10, 2009
Developers and homebuilders in Georgetown County have joined forces to oppose the passage of new construction impact fees that County Council members expect to give a third and final reading tonight.  Those against the impact fees met in Litchfield Monday…

Proposed impact fee suspension draws praise, fire
Tucson Citizen, AZ – February 10, 2009
If Tucson waives the fees intended to make development pay for the infrastructure needed to accommodate it, the city will forgo about $6.7 million over the next year, officials estimate.  The lost funds would likely mean road and parks project delays, Assistant…

City to exclude transportation impact fees for infill lots
KMAS, Mason County – February 10, 2009
The City of Shelton is proposing to exclude infill lot development from the proposed Transportation Impact Fees provided frontage improvements are constructed as part of the project. This proposal was created after Jim Killoran and other developers requested…

Impact fees head for vote next month
Daily Inter Lake, MT – February 10, 2009
It’s almost showtime for the Kalispell City Council on the long-running road-impact-fee controversy. The council gave its staff a bunch of choices Monday on what it wants to vote on.  The staff hopes to get the choices on the city’s Web site before March 2. The council…

Beaufort and Jasper Counties proposing new fee
WTOC, GA – February 10, 2009
Even as the economy slows, Beaufort and Jasper County residents can look around and see a lot of growth in the area that’s just been completed, new businesses, shopping centers and whole neighborhoods.  And with that comes need for schools, a crowd…

City Moves Toward Impact Fee Compromise
Flathead Beacon, MT – February 10, 2009
The finish line could be drawing near for Kalispell’s seemingly interminable debate over transportation impact fees. At a work session Monday, Mayor Pam Kennedy ordered city staff to hold a public hearing on a revised traffic impact fee structure March 2…

Georgetown county adds controversial impact fee
WPDE, SC – February 10, 2009
If you plan on building a new home or business in Georgetown County, get ready to pay more.  Georgetown County Council passed a law Tuesday night that will tack on thousands of extra dollars to your cost.  The new fees will fund, in part, about $330 million…

Rose appears to have found key to school-impact fees
Charleston Post Courier, SC – February 9, 2009
After years of various attempts to convince lawmakers to allow development impact fees for school construction, the Rose bill that would do just that for the state’s fastest growing school district has passed the Senate, and the House — with amendments — within…

Builders oppose school impact fees
Beaufort Gazette, SC – February 9, 2009
State Sen. Tom Davis’ first major legislative initiative is a controversial measure opposed by many builders because it would impose fees on new homes and apartments to pay for school construction. Davis, a Beaufort Republican, is holding a public…

Panel to debate third reading on housing impact fees
Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC – February 9, 2009
The impact fees would help defray the costs of parks, libraries, roads and law enforcement associated with growth, according to the proposed ordinance. Horry County does not have mandatory impact fees, but some developers have agreed to pay for infrastructure in…

Editorial: Mandated state moratorium on impact fees would damage government, taxpayers
TCPalm, FL – February 9, 2009
Local governments already struggling financially could be put in even greater straits if a bill proposed by a Florida state legislator is adopted.   The bill introduced by Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, calls for a three-year moratorium on the imposition or collection…

Reduced impact fees may help some builders
Big Builder Online – February 9, 2009
“This is probably happening more in the harder hit areas,” said Clancy Mullen, executive vice president at Duncan Associates, a consulting firm that focuses on land development regulations, growth management, and impact fees. “It is becoming a popular thing to…

Road-impact fees remain on the table
The Daily Inter Lake, MT – February 8, 2009
The impact fee on a new single-family home would be $928. But major retail projects — likely to create lots of traffic — can expect to pay tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. The huge Glacier Town Center project by Wolford Development might pay $6 million…

Lobbyist foresees dark future
Florida Today, FL – February 8, 2009
The lobbyist said cities face a looming danger if impact fees are cut, which he suspects could happen this year. Impact fees are extra payments on new homes to help offset the costs of things like building roads and schools. “Let them know how much impact fees…

County considers boosting impact fees on SW Side
Arizona Daily Star, AZ – February 8, 2009
Pima County is considering raising road impact fees for a portion of unincorporated land on the city’s Southwest Side to pay for planned growth there.  The road impact fees would more than double if the Board of Supervisors approves the Southwest Infrastructure…

Kane may freeze impact fees
The Courier News, IL – February 7, 2009
Kane County Board members are expected Tuesday to approve a one-year freeze on impact fees in an effort to combat the poor economy and to help jump-start real estate growth. Members of the board’s executive committee recently discussed the possibility of…

