News Archive - 2012

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Hernando School Board abandoning impact fee is public disservice
Tampa Bay Times, FL – December 16, 2012
The Hernando School Board needs to review its own lessons on district finances. Five weeks ago, a board majority publicly lobbied county commissioners to lift a moratorium on school impact fees. Five days ago, the board declined to pay for its share of a study to justify an updated fee.It is short-….

Mountain View passes rental housing impact fee
Mercury News, CA – December 13, 2012
Beginning in early February, developers who want to build apartments in Mountain View will have to pay a fee to offset additional demand for affordable housing caused by their projects. The city council voted 4-3 Tuesday night to impose a fee of $10 per square foot on rental housing …

Divided Hernando School Board rejects money for impact fee study
Tampa Bay Times, FL – December 13, 2012
The prospect of any money rolling into the Hernando County school system from impact fees may have been a long way off before Tuesday night’s School Board meeting. It certainly didn’t get any closer during the meeting. School Board members split 2-2 on two separate measures that would …

Should Fairfax County Create New Transportation Impact Fee?
Fairfax Connection, VA – December 6, 2012
Nowhere is the idea of a transportation impact fee more popular than the clogged Route 1 corridor, where the Wal-Mart at Kings Crossing has added to the gridlock that has long plagued the region. Because the developer did not ask for increased density or other variances, no rezoning …

Fort Pierce pursues impact fee moratorium; collections mostly unspent
TCPalm.com, FL – December 6, 2012
Even with a new mayor, city manager and planning director, the city is on track to freeze impact fees for a year to see if it encourages development — or at least doesn’t discourage it. Since the Fort Pierce City Commission reluctantly, but unanimously, agreed in October to former Mayor Bob …

Many Sarasota County impact fees to drop
Herald Tribune, FL – December 5, 2012
Fees paid by home and commercial developers for roads are likely to drop significantly next year. The impact fee rates have been cut periodically throughout the recession by county commissioners, who thought it would help boost the struggling economy. The county hired a consultant …

Culpeper votes to repeal county’s road impact fee
Fredericksburg,com, VA – December 4, 2012
Two years ago Culpeper became the first (and only) county to adopt a countywide transportation impact fee ordinance, a tool the state gave to high-growth localities to help raise money for roads. Tuesday night Culpeper, deciding that the fee was more a business deterrent than a blessing …

Valley home builders challenge Tulare County fee plan
Fresno Bee, CA – November 29, 2012
A lobbyist for southern San Joaquin Valley home builders is suing Tulare County over development impact fees. The Home Builders Association of Tulare-Kings Counties alleges that the county’s push for cities to collect county impact fees from developments inside city limits is illegal and …

Palm Beach County school district impact fee revenue to drop
Palm Beach Post, FL – November 29, 2012
Palm Beach County Schools would get less help from developers to pay for the district’s billions of dollars in construction needs, under a recommendation this week by the county’s impact fee review committee “but it’s better than zero,” said School District Facilities Planning and Coordination …

Wildomar’s Proposed Fee Hike Could Deter Development In The City, Critics Argue
Lake Elsinore-Wildomar Patch, CA – November 28, 2012
Mayor Pro Tem Tim Walker and councilwoman Marsha Swanson say the city’s proposed development impact fee schedule is too high and could stunt construction. At the strong urging of two Wildomar city council members, city staff will take another look at a proposed plan that increases …

Impact fees waived in Lincoln for two more years
Valley Breeze, RI – November 28, 2012
LINCOLN – Citing business growth over the past year, the Town Council voted at its meeting on Nov. 20 to extend the impact fee waiver for another two years. Impact fees were originally waived for the 2011 and 2012 calendar years, with the exception of those collected for major residential …

City attorney’s opinion on fee refund released to public
Snohomish County News, WA – November 28, 2012
The city attorney had recommended back in September that the City Council refund homeowners for overcharged school impact fees rather than the home builder. “I would recommend refunding the overpaid amount to the current owners of the underlying lots rather than to the original developer,” …

Santa Cruz City Council weighs traffic fee revision, more desal spending
Santa Cruz Sentinel, CA – November 26, 2012
In an effort to boost the city’s attractiveness among small business owners, the City Council on Tuesday will consider revising a traffic fee to lessen the financial burden. The council’s Competitive Task Force has recommended a number of changes to the traffic impact fee that developers …

Council Votes To Simplify Impact-Fee System
Albuquerque Journal, NM – November 20, 2012
Albuquerque city councilors voted late Monday to simplify the city’s impact-fee system and reduce the cost of building on the West Side. The council voted 6-3 in favor of an ordinance that overhauls the way City Hall determines how much to charge developers for the parks, roads and other …

City’s Impact Fee Program Should Be Fair to Everyone
Albuquerque Journal, NM – November 19, 2012
The current impact fee program is one of the critical underpinnings of the city’s Planned Growth Strategy that was adopted by the City Council in 2004. At its heart is the city’s Impact Fee system, which is designed to ensure that new development/growth pays its fair share of the costs …

ABQ Council Wants Simpler Impact Fees
Albuquerque Journal, NM – November 19, 2012
The simpler, the better. That seemed to be the theme of the night Monday, when Albuquerque city councilors agreed to simplify the city’s impact-fee system and reduce the cost of building on the West Side. The council voted 6-3 in favor of an ordinance that overhauls the way City Hall determines …

City’s Impact Fee Program Should Be Fair to Everyone
Albuquerque Journal, NM – November 19, 2012
The current impact fee program is one of the critical underpinnings of the city’s Planned Growth Strategy that was adopted by the City Council in 2004. At its heart is the city’s Impact Fee system, which is designed to ensure that new development/growth pays its fair share of the costs of …

Montgomery Co. exempts projects near Metro from special transportation impact fee
Washington Business Journal, MD – November 16, 2012
The Montgomery County Council has settled on a formula for deciding how much a developer will pay, prior to a building permit award, to offset their project’s burden on the road and transit network. The revised policy, which takes effect Jan. 1, offers a big incentive to build near transit. Projects …

Collaboration leads to victory on county impact fee policy
Colorado Springs Gazette, CO – November 15, 2012
Real estate developers spent years wrangling with county officials about transportation impact fees but both sides hailed a new program that was finalized Thursday. “This is probably the most complicated policy this board has dealt with in my five years,” said commission chairwoman Amy Lathen. …

Builders in Redding balk at preliminary impact study
Record Searchlight, CA – November 14, 2012
A consultant’s study indicates Redding would have to nearly double its park development impact fees to maintain the level of services the city offers. The study, barely a draft at this stage, is part of a comprehensive evaluation of whether the city’s development impact fees are where they should be. …

Rauvadage developer pushes Maitland to sell impact fees
Winter Park Observer, FL – November 14, 2012
Hours after members of the Maitland City Council adopted a resolution announcing the city is open for business, they took a first-of-its-kind step toward trying to bring that businesses in by attempting to create an open market for the sale of city impact fee credits for capital. in February, …

Bartow rejects impact fee waiver
Bartow News Chief, FL – November 12, 2012
Commissioner A.J. Jackson, who’s remained opposed to an extension, questioned Nov. 5 whether the one-year moratorium was effective. He said neighboring cities witnessed growth this year that surpassed Bartow’s new construction, and none of those cities lifted impact fees. “The time has …

Investment requires more than delay ploys
Tampabay.com, FL – November 10, 2012
To appease a special interest, some Hernando commissioners are poised to empty the county’s contingency budget just 45 days into the fiscal year. It’s a bad idea aimed at propping up an even worse one — extending the county’s moratorium on school impact fees. Last week Commission …

Peoria researches new fee schedules
Independent Newsmedia, AZ – November 5, 2012
Peoria officials are studying changes to development impact fees and services fees. Impact fees are assessed to help fund one-time capital infrastructure costs from new development in the city. Service fees are charged when activities provide direct benefits to specific groups. Development-service …

Monroe may cut school impact fee to spur building
HeraldNet, WA – November 4, 2012
The City Council is considering reducing the fees developers are charged to reduce the impact of growth on schools. A 7 p.m. meeting is set for Tuesday in the council chambers, 806 W. Main St. The fees have become a hot issue during previous council and Monroe School Board meetings. The city …

Eastern Shipbuilding gets fee waiver
The News Herald, FL – November 4, 2012
Port St. Joe commissioners have unanimously approved the waiver of water and sewer impact fees for Eastern Shipbuilding Group, eliminating another hurdle as the company moves ahead with expansion into Gulf County. A company representative said there remained some hurdles but the …

Richland looking for school money sources
Tri-CityHerald.com, WA – November 3, 2012
Of the hundreds of new homes built in Richland in recent years, the bulk have been built south and west of the city’s core. Schools are so overcrowded in those areas that some students are bused into central Richland so they have a classroom. It’s also part of the reason the district is asking …

Wisdom of investing in schools escapes commissioners
Tampabay.com, FL – November 3, 2012
Hernando’s County Commission and School Board members gathered in the same room this week, congratulated themselves for doing so and talked about the need to get together more often to work through shared concerns. Then they spent three hours talking but not listening. By the close …

Audit finds no problems with two previous audits of impact fee mistake
Tampabay.com, FL – November 2, 2012
An external auditor has found no improprieties in two city audits completed after a 2004 fee break cost the public $219,000. The Clearwater-based firm Mayer Hoffman McCann P.C. told the City Council on Thursday that it also did a limited review of how city staffers calculated transportation …

Hernando Today, FL – October 31, 2012
County commissioners are split on whether to allow the school district to collect impact fees next year or wait for roughly another year to do so pending the results of a fee study.  Both of those options are also pending commissioners’ decision on whether they wish to levy impact fees at all following …

Editorial: Impact fee moratorium in Fort Pierce unlikely to have much positive effect
TCPalm, FL – October 31, 2012
Local governments should do what they can to stimulate the economy and create jobs. But, that doesn’t mean they should do so at the expense of taxpayers who have enough burdens of their own. Earlier this month, the Fort Pierce City Commission imposed a one-year moratorium on impact …

School Board urges Hernando County commissioners to reinstate impact fees
Tampa Bay Times, FL – October 31, 2012
Hernando School Board members made their pitch to the County Commission on Tuesday, saying the reinstatement of impact fees for educational facilities would be an investment in the future. But by the end of the rare workshop of the two boards, it was clear that each was divided in their views …

Impact fees still under review
Hernando Today, FL – October 28, 2012
School board members are putting their previous agitation over county commissioners’ decision to suspend impact fee collections last year aside in hopes they can see eye-to-eye on bringing the fees back. School board members and county commissioners will meet at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the …

Impact Fee Policy Senseless
Linclon Journal Star, NE – October 26, 2012
The current impact fee policy makes about as much sense as exempting movie theater popcorn from sales taxes to help out the average popcorn-eating moviegoer. To not tax land developers for their share of the input cost means you are shifting the city’s development cost onto the average …

Proposed Impact Fees More Equitable for All
Albuquerque Journal, NM – October 25, 2012
The current system is so complicated and arcane that most builders or developers would probably scratch their heads and run for the nearest city planner or the nearest other city. The city imposes the fees to cover the costs —— the “impacts” —— of putting in infrastructure to support …

Restaurant loses appeal of traffic impact fee
ReadingEagle.com, PA – October 24, 2012
An East Cocalico Township restaurant has unsuccessfully appealed a township traffic impact fee that officials say should generate $6 million in revenues from developers over the next 20 years to fund major road projects. The traffic impact fee, based on the amount of traffic a project creates, …

Debate building over impact fees in Hampton
SeacoastOnline.com, NH – October 14, 2012
With the economy picking up and developments on the rise, Town Manager Fred Welch wants the Planning Board to take another look into demanding additional impact fees from those who want to build in town. Currently, the town only charges a $3,500 school impact fee for each new development, …

Curb North files suit over impact fees
Rio Rancho Observer, NM – October 14, 2012
A developer has filed a $5.6 million lawsuit against the City of Rio Rancho over the impact fee moratorium. Curb North Inc., which developed Cabezon, served the city with the suit Oct. 12, Acting City Manager James Babin said at the city governing body meeting Wednesday. On Sept. 12, …

Cabezon Developer Sues Rio Rancho Over Impact Fee Moratorium
Albuquerque Journal, NM – October 12, 2012
Developer Curb North Inc. has slapped city of Rio Rancho with a $5.6 million lawsuit over the two-year impact fee moratorium. The company repeatedly warned councilors of their intention to sue before the council took the action on Sept. 26. The measure reduced the fees the city charges …

Flagler County impact-fee moratorium goes into effect
Jacksonville Business Journal, FL – October 12, 2012
A moratorium on several impact fees in Flagler County went into effect Thursday. On Oct. 1, the county commission approved the moratorium on fees collected on all permits submitted to the county, the city of Bunnell, the town of Beverly Beach and the city of Flagler Beach exempting them …

In Palm Coast, the End of a 90% Building Permit Discount Will Affect Thousands
Flaglerlive.com, FL – October 11, 2012
Whenever a builder puts up a house or a business, the builder must pay a one-time tax, called an impact fee. The fees are designed to pay for new developments’ demands for roads, schools, parks and similar infrastructure. The fees can be steep: they total more than $15,000 for a single-family …

Supervisors approve big developer fee cut
UT San Diego, CA – October 11, 2012
Developers in San Diego County’s backcountry received a large boost this week when the Board of Supervisors drastically cut a set of fees some blame for stymieing rural development. With Wednesday’s unanimous vote, Board Chairman Ron Roberts said the board had corrected “one of the …