Impact fees unfair to new home buyers
Beaufort Gazette, SC – February 6, 2009
As impact fees and other regulatory costs rise, thousands of families are priced out of the opportunity to own their own homes. Impact fees are charges levied against new development in order to generate revenue to pay for capital improvements. Usually, …

Impact fees bring $12.5 million
Hagerstown Morning Herald, MD – February 5, 2009
It’s been four years since Jefferson County implemented the first impact fee ordinance in West Virginia.  The Jefferson County Commission learned Thursday morning that it has paid off.  F. Mark Schiavone, director of the county’s impact fee program, told the…

Bill allowing school impact fees advances
Charleston Post Courier, SC – February 5, 2009
A plan to make new residents help pay for more schools around Summerville has cleared a key hurdle in the General Assembly. After years of debate and failed efforts, a bill to let Dorchester School District 2 charge builders an extra fee to help build schools has…

Time for new debate on school impact fees
Beaufort Gazette, SC – February 5, 2009
Newly minted state Sen. Tom Davis of Beaufort has moved quickly to focus a local debate on the issue. He’s introduced legislation that would allow fees for new schools to be collected on new construction in Beaufort County. Because the bill is special legislation…

Owners rebuild after impact fee nightmare, open shop in new location
North Fort Myers Neighbor, FL – February 4, 2009
Last April, the owners of Shoppers Village Mall said they were involved in a nightmare. They closed down shop, due to what they said was a surprise bill of $58,000.  Liz Klen and long-time partner Russ Haun have just reopened their business as Shoppers Village…

County Awards Impact Fee Consulting Contract
Tampa Tribune, FL – February 4, 2009
Highlands County commissioners awarded a $110,000 contract to the consulting firm of Duncan & Associates for a study on impact fees.  The firm will work with the 11-member Impact Fee Review Committee and conduct an in-depth study of the county’s impact…

School Board OKs Impact Fee
Tampa Tribune, FL – February 4, 2009
A 2007 study recommended that Pasco County’s school impact fee be increased to $8,983 for a single-family residence, but an updated study says that figure should be slightly lower.  The new recommended fee would be $8,606, according to a report give…

City Council takes cautious attitude toward traffic fees
Lake County News, CA – February 4, 2009
The Lakeport City Council decided on Tuesday to direct the city engineer to continue working with the county on traffic impact fees that would support future transportation projects. City Engineer Scott Harter reported to the council on his work with county Public…

School board ponders fee’s future
Palatka Daily News, FL – February 4, 2009
Impact fees dominated discussion at the Putnam County School Board meeting Tuesday, with Superintendent Tom Townsend saying “It would be my recommendation at this time not to do away with impact fees.” Later, he said that while a temporary suspension of…

New-home impact fee bill stirs up debate
Charleston Post Courier, SC – February 4, 2009
A bill that could put the cost of more schools around Summerville on builders is fueling a heated debate in Dorchester County.  It’s part of an ongoing argument over who should pay for growth.  The housing market has slowed, but thousands of new houses have been…

Help new home builders and help the economy, too
Modesto Bee, CA – February 4, 2009
There are no easy solutions to this dreadful economy. What started out as a housing market correction has resulted in a global financial crisis and potentially a prolonged recession.  Economists and financial analysts agree that until housing prices stabilize there will be no…

Commissioners take action to help stimulate local economy
Santa Rosa Press Gazette, FL – February 4, 2009
At Thursday’s Santa Rosa County Commission Goal Setting Workshop commissioners voted to immediately: “Suspend the collection of impact fees for calendar year 2009. Projects issued a building permit in 2009 will have impact fees waived and those paying…

Developers seek break on impact fees
The Columbian, WA – February 4, 2009
Builders and developers who put big bets on the real estate market in 2006 are warning that they’ll be out of business unless taxpayers cut them a break on some big fees that are coming due.  County commissioners said Wednesday that they hope to help. …

Local governments look at ‘de-Brucing’ ideas
Delta County Independent, CO – February 4, 2009
The county’s revenue stream from voters’ 2002 “de-Brucing” of certain property tax revenues for use in road projects will sunset this year. The term “de-Brucing” refers to an approval by voters granting government the right to keep and use revenues that otherwise…

Dorchester Council backs impact fees bill
Charleston Post Courier, SC – February 3, 2009
Dorchester County Council and the District 2 School Board have backed state Sen. Mike Rose’s effort to let the district charge impact fees to help pay for new schools. County residents have been urging a change in state law to allow impact fees for schools for years. …

County senators plan special legislation to allow impact fees for schools
Beaufort Gazette, SC – February 3, 2009
School districts in Beaufort and Jasper counties could charge developers impact fees on new homes and apartments under bills filed in the South Carolina Senate, an idea supported by local government leaders but opposed by Realtors and home builders.  Impact…

Columbia Falls discussing impact fees
KPAX-TV, MT – February 3, 2009
The city of Columbia Falls probably will not pass any transportation impact fees for several years.  City Manager Bill Shaw told council members on Monday night that plans haven’t moved forward because the city doesn’t have the same issues as Kalispell.  Most…

Proposal: year with no city impact fee
Arizona Daily Star, AZ – February 2, 2009
Residential and commercial impact fees could be waived for the next 12 months as a way to spur building and create jobs, under a proposal released over the weekend by City Councilman Rodney Glassman. Glassman said the one-year waiver of all impact fees…

Traffic impact fees, business loan program expansion before council Tuesday
Lake County News – February 2, 2009
County Public Works Director Brent Siemer will give a presentation to the council on the restructured traffic impact fee program. Traffic impact fees would be assigned to development projects in order to fund future road improvements around the county. A…

Santa Rosa suspends fee to spur growth
The Northwest Florida Daily News, FL – February 2, 2009
Walmart is probably wishing it could ask for a refund after the Santa Rosa County Commission recently decided to suspend collection of impact fees.  County commissioners voted last week to suspend transportation impact fees for all of 2009 in an attempt to…

Trim or delay road impact fees
Daily Inter Lake, MT – February 1, 2009
That’s why the City Council needs to follow the advice of some of its members to either delay the impact fees altogether or scale them back greatly so that they will not impede development. Money spent by developers today will result in an instant stimulus for the…

Chamber calls for impact fee moratorium
Yuma Sun, AZ – January 30, 2009
These economic hard times, with businesses closing their doors and people losing their jobs, call for some new solutions to jumpstart the economy, said a business leader who is proposing a temporary suspension of impact fees.    “Local jobs are disappearing in…

Some Miami-Dade commissioners fear negative result if impact fee moratorium proposal comes to fruition
Miami Today, FL – January 29, 2009
Outlawing localities from collecting impact fees for the next three years could help keep Florida’s economy moving during the recession, the state senator proposing the ban says.  But Miami-Dade commissioners fear the moratorium, if passed, would be a $60….

Miami-Dade OKs first road impact fee hike in 15 years
Miami Today, FL – January 29, 2009
Miami-Dade County’s road impact fees are to rise for the first time in 15 years after commissioners approved a hike last week, some torn over whether developers can handle added costs in an already-strained economy.    The county collects the fees from builders…

Impact Fees Still Wise?
Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC – January 29, 2009
In this time of recession, is it still wise for local governments to shift the costs of growth from folks who already live here to folks who relocate here? Or should local governments wait for better times to order such shifts, the favorite instrument for which is the…

Senior living development seeks waiver of school fees
Morris Daily Herald, IL – January 29, 2009
Ethan Properties is considering building a three-component facility just west of Jewel-Osco in Minooka, on the north side of U.S 6.  Cass Wennlund approached the Minooka Community School District 201 Board at its regular monthly meeting Wednesday night asking…

Pasco County School District scales back request to raise impact fees
Tampbay.com, FL – January 29, 2009
For the second time in 14 months, the Pasco County School District has cut the level of its requested impact fee increase.  Slipping property costs have led a district consultant to revise the fee recommendation downward by $377, to $8,606 per new…

No impact fees in 2009
Navarre Press, FL – January 29, 2009
The Santa Rosa County Commission today approved waiving impact fees for projects granted building permits in 2009 in an effort to encourage residential and commercial construction.   Developers already paying impact fees don’t have to make another payment…

Impact Fees
Palatka Daily News, FL – January 28, 2009
A proposal to suspend Putnam County’s impact fee on new construction appears destined for approval next month.  The suspension, which would last about six months, is touted as a way to spur the local building industry, but it also has been embraced by…

City Council approves exemption to traffic impact fees
Issaquah Press, WA – January 27, 2009
City Council members unanimously approved amendments to several of the city’s traffic impact fees Jan. 20, in hopes of making it easier to find tenants to fill vacant storefronts. The bill exempts up to 10,000 square feet of commercial development proposals…