Divided Brewer City Council changes rules on impact fees
Bangor Daily News, ME – October 10, 2012
In a 3-2 decision, the Brewer City Council changed the land-use code Tuesday night so that it can now bring forward for council action impact-fee adjustments without the city manager’’s approval. “It’’s my belief —— if it’s not broke, don’’t fix it,” Mayor Jerry Goss said just before voting …

Collier County School Tax-Neutral Flexible Funding Referendum
NaaplesNews.com, FL – October 10, 2012
You may be inclined to support the Collier County School Tax-Neutral Flexible Funding Referendum, but you should have the full facts for an informed decision. Approval would authorize the school district to increase the operating fund tax rate by .25 mill and decrease the capital fund …

Council extends impact fee reduction
TheSpectrum.com, UT – October 10, 2012
The Cedar City Council extended a 15 percent temporary reduction of impact fees for two moreyears Wednesday night. The fee reduction, implemented a year ago, was scheduled to “sunset” Nov. 5. Impact fees are charged for new development so the costs of new development in terms …

City corrects school impact fee error as it argues to lower amount for developers
Snohomish News, WA – October 9, 2012
The city says it overcharged 16 developers for school mitigation fees. Developers pay a school impact mitigation fee based on the type of housing unit they plan to build, which then goes to the Monroe School District. The fee is intended to offset some of the impact the population increase …

Albuquerque City Council to mull impact fee change
Albuquerque Journal, NM – October 8, 2012
The Albuquerque City Council is considering whether to abandon a key principle behind the city’s current impact-fee system and instead simplify the way City Hall determines how much to charge developers for the parks, roads and other infrastructure needed to accommodate new growth. …

Morgantown mayor suggests WVU student fee to hire more responders following post-game fires
The Republc, IN – October 8, 2012
Mayor Jim Manilla says Morgantown needs more police officers and firefighters to deal with street fires and other incidents following West Virginia University sports events, and the students should help pay the cost of hiring them. Manilla tells media outlets that he is considering asking the …

Supervisors eye dramatic cuts to developer fees
North County Times, CA – October 8, 2012
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Wednesday is poised to dramatically reduce a set of developer fees that some say have strangled commercial development in the backcountry. The board approved the costly transportation impact fees in April 2005 to ensure the county had enough …

City Considers Makeover For Impact Fees
Albuquerque Journal, NM – October 8, 2012
A proposal heading to the City Council this month would abandon a key principle behind Albuquerque’s current impact-fee system —— that it should cost more to build in newly developing areas like the West Mesa. Instead, the ordinance would vastly simplify the way City Hall …

Keep impact fee moratorium in down economy
Tampa Bay Times, FL – October 7, 2012
The editorial stated “Hernando commissioners are being asked to subsidize a private, for-profit special interest” regarding an upcoming vote for the continued suspension of impact fees. This editorial is severely misinformed. We don’t blame the writer for this confusion because this type of …

HBA thanks City of Rogersville for impact fee reduction
southcountymail.com, MO – October 4, 2012
The Chief Executive Officer of the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield expressed gratitude for the city temporarily reducing its impact fees by 75 percent. “I know the home builders are very grateful for the reduction on the impact fees,” said Matt Morrow, at Monday’s meeting …

The flawed concepts behind county impact fees
CDA.com, ID – October 4, 2012
There are many reasons the Kootenai County impact fee program should be suspended and the collected amounts refunded to those who paid them – so many I cannot dive into them all in this brief column. I’ll limit my observations to a few points and begin by stating, I have read the Idaho …

Missed impact
CDA.com, ID – October 4, 2012
The Mica-Kidd Island Fire District figured it would have about $50,000 from impact fees to apply toward a new station by now, but it turns out nothing was collected. That’s because an agreement signed by the fire district board about a year ago never made it to the county commissioners …

Casa Grande: Impact fee fund drops by $4M over past year
trivalleycentral.com, AZ – October 3, 2012
Casa Grande collected $1,214,111 in development impact fees during the fiscal year that ended June 30, slightly below the $1,519,152 the previous year and a far cry from the $16,128,074 brought in as the construction boom continued in the 2005-06 fiscal year. Development impact fees …

Sarasota County School Board extends impact fee moratorium
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL – October 2, 2012
School Board members decided Tuesday to waive school impact fees for another two years, a move they hope will help the economy. The board unanimously approved extending the moratorium on fees collected from new residences. The County Commission must also approve the …

County issues two-year stop on impact fees
Palm Coast Observer, FL – October 2, 2012
The larger-than-usual audience erupted in applause Monday after the Flagler County Board of County Commissioners voted in favor of a two-year moratorium on the transportation facilities impact fee and parks and recreation impact fees. Starting Oct. 10, those who wish to build a …

Flagler County OKs impact fee moratorium,
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL – October 1, 2012
The Flagler County Commission voted 4-1 Monday to approve an impact fee moratorium that will go into effect Oct. 10 for two years. In a separate action, commissioners also voted 4-1 to levy a half-cent “Small County” sales tax to help expand the county jail. Commissioner Alan Peterson cast …

Impact Fees: What They Are, Who Pays Them, How Much
Flaglerlive.com, FL – October 1, 2012
Impact fees are a one-time tax imposed on all new residential and commercial construction by local governments to defray the cost of growth’s “impact” on vital services such as schools, parks, roads, ambulance and fire service and other infrastructure needs. The rationale behind impact …

As Flagler Governments Consider Impact Fee Cut, Evidence of Economic Benefit Is Slim
FlaglerLive.com, FL – October 1, 2012
Monday morning, the Flagler County Commission will be taking action on two of the most consequential issues it will have faced all year. One is to unilaterally impose an indefinite halfcent sales surtax after the commission sensed that voters might not agree to renew a similar levy …

Flagler County officials voting on optional sales tax, impact fee moratorium
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL – September 30, 2012
The Flagler County Commission will decide after public hearings Monday whether to place a moratorium on impact fees, as well as whether to levy a half-cent “Small County” sales tax to help expand the county jail. “There will be only one public hearing for each of these items,” Sally Sherman, …

Kootenai County considering temporary suspension of impact fees
IdahoReporter.com, ID – September 29, 2012
Kootenai County officials will consider a proposal to impact fees temporarily based on such a recommendation from its impact fee advisory committee, according to a story in the Coeur d’Alene Press. One developer described the fees as a “brick wall” preventing him and others from doing …

Impact fees on developers are entirely fair
Fredericksburg,com, VA – September 26, 2012
I started with amazement reading Charlie Payne’s recent letter expressing his concerns about impact fees [“Stafford’s impact fees are unfair to builders,” Sept. 7]. Impact fees are those a developer would pay when he subdivides land into building lots. They are charged to cover the impact …

Proposed saloon gets hit with $220,000 impact fee
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL – September 25, 2012
The Evanoff family bought an old warehouse on McIntosh Road to turn it into a country western bar, but the project came to an abrupt halt when county staff tried to levy a $220,000 impact fee on it. The Evanoffs, who own several sports bars, a car wash and a putt-putt golf course, say the fees …

Final Park Impact Fee Update-Part 4
naplesnews.com, FL – September 25, 2012
The most important thing I would like to say today other than this important park impact fee report is that the Packer’s won! Now moving on to my conclusion as far as District 5 park impact fees and that $23 million it has brought in since 1997. Steve Carnell and Barry Williams have been …

Lower Macungie commissioners decide against traffic fee for new development
East Penn News, PA – September 24, 2012
A small business owner bringing a pizza restaurant and retail shops to Lower Macungie won’t have to pay a $17,046 traffic impact fee that the township had planned to impose, a decision that irked one township commissioner. Doug Brown was the only commissioner on the five-person board to vote …

Cabezon developer plans to sue RR for $5.6M
Albuquerque Journal, NM – September 24, 2012
Rio Rancho could be headed for a court fight with the developer of the Cabezon community after the City Council approved an ordinance that slashes fees the city charges developers for infrastructure improvements. Curb North Inc. attorney Richard Leverick said he will file a lawsuit seeking …

RTC’s Impact Fee Program continues assessment
Daily Sparks Tribune, NV – September 23, 2012
The Regional Transportation Commission’s Regional Road Impact Fee (RRIF) technical advisory committee will convene Thursday after being instructed by the RTC Board of Directors to continue working on the RRIF buy back plan at last Friday’s board meeting. The RRIF has been a source …

Auditors deliver update to Surprise council
Newszap.com, AZ – September 22, 2012
The audit firms hired by the city of Surprise to review development agreements, building permit fees and impact fee management over the past 11 years delivered their first update to the City Council Sept. 18, confirming progress but cautioning their work might take longer than the initial …

RTC board explodes over proposed buy-back program using taxpayer funds
KRNV Reno, NV – September 21, 2012
There was an eruption of emotions after the Regional Transportation Commission board members voted 4-1 to seek more legal advice on a program that would buy back developer-owned credits. Credits are part of the RTC’s Regional Road Impact Fee Credit Program, or RRIF. Credits are …

Impact fees stay in Hartwood
Fredericksburg.com, VA – September 18, 2012
Growth in Stafford County’s Hartwood District must still pay for its impact on transportation. Meanwhile, county supervisors removed transportation impact fees in another district while also continuing a years-long debate on imposing a countywide fee. Tuesday night, the Board of Supervisors …

Flagler School Board to weigh impact fee moratorium
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL – September 16, 2012
Given a lackluster economy, some local leaders say it’s time to cut fees on new development. The Flagler County School Board will discuss a possible moratorium on impact fees during a workshop session Tuesday, joining other local municipalities in halting these fees in hopes of encouraging …

Councilors give final approval to impact-fee reduction
Rio Rancho Observer, NM – September 16, 2012
Despite the threat of a lawsuit, the Rio Rancho Governing Body has given final approval to a two-year moratorium on impact fees. City councilors voted 4-2 to pass the second and final reading of an ordinance removing commercial impact fees and decreasing residential impact fees by half for …

BEAUMONT: The long, complex TUMF tale continues
Press-Enterprise, CA – September 10, 2012
In addition to being blind, justice is also sorta slow. And sometimes very, very boring. But even the most mundane-sounding disputes can have big implications. Take the tussle between Beaumont and the Western Riverside Council of Governments over impact fee collections. I’ll try to be …

Petaluma prepares to lower development impact fees
PressDemocrat.com – September 10, 2012
After more than a year of examination and recalculation, Petaluma is poised to significantly reduce its development fees, a move seen by some as a way to rehab the city’s image as anti-business. Four years ago, the city dramatically increased its development impact fee structure with …

Stafford’s impact fees are unfair to builders
Fredricksburg.com, VA – September 7, 2012
In response to Stafford County’s proposed and perhaps imminent transportation-impact fees, here are the reasons why this policy makes no economic or political sense: The impact fee is a tax upon one segment of our economic community–developers and builders. It will likely be passed …

College seeks ruling that culd affect fee it pays
Weatherford Democrat, TX – September 6, 2012
Weatherford College attorneys have asked State Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office for an opinion on whether the college is considered a school district. Under Section 395.002 (B) of the Local Government Code, the City of Weatherford is a political subdivision and can impose an impact …

Minooka cuts fee for residential developers
The Herald-News, IL – September 4, 2012
Residential developers building in Minooka will get some relief from the drop in land values now that the village has lowered the land site donation fee by $30,000 per acre. Minooka trustees recently approved a resolution reducing the amount developers pay from $75,000 down to $45,000 …

Santa Monica City Council Concerned New Traffic Mitigation Fees Could Hurt Small Businesses
Santa Monica Lookout, CA – August 30, 2012
Though generally receptive to a staff proposal for a Transportation Impact Fee (TIF) for developments, the Santa Monica City Council remained concerned about unintended consequences. The proposed plan would levy a fee for new developments and on use changes in old …

Santa Monica City Council to Consider New Transportation Fee for Developers
Santa Monica Lookout, CA – August 28, 2012
At its meeting Tuesday night, the Santa Monica City Council will explore whether to require developers to pay a Transportation Impact Fee to help fund improvements to roads and bike lanes. The proposed fee — which was supported by the Planning Commission in March — would target …

Sutter County OKs $1.33M for animal shelter
– August 28, 2012
Sutter County supervisors approved their own way to pay for their share of the three-partner animal shelter on Tuesday night, though as typical with the long-sought building, the method to do so was a bit complicated. With one supervisor absent, the board approved on a 4-0 vote a financing …

New city impact fee committee organizes
Kalispell Daily Interlake, MT – August 23, 2012
Kalispell’s new Impact Fee Committee members met for the first time Tuesday for a primer on the onetime “hook-up” fees the city charges for water, sewer, storm water, police and fire services. Jason Mueller, Michael Johnson, Larry Sartain and Chad Graham were appointed to the advisory …

Impact fee money could be in jeopardy
Carroll County Tims, MD – August 22, 2012
The money reserved for the Mount Airy Middle School may be in jeopardy after the Carroll County Board of Commissioners decided to temporarily cut off construction funding for schools with capacity issues. It could be months before the county’s financial advisers know the effect of the board’s …

New study recommends decreasing Bozeman’s impact fees
KTVM, MT – August 16, 2012
Bozeman’s impact fees cover four areas- streets, water, sewer and fire/ems- new business and housing developments are required to shell out the one-time payment.  “We need to know the living area or the square feet of the space, the lot size” said a representative from Maryland firm Tischler …

Developer impact fee to increase
SnoValley Star, WA – August 15, 2012
The North Bend City Council voted July 17 to increase its stormwater impact fee, which hasn’t changed since the city formed a stormwater utility in 2001. Public Works Director Ron Garrow told the council that revenues from the capital facility charge, a one-time upfront fee for developers, …