Tide Turning Against Traffic Impact Fees
Flathead Beacon, MT – January 27, 2009
The recession that has cut such a deep and painful swathe through the Flathead economy may well take yet another casualty: Kalispell’s proposed transportation impact fees. At another work session Monday night to discuss the proposed fees, it was clear most…

Impact-fee bill passes in state Senate
Charleston Post Courier, SC – January 27, 2009
A bill to make developers help pay for the cost of new schools around town made its way through the state Senate on Tuesday. The legislation, written by Sen. Mike Rose, R-Summerville, would allow the Dorchester District 2 school board to impose impact fees…

Volusia officials to tackle affordable housing incentives
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL – January 27, 2009
Building affordable housing could get a lot easier under plans being floated in unincorporated Volusia County.  For affordable housing, lower impact fees would be paid as part of a property owner’s tax bill, and smaller lot sizes would be allowed as incentives in a…

City halts road impact fees
Naperville Sun, IL – January 26, 2009
In an effort to attract more commercial business in Naperville, the City Council unanimously approved a moratorium on road impact fees for one year. “I think we need to do something to stimulate employment here and sales,” Councilman Doug Krause said at…

Proposed fee to be debated by supervisors
TheReporter.com, CA – January 25, 2009
County supervisors on Tuesday will discuss whether a plan to create as much as $7,000 in transportation impact fees per new home is ready to release to the public. County leaders in December floated the idea of creating the impact fee to help pay for $164 million in…

Kalispell Council Differs on Road Impact Fees
Flathead Beacon, MT – January 22, 2009
Several council members expressed deep reservations about the plan. Councilman Bob Hafferman said the fees were too high, and should be reduced by about 75 percent, but the methodology to arrive at those fees was sound. Councilman Tim Kluesner, however, questioned the…

Board members debate future of impact fees
Palatka Daily News, FL – January 21, 2009
While no vote or action was taken, it appeared that a majority of county commissioners favored doing at least something to reduce or suspend impact fees, while a majority of school board members were reluctant to touch them. Tuesday’s joint meeting came about after…

What’s true reason of impact fee cut?
Bradenton Herald, FL – January 21, 2009
It is amazing to hear that Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston believes that reducing impact fees in the City of Bradenton will positively affect the housing slump and thereby our local economy. Perhaps it is just another bone to throw to local developers by local government…

Road impact fees out for some on Old 41
The News-Press, FL – January 21, 2009
The city’s plan, approved 5-0, will forgive road impact fees – fees the city charges to help pay for road improvements – for certain businesses that open or relocate to Old 41 between Dean Street and Rosemary Drive. Rex Sims, a longtime business owner on Old 41, …

City commissioners plan to revise park impact fees
Tampa Bay Newspapers, FL – January 21, 2009
Commissioners asked their staff Jan. 12 to prepare an ordinance calling for a reduction in the recommended rate by about 33 percent. Mayor Pat Gerard said the city has to balance concern of the “wonderful” level of service that the city has against the “concern…

On the Agenda: Traffic Impact Fees…Again
Flathead Beacon, MT – January 20, 2009
Kalispell City Council meets at 7:00 p.m. tonight to vote on increased Parks and Recreation fees, as well as a number of other minor items. After the meeting, council will discuss the highly controversial implementation of road impact fees in a work session, at which no…

Bonita Springs considers dropping road fees
The News-Press, FL – January 20, 2009
When Mayor Ben Nelson and his wife Lori open the Survey Cafe on Wilson Street in Bonita Springs on Jan. 26 they’ll fork over $15,000 in road impact fees to the city. The next new business that opens in the area may not be saddled with such a financial burden.  On…

Hearing on new water fees Tuesday
Kingman Daily Miner, AZ – January 19, 2009
Council will conduct a public hearing to consider whether or not to raise the city’s water and wastewater development investment fees – also known as impact fees – and by how much. Council members previously voted to increase the monthly rates for both water…

Council workshop takes up impact fees
Daily Inter Lake, MT – January 19, 2009
Who knows what Kalispell City Council members think of a proposed road-impact fee?  In fact, council members themselves probably don’t have a feel on what the council as a whole thinks.  That haziness should clear up at 7 p.m. Tuesday during a workshop session…

NJ affordable housing payment plan shifts again
Philadelphia Inquirer, PA – January 18, 2009
Just six months after advocates for the poor heralded a new law to create more affordable housing in New Jersey, parts of it may be set aside because of the slumping economy.  Gov. Jon S. Corzine has called for a one-year moratorium on a fee charged to developers…