San Clemente owes property owners $9 million, lawsuit says
Orange County REgister, CA – August 15, 2012
A lawsuit against San Clemente seeks to force local government to refund more than $9 million in beach-parking impact fees and interest that the city is holding after collecting fees over the last 23 years from homes built in parts of town outside the state-designated coastal zone. In a lawsuit …

Ruidoso to review impact fees
Ruidoso News, NM – August 13, 2012
The ordinance imposing impact fees on new construction in the village of Ruidoso is scheduled to be reviewed and updated. Members of the Ruidoso Capital Improvements Advisory Committee meeting Tuesday sent a recommendation to the village council to approve a $44,400 contract with …

Builders looking for a break from impact fees
Elgin Courier News, IL – August 12, 2012
Developers believe there is a demand for new home construction in the area — but are asking municipalities for some help in getting them built. The builder of the proposed River Place townhomes at Sundown Road and Route 31 asked South Elgin this past week to consider waiving impact …

Commission candidates don’t see eye to eye
NaplesNews.com. FL – August 10, 2012
If there is one issue on which the candidates in each of the three Collier County commission primary races can agree to disagree, it’s impact fees. The challengers, all Republicans, have all said a moratorium on some or all of those fees could drive economic development to Collier County. …

Carroll commissioners poised to suspend collection
Carroll County Times, MD – August 10, 2012
By deciding to temporarily stop charging developers a fee that helps pay for increased school capacity, the cost of building new homes will go down in Carroll County, according to Commissioner Robin Bartlett Frazier. The Carroll County Board of Commissioners held a public hearing …

Coupeville may end park impact fee
Whidbey Examiner, WA – August 10, 2012
Before hammer can hit nail and drill can bite into wood, a fee to mitigate the impact of new home construction on parks, recreation and open space in Coupeville must be paid to Town Hall. But the impact fee may soon be suspended or dropped as the town updates the parks and recreation …

Rogersville Board of Aldermen condsidering extending impact fee reduction
SouthCountyMail.com, MO – August 8, 2012
The Rogersville Board of Aldermen is considering extending the 75 percent reduction for impact fees that was scheduled to end on July 31. Mayor Jack Cole brought the idea to the Aldermen during their meeting on Monday. “Housing seems to be coming back up a little in our area,” he said. “I …

Hailey preparing to tweak impact fees
Mountain Express, ID – August 8, 2012
The Hailey City Council reviewed proposed changes to the city’s development impact fee rates Monday, overturning some changes recommended by a development-impact-fee committee and passed by the Hailey Planning and Zoning Commission last month. Development-impact fees …

Palm Beach County considers boosting new home fees
South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com, FL – August 7, 2012
Palm Beach County’s new-home fees that help pay for schools, roads and other community needs could go up for the first time in six years. When the South Florida housing bubble burst, Palm Beach County put the brakes on “impact fee” increases in the hopes of helping builders and developers …

Brokers, builders push back against development fee proposal
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, GA – August 7, 2012
Small signs of life in metro Atlanta’s real estate and construction industries have local governments asking whether they should charge developers more to build homes, commercial properties and offices. Development impact fees, which are levied on developers to help pay for parks, …

Fayetteville Council considers lowering development fees
The Citizen.com, GA – August 1, 2012
Fayetteville for the past several years has decreased a variety of fees associated with the attempt to attract economic development to the city. That effort will continue Aug. 2 when the council will hear the first reading of a proposal for restructuring the impact fee schedule designed to lower fees …

Rio Rancho officials ponder reductions in impact fees
Albuquerque Journal, NM – July 31, 2012
Rio Rancho is considering cutting its impact fees, hoping it will spur job growth, tax revenue and spending. According to a report in the Albuquerque Journal, the Rio Rancho city council has voted to revise the city’s impact fee ordinance. The change would reduce the fee for residential development …

Impact fee moratorium tied to new sewer system
Davenport News Chief, IA – July 29, 2012
City commissioners told City Manager Amy Arrington last week to prepare for a moratorium so the city won’t have to pay $1.4 million in impact fees if commissioners keep their promise to pay hookup costs for residents who may get a new city sewer system on the city’s east side. “Growth here …

Commissioners Seek Citizen Input on Resolution to Reduce Education Impact Fees
Eldersburg Patch, MD – July 27, 2012
The (Carroll) Board of County Commissioners will hold a public hearing to get feedback on a resolution to reduce the education portion of county impact fees. Builders of new homes pay impact fees with the goal of having new development pay for itself. The impact fees allow the county …

City’s insurer won’t pay for impact fee lawsuit
Fernandina Beach News-Leader, FL – July 26, 2012
The city’s insurer, Preferred Government Insurance Trust, has denied coverage so the city may have to pay legal fees and possibly more than $1.6 million for so-called illegal impact fees if it loses a class-action lawsuit filed last year. According to a city document, its insurer has denied coverage …

Council to discuss rise in park impact fees
The News Tribune, WA – July 24, 2012
The fee added to new housing units downtown to fund parks would rise 23 percent to $2,126 per unit, a city-funded draft study recommends. The parks fee for building multifamily units elsewhere would rise 10 percent to $3,368, and the fee for single family homes would rise 4 percent …

City Council: Hendrix Village may get impact fee credit for Watershed
Log Cabin Democrat, AR – July 24, 2012
The fee added to new housing units downtown to fund parks would rise 23 percent to $2,126 per unit, a city-funded draft study recommends. The parks fee for building multifamily units elsewhere would rise 10 percent to $3,368, and the fee for single family homes would rise 4 percent …

Planning Commission spares small business from transit fee
San Francisco Examiner, CA – July 19, 2012
New and expanding businesses would have to pay more for the transit impacts they have on The City under new legislation proposed by Mayor Ed Lee’s administration, but the Planning Commission agreed Thursday to spare some small businesses from the brunt of the charges. Business …

Rotelli gets partial refund of parking impact fees in Lake Worth
Palm Beach Post, FL – July 19, 2012
The downtown restaurant Rotelli will receive an $82,500 refund from the city for a portion of the parking impact fees the company paid in 2006. City commissioners voted 3-2 Tuesday to give the restaurant company a partial refund of the $105,000 it paid in parking impact fees. The refund …

Kane County Board Transportation Committee rejects road impact fee reduction
Kane County Chronicle, IL – July 18, 2012
Tuesday, the Kane County Board Transportation Committee rejected a proposal that would have reduced the county’s road impact fees by about 80 percent. For months, County Board members have debated the level of the fees it charges to anyone building commercial structures and houses …

Blaine planning commission supports park impact fees
The Northern Light.com – July 18, 2012
Blaine planning commissioners want park impact fees reinstituted citywide and have recommended city council set the fees higher than they were in 2009, before being dropped.The move is the second effort on the city’s part to raise more revenue by reinstating dormant fees. In April, Blaine …