Medical office impact fee appeal denied
Newnan Times-Herald, GA – January 17, 2009
The Coweta County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Thursday to deny the impact fee appeal filed by Coweta County Medical Office Investors.  The appeal was first heard in November.  The developers of the medical office building on Francis Way, …

Impact fees drain economic growth
Orlando Sentinel, FL – January 16, 2009
Rolling back impact fees is a great place to start. Impact fees are added property-use taxes, assessed when citizens seek to use land for new construction or when buildings are redeveloped for a different purpose. They are a tax on the individuals and entrepreneurs…

Deep Impact: Traffic fees increase by $3500
Hollister Free Lance, CA – January 16, 2009
Supervisors voted 3-2 this week in approving a resolution to raise the traffic improvement fees for builders to “make a nexus between the fees being brought in and the cost of completion,” said Assistant County Administrative Officer Rich Inman. It raises the rates…

Impact fees halved; but real work lies ahead
Local Citrus County News, FL – January 15, 2009
“The fee schedule, should you choose to adopt it today, will be 75 percent of the original consultant’s recommended level for transportation,” Maidhof said. “This is a 50 percent reduction of what was already being collected.” The effective date for the lower fees…

Jefferson County Impact Fees
WCTV, FL – January 15, 2009
The Jefferson County Courtroom was filled as residents came out to tell their elected commissioners this is no time for impact fees. Impact fees in Jefferson County were put into place in June of 2008, costing hose looking to build a home over $3,000 dollars. Many…

Housing ordinance in flux
Steamboat Pilot, CO – January 15, 2009
Members of Steamboat Springs’ business and development communities believe the city’s affordable housing ordinance could be vulnerable to a legal challenge, and they threatened to take such a step if swift action isn’t taken to change the law.  In a memo…

Impact fee policy may have accidental upside
Sun newspapers, FL – January 15, 2009
We’ve made no secret about our dismay at the Charlotte County Commission’s misadventures with its impact fee policy. But it now appears the commission may have accidentally backed into win-win situation that could do more to lift the area from the real estate…

Sequim considers fees on residential developers
Peninsula Daily, WA – January 14, 2009
The Sequim City Council is poised to impose a park impact fee on builders of houses, condominiums and apartments. On Monday night, the council held a public hearing on an impact-fee study just completed by the Henderson Group, a Redmond consultant the…

City reduces impact fees
Kaufman Herald, TX – January 14, 2009
With a unanimous vote, the council reduced the amount collected for street impact fees from 50 percent of projected impact costs to 5 percent for the next two years. After that the fee will jump to 10 percent in the third year, 25 percent in the fourth year and back…

Committee Recommends To Keep Impact Fees
KOLN, NE – January 14, 2009
In the report, the committee recommended the City keep its current policy when it comes to impact fees. Under the policy, it allows for an annual pre-approved inflationary increase of impact fees. However, for the last two years, the Lincoln City Council has voted…

County not ready to lower impact fees
MSNBC, FL – January 14, 2009
Many support an idea to reduce impact fees, the one-time charges on new construction to help offset costs of roads and schools. Under the plan, those fees in Collier, which are among the highest in the state, would be lowered to 2007 levels and stay frozen for two…

Rollback of fees could continue
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL – January 13, 2009
County commissioners may extend an impact fee rollback for builders another six months to try to spur construction. The County Commission will hold a public hearing at 10 a.m. today on an ordinance extending the expiration date of the residential and…

Charlotte County to consider tiering impact fees
Sun newspapers, FL – January 13, 2009
With tiered impact fees, Jim Fendrick, planning concurrency manager, said three regions would be identified: urban, the urban reserve and rural Charlotte County. “(A tiered impact fee structure) could better reflect the costs for individual developers,” Fendrick said Monday. …

Beaufort, Port Royal weigh benefits, costs of impact fees
Beaufort Gazette, SC – January 13, 2009
The Beaufort City Council will consider adopting a fire facilities capital improvement plan at its meeting today at 6 p.m. The Port Royal Town Council will hear a presentation Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. about a proposed library impact fee. Members of both councils said…

Collier not ready to change impact fees
Naples Daily News, FL – January 13, 2009
Collier County leaders put on hold a plan to roll back transportation impact fees. From physicians to builders, scores of business leaders from the Economic Development Council and Chamber of Commerce turned out to support the county Productivity Committee’s…