Orange Cove offers impact-fee reduction
Fresno Business Journal, CA – July 17, 2012
In an attempt to bring more businesses to Orange Cove, the city announced a 50 percent discount for the final six months of 2013 on impact fees for commercial and industrial developers. The discount went into effect as of July 1. The city also wanted to point out the HUB Zone and …

Court rules in favor of Bellingham in parks fee dispute
News Tribune, WA – July 17, 2012
The city won its legal battle with a developer over how much dedicated land should be credited to the developer’s parks impact fees. The city was also awarded all its attorneys’ fees and costs. The state Court of Appeals, Division I on July 9 ruled in the case of Belleau Woods II, LLC v. City of …

New impact fee analysis could cost city $100,000
Royse City Herald-Banner, TX – July 17, 2012
City council members learned last week that the city will have to spend $100,000 this year for the development of a new impact fee analysis — a requirement one city official termed “a serious issue.” Joint Acting City Manager Larry Lott twice referred to the impact fee analysis as “a serious …

Maple Valley may change fire impact fees process
Covington Reporter, WA – July 12, 2012
Maple Valley City Council is considering a fire impact fee on new developments to replace the current process, which city and fire district officials consider to be inefficient. The ordinance would also create an interlocal agreement between the city and Maple Valley Fire and Life …

Hailey adjusts development fees
Idaho Mountain Express, ID – July 11, 2012
The Hailey Planning and Zoning Commission voted Monday to make changes to the city’s development impact fee requirements, based on new growth rate projections and the commission’s desire to stimulate commercial activity in the city. Development impact fees are regulated …

Impact fee legislation leads to updated studies by City of Prescott
Prescott Daily Courier, AZ – July 11, 2012
Three new City of Prescott studies, all related to recent state legislation concerning impact fees, will take place over the next year or so. The total price tag: more than $600,000. On Tuesday, the Prescott City Council approved a contract for the first of the studies – an update of the city’s …

Caron resigns as Londonderry town manager
UnionLeader.com, NH – July 10, 2012
As citizens and town officials gathered at Town Hall on Monday night to address the town’s improper usage of municipal impact fees, members of the Town Council announced the resignation of Town Manager David Caron. Caron’s resignation, effective July 20, comes several weeks …

Deadline to use $30K in impact fees
SeacoastOnline.com, NH – July 10, 2012
The Town Council is mulling a proposal to release $30,000 in impact fees to pay for deposits made back in February on properties for the building of a new high school. Superintendent Dr. Jim Hayes approached the Town Council recently about the impact fees. An impact fee is a fee that is …

School district clashes with county over proposed “zero” school impact fee, costing up to $3M
Palm Beach Post, FL – July 6, 2012
A disagreement between Palm Beach County’s two biggest governmental agencies over what constitutes growth could end up costing the school district an estimated $3 million for capital projects over the next two years. County planning officials recently warned the school district of their …

Snoqualmie school district approves capital facilities plan
Valley Record, WA – July 5, 2012
A new impact fee, new middle school, and new elementary school, in that order, are all in the plans for the Snoqualmie Valley School District. The fee and construction projects were detailed in the capital facilities plan approved by the school board at its June 28 meeting. The plan, which projects …

Preliminary Park Impact Fee Update
NaplesNews.com (blog), FL – July 5, 2012
A few weeks back, I had posted a blog titled Park Impact Fee Requests. You may want to read that first before moving onto what I write today. To begin, you can find the documents for Collier County Park Impact Fee Graphs and Data that I used under the “Docs” page on My Thoughts Exactly …

Revising impact fees a top goal
Orland News-Register, CA – July 3, 2012
Reviewing and revising the city’s impact fee charges and administrative fees are among the top goals as the Orland City Council moves forward. City Manager Peter Carr brought a list of items before the council on Monday to see what their priorities were for the year. Along with reviewing the fees, …

Impact fees waived for pre-1976 mobile homes
Journal-News.net, WV – June 30, 2012
In the rare instance that a potential Jefferson County resident would like to move a mobile home constructed before 1976 into the county, they will not have to pay an impact fee after Sunday. The Jefferson County Commission voted on Thursday to waive impact fees for any mobile homes constructed …

Board proposes suspending collection of schools impact fee
Carroll County Times, MD – June 27, 2012
County commissioners cited declining student enrollment as the reason they plan to temporarily stop charging developers a fee that helps pay for increased school capacity. The Carroll County Board of Commissioners voted 4-0 Tuesday to draft a resolution that lowers the county’s school capacity …

Jackson approves traffic fee loan to finish Prospect Drive
TSPNTV.com, CA – June 27, 2012
Jackson City Council voted 5-0 Monday to approve a Regional Traffic Mitigation Fee Program oversight committee’s approval of a loan of $200,000 in fee program funds to Sutter Creek’s Prospect Drive realignment project. The Council also voted approval of impact fee changes in the program …

Martin County committee takes hands-off stance on impact fees for auto dealer
TCPalm.com, FL – June 27, 2012
As a South Florida auto dealer attempts to establish a Stuart location and lobbies for a reduction in impact fees for the project, the Martin County Impact Review Committee on Wednesday said it would monitor the issue closely but let the process take its course. The committee is charged with …

Panel recommends city holds line on housing fees
Napa Valley Register, CA – June 26, 2012
City fees to build a house in Napa had threatened to go up by thousands of dollars, but it appears they will remain unchanged for now because of protests from developers, Realtors and other stakeholders. The city completed a study late last year assessing the impact new development …

Apartments Near Disney Emerge With Help From Impact-Fee
Orlando Sentinel, FL – June 25, 2012
The developer that won one of Orange County‘s first impact-fee deferrals in 2009 expects to break ground next month on the initial phase of what is planned as a 480-unit workforce-housing apartment complex near Walt Disney World. Timberlock Partners LLC purchased about 40 acres off …

County can’t stop impact fees
Culpeper Star Exponent, VA – June 24, 2012
Despite a recent call from the Culpeper Chamber of Commerce for the county not to implement traffic impact fees on new or expanding developments next month, county officials say it is too late for the locality to stop or delay the ordinance’s July 1, 2012 implementation date. No public hearings …

Council wants audit of $870K shortfall
The Gridley Herald, CA – June 22, 2012
The cash deficit of $869,935 discussed at Monday night’s Gridley Council meeting is in large part due to the City’s Planning Fund (Fund 500), cumulative expenses incurred for the City’s General Plan Update according to City Administrator Rob Hickey. In order to approve the 2011-2012 budget …

Kane County renews impact fee debate with push
Daily Herald, IL – June 19, 2012
Kane County officials restarted the debate on what fees to charge new development in the county Tuesday with a renewed push for a major reduction. The charges, known as impact fees, are imposed to hold new development accountable for the increased burden placed on roads …

Cary mints fee for apartments
newsobserver.com, NC – June 18, 2012
Developers of apartment complexes here will pay thousands of dollars more in fees under a policy, approved Thursday by the Cary Town Council, that’s meant to fund new park space. Apartment industry representatives warn the new cost will make Cary the least hospitable Triangle …