Businesses challenge cost of road impact fees
Daily Inter Lake, MT – January 13, 2009
Not an inkling of a consensus emerged from Monday’s council workshop session — other than most council members had plenty of questions and wanted to spend a lot more time talking about the issue. “We’ve beaten this horse to death,” council member Bob…

Kalispell Council Hesitant on Road Impact Fees
Flathead Beacon, MT – January 13, 2009
In what is by now a familiar scene at Kalispell City Hall, a nearly four-hour meeting on traffic impact fees Monday consisted mainly of the city’s business community railing against the proposed fees while city staff argued in favor of the fee structure. At the meeting’s close, …

Impact fees, pool work on city agenda
Southern Idagho Business, ID – January 12, 2009
According to a staff report, the proposed ordinance would set fees aside for police, fire, parks and street improvements, as well as detail the process of collecting fees and issuing refunds and exemptions. Impact fees for a single – family home would cost $1,606, retail…

Impact fees reduction to be discussed today by Collier Commissioners
Naples Daily News, FL – January 12, 2009
While the county’s Productivity Committee recommended that all fees controlled by the commission — including schools — be frozen, county staff members are suggesting that transportation impact fees see a cut. Productivity Committee member Larry Baytos said his…

Charlotte reviewing impact fees
Sun newspapers, FL – January 11, 2009
In the fall of 2007, commissioners approved rolling back both residential and commercial impact fees that new development pays for roads, libraries and other county infrastructure. Rates were rolled back to 1998 levels, with $8,000 impact fees decreasing to…

Economy having an impact on impact fees
Naples Daily News, FL – January 11, 2009
When it comes to impact fees, a bad economy may be good for builders in Collier County.  A move is under way to reduce the county’s controversial impact fees, which are among the highest in the state. The fees are one-time charges on new construction…

Seeking a boost, Bradenton might tweak impact fees
Bradenton Herald, US – January 8, 2009
Tim Polk, director of the city planning department, told the city council at its monthly work session Wednesday that his staff has researched other communities on how they provided some relief on impact fees for developers. The phasing-in of the fees based on…

BIA wants cities to freeze builder fees
Selma Enterprise, CA – January 8, 2009
In Selma and Kingsburg, both city managers say they’re willing to come to the table to discuss the issue, but also say they can’t make a decision on the matter. The city councils of Selma and Kingsburg can only decide if they’ll approve such a measure, both city…

Committee split over Kalispell road impact fees
Daily Inter Lake, MT – January 8, 2009
“It’s time to have the council make the decision,” Reckin said. “If we wait too long, it becomes a moot point because development would already be out there,” he said, referring to north Kalispell’s commercial area where several major projects are on the drawing…

County might suspend impact fees
Bradford County Telegraph, FL – January 8, 2009
The county commission is talking about a moratorium on collecting impact fees as a way to stimulate jobs and economic growth; and moreover, it would like the city of Starke to do the same.  Impact fees were approved in anticipation of a growth spurt in Bradford…

Can impact fee changes spark local economy?
Bradenton Herald, FL – January 8, 2009
The economic slump has slowed construction of new homes and commercial buildings, sparking discussions on ways to stimulate growth among developers and builders.  Some ideas floated to accomplish this are the elimination, suspension or deferring of…

Crotty’s plan to slash impact fees gets chilly reception
Orlando Sentinel, FL – January 7, 2009
Crotty’s plan calls for reductions of up to 50 percent in the impact fees developers pay to offset traffic caused by their projects. It would lower similar school levies by 25 percent. The discounts, which could be voted on by April, would last two years, unless…

Debating Impact Fees’ Necessity
The Ledger, FL – January 5, 2009
Commissioner Randy Wilkinson said it may be that now that the cost of new homes has decreased, the amount of the fees are more noticeable tacked on the cost of a $120,000 home than they were when the homes were selling for $300,000. When the consultant…

Development impact fee increase overdue for DHS
The Desert Sun, CA – January 4, 2009
Hikes in the fees, which help fund city growth improvements like police and fire stations, new streets and parks have not increased in nine years. City officials are considering an increase from about $4,000 to $15,500. Yes, it’s quite a jump. There should have been…

Impact Fees Rise In Orange County
MyNC.com, NC – January 2, 2009
Higher impact fees are now in effect in Carrboro and Chapel Hill. That’s the fee contractors pay to cover infrastructure improvement costs. The fee jumped 38 percent to just over $6,000. Originally it cost builders about $4,400 per home. And the increases…