Elephant roaming Norman
Norman Transcript, OK – June 17, 2012
The recent debates at city hall (NTIFA, NEDA, the north water treatment plant and high-density housing) are examples where various agents are looking at different sides of the same elephant: “Who pays for growth?” If cost of growth was properly accounted for, then citizens would have no …

What happened to the fiscal conservatives we elected?
Star Banner, FL – June 17, 2012
All of our Republican county commissioners ran as fiscal conservatives, which to me means they want balanced budgets. So how, in the same meeting, do they pass a balanced Transportation Improvement Plan budget for fiscal year 2012-13 and then less than an hour later cut $783,000 in revenue …

Park Impact Fee Requests
Naples Daily News, FL – June 16, 2012
There has been alot of crazy stuff going on lately in the Estates and I can no longer sit here at my desk without expressing how I feel about some of the issues. As much as I would rather sit and write a family story, I am compelled to do the opposite. I will begin with the latest venture I have …

Impact fees for new homes do more harm than good
The Olympian, WA – June 15, 2012
On Wednesday at 6 p.m., the Thurston County commissioners will be holding a public hearing on imposing impact fees on potential homebuyers in Thurston County. Since the recession and housing crisis began, our local jurisdictions have seen drastically reduced revenues. The most dramatic …

Tavares poised to continue impact-fee waiver
Orlando Sentinel, FL – June 13, 2012
City Council members are prepared to continue giving developers a break on impact fees until the end of the year. Public hearings on the proposal will be held June 20 and July 18, and if approved the fee-waiver period could be extended through Dec. 31. The period is currently due to expire …

Mayor to defend ‘environmental fee’ dinosaur park charge at freeholders meeting
Hudson Reporter.com, NJ – June 12, 2012
Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli, along with Town Council members and administrators, were planning to attend the Hudson County Freeholders meeting Tuesday at 4 p.m. to defend the environmental impact monies that the town collects from visitors who park at Field Station: Dinosaurs …

Council to hold first reading on bid to eliminate parking fee
SeacoastOnline.com, NH – June 11, 2012
The City Council at tonight’s meeting will consider first reading of an effort to eliminate downtown parking requirements for nonresidential uses and to repeal a controversial parking impact fee. Elimination of the requirements and impact fee is being proposed through an amendment …

Secaucus charging ‘environmental impact fee’ despite parking fee ban at Field Station
The Jersey Journal, NJ – June 11, 2012
Question: When is a parking fee not a parking fee? Answer: When it’s an “environmental impact fee.” At least that’s what town officials in Secaucus and officials of the recently-opened Field Station: Dinosaurs attraction at Laurel Hill Park are saying about a $10 fee visitors have to pay to park at …

Impact fees collection to start for North Davis Fire District
Davis Standard-Examiner, CA – June 10, 2012
A new agreement will start July 1 regulating the collection of impact fees for North Davis Fire District. The city, West Point and the North Davis Fire District entered into an original interlocal agreement July 1, 2005. This agreement was meant to memorialize what the parties intended regarding …

County expands time frame for lowering impact fees
Newnan Times Herald, GA – June 7, 2012
Coweta County is slightly expanding the time frame for retroactively applying the county’s newly lowered impact fees. The Coweta County Commissioners voted May 15 to reduce the impact fees. At the time, they voted to make that retroactive to Jan. 1, and to give refunds for any project that …

Boulder County to study impact of oil and gas vehicles on roads
Boulder Daily Camera, CO – June 7, 2012
The Boulder County commissioners Thursday approved funding for a study of how heavy oil and gas vehicles may impact rural county roads in the future and whether a fee should be charged on those trips to cover increased road maintenance costs. The commissioners gave the OK for the …

F’ville eyes lowering sewer impact fee
TheCitizen.com, GA – June 6, 2012
The Fayetteville City Council on Thursday will hear the first reading of ordinances that would amend the sewer impact fee and the city’s early retirement program. The council will also consider a resolution opposing the federal government’s “unconstitutional encroachment on the free …

Portland tries to make buildings more age friendly
Journal of Commerce, OR – June 5, 2012
With the recent release of the expansive Portland Plan, the city established a daunting goal: creating equity for all groups. One of the groups mentioned was the elderly population, which is expected to more than double in the Portland-metro area in the next 25 years, according to a 2006 …

County suspends transportation impact fees another year
Ocala.com, FL – June 5, 2012
Marion County Commissioner Stan McClain received quick and total support from his colleagues after calling for suspending transportation impact fees for another year. Impact fees are paid by developers to cover the cost of new infrastructure needs created by their projects. The issue came …

Construction in St. Johns County: Getting the message on impact fees
Florida Times Union, FL – June 4, 2012
I found the Times-Union article on the upward surge in increased building and home sales in St. Johns County disingenuous. It was unfair in its comparison to Duval County in that this “surge” took place when St. Johns County has only recently turned around an almost complete lockdown of …

City council votes to temporarily cut impact fee in half
Herald-Banner, TX – June 3, 2012
The city council has voted to temporarily cut in half the impact fee for new, single-family homes in Royse City, including the first 38 houses planned for the Kerala Christian Adult Homes development. During a regular meeting on May 22, the city council voted by a 4-2 margin to reduce …

Martin County commissioners, candidates debate impact fees for new auto dealerships
TCPalm.com, FL – June 2, 2012
The controversy over as much as $1 million in impact fees on three luxury auto dealerships planned on U.S. 1 escalated Tuesday during a Martin County Commission meeting. Several county commissioners, commission candidates and civic activists took sides on the efforts by Brickell …

City council votes to temporarily cut impact fee in half
Royse City Herald Banner, TX – May 30, 2012
The city council has voted to temporarily cut in half the impact fee for new, singlefamily homes in Royse City, including the first 38 houses planned for the Kerala Christian Adult Homes development. During a regular meeting on May 22, the city council voted by a 4-2 margin to reduce …

Council considers repealing parking impact fee
seacoastonline.com, NH – May 24, 2012
The City Council voted this week to move forward with an effort to eliminate downtown parking requirements for non-residential uses and to repeal a controversial parking impact fee. Councilors were unanimous in their decision to bring back the proposal for first reading at the June 11 meeting …

Luxury auto dealer balking at $1 million in impact fees in Stuart
TCPalm, FL – May 24, 2012
Impact fees totaling as much as $1 million for three luxury auto dealerships planned on U.S. 1 could kill the $20 million-plus project, the developer’s representative said. However, Mario Murgado, the president and CEO of Brickell Motors of Miami, hopes to negotiate much lower fees, said Jose …

Council approves school impact fee increase at lower level
Bonney Lake Courier-Herald, WA – May 23, 2012
The Sumner School District will soon start getting more money in impact fees from builders in Bonney Lake, but not quite as much as the city originally proposed. The city council Tuesday night passed an ordinance raising the city’s school impact fees from about $1,200 to $3,005 per single …

Melborne to decide on water, sewer rate
Florida Today, FL – May 22, 2012
Melbourne is weighing a new round of water and sewer rate increases that wouldn’t hit customers’ bills until October 2013. The average residential customer would see their combined bill go up by about $3 per month in the first year after the proposed rate increases take effect, then …

White House reduces impact fees
The Tennessean, TN – May 22, 2012
The City of White House has voted to drastically reduce its impact fees in a ploy by local leaders to spark business and residential development. After promising to eliminate impact fees in his recent State of the City address, Mayor Mike Arnold presented the Municipal Planning Commission …

Bonney Lake City Council poised to raise school impact fees
Bonney Lake-Sumner Courier-Herald Reporter, WA – May 21, 2012
Even as they look for ways to reduce their already-high building costs, the Bonney Lake City Council seems poised to pass an increase on school impact fees. The increase was requested by the Sumner School District, though the city council in Bonney Lake is expected to be more than originally …

Reflections on the impact fee vote
The Ledger, FL – May 17, 2012
I received an email from Carlton Hodges, one of the longtime stalwarts of the Polk County Builders Association, about the public reaction to the impact fee vote by the County Commission. He correctly noted that the public doesn’t understand impact fees. Impact fees are part of the cost of …

Panel votes to extend impact fee moratorium
News Leader, FL – May 16, 2012
County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to extend a two-year impact-fee moratorium for an additional 18 months. Commissioners imposed the moratorium Aug. 1, 2010, stopping the collection of impact fees to help pay for transportation, parks, jail, police, ambulance service and libraries …

Cumberland council looks again at impact fee ordinance
Forecaster, ME – May 15, 2012
A month after it approved an amended impact fee ordinance, the Town Council on Monday sent a new proposed change to the Planning Board for a recommendation. The town’s Ordinance Committee recommended language be added that would waive the fee on a building permit for a house …

Impact fee refund program draws few companies
Linclon Journal Star, NE – May 14, 2012
In eight years, just six companies have applied to take advantage of a special incentive program tied to the city’s impact fee system. But quality, not quantity, was the goal of the program, intended to help attract decent new jobs to the city. The special tax refund program, created in 2004, …

Crestview considers eliminating some impact fees
News Bulletin, FL – May 11, 2012
Crestview city leaders took the first tentative steps toward rescinding or suspending some of the city’s impact fees by engaging a consultant who is expert in the process. Unplugging the fees, a tool wielded by city government to have developers pay some of the burden their developments place …

City prevails in settlement with developer
Sandy Post, OR – May 8, 2012
The city of Sandy recently saved nearly $2 million in a lawsuit that has been ongoing for nearly five years but has never reached a jury. A trial had been scheduled to begin Monday, May 14. In an out-of-court agreement, the city settled with the 4-J Land Company, developer of Sandy Bluff, according …

Schools will ask county to suspend impact fee
Ocala.com, FL – May 8, 2012
The Marion County School Board on Tuesday voted to formally ask the County Commission to suspend the 2012-13 impact fee, stating there’s not enough growth to justify the tax on residential development. Though the decision was expected, considering the board reached a unanimous consensus …

Deerfield establishes infrastructure fee
Pioneer Local, IL – May 8, 2012
Deerfield officials have passed an infrastructure impact fee to pay for repairs to damaged streets caused by large construction vehicles. Trustees unanimously passed the ordinance Monday on its second reading, establishing a one-half of one percent fee on the estimated cost of a …

Polk Impact-Fee Moratorium: Two Years, Nothing To Show
Ledger.com, FL – May 6, 2012
The Polk County School Board held a joint meeting Thursday with the County Commission in the commission chamber in Bartow. The topic was the commission’s moratorium on construction impact fees. Leave it to the educators to teach the commissioners a lesson or two. The commission…

Orange Beach looks at reducing impact fees on new development
Press-Register, AL – May 5, 2012
The city may reduce the impact fees on new development in an effort to bring in more residents and businesses. “Is our impact fee impeding construction and economic development or a valuable resource?” Mayor Tony Kennon asked rhetorically. In most cases, the developers cannot finance …

Polk School Board Wants to Keep School Impact Fees
The Ledger, FL – May 3, 2012
Polk School Board members are not interested in eliminating school impact fees, they told the County Commission Thursday. County commissioners imposed a moratorium on all but school impact fees in 2010 and are seriously considering an extension for as much as two years this year. …

City Council approves park tax
Port Orchard Independent, WA – May 2, 2012
The Port Orchard City Council Tuesday approved the collection of a one time tax on new home construction to help pay for city parks. The council approved a “park impact fee” by a 7-0 vote during their regularly scheduled meeting. The city will levy the fee on all new residential homes built, …

Indian River County staff continues reluctance in refunding impact fee refunds to deserving county landowners
TCPalms.com, FL – April 28, 2012
The yearlong political saga over impact fee refunds has finally come to an end. We can now separate facts from politics. We begin with the very existence of refunds. Originally Indian River County staff claimed that there were no refunds. Community Development Director Bob Keating, Budget …

Kane can’t lower fees to spur development
Daily Herald, IL – April 27, 2012
Just wanting to stimulate the economy and create local jobs isn’t a good enough reason to lower Kane County’s fees on new homes and businesses. A new legal opinion Thursday stymied county board members’ efforts to agree on how much they should reduce road impact fee rates. The county …

Kane County could reduce impact fee to spark growth
Daily Herald, IL – April 24, 2012
At least some reduction in the fees Kane County charges developers and businesses looking to locate within its borders is likely after a lengthy debate by elected officials Monday. But a chasm still remains among board members who disagree on what effect the fees really have on economic …

Impact fees, Measure A extension on Chico school board agenda
Chico Enterprise-Record, CA – April 17, 2012
A hike in developer fees and a proposal to extend a previously voter-approved bond, will both come before the Chico Unified School District board of trustees on Wednesday. Developer fees, or so called “impact fees,” are funds collected at the time a building is constructed. The fees are meant …

County Commission Decision Coming On Extending Impact Fee Moratorium
The Ledger, FL – April 14, 2012
Polk County commissioners agreed Friday to hold a public hearing May 15 to decide whether to extend the impact fee moratorium. Commissioners imposed a moratorium on transportation, parks, jail, police, ambulance service and libraries that went into effect Aug. 1, 2010. They later voted …

Impact fee pits roads against development
Kane County Chronicle, IL – April 13, 2012
But like most in the county, Michels, who is village president of Sugar Grove, also will tell of his desire to do everything possible to bring more businesses – and the jobs that come with them – to his hometown and the rest of the county. With that in mind, Michels said he doesn’t envy the tough …

To fee or not to fee
Crestview News Bulletin, FL – April 11, 2012
City officials say they’re caught between making Crestview attractive to developers and businesses and needing impact fees to help pay for the added burden new projects place on city infrastructure. Putting a moratorium on some of the city’s impact fees could encourage growth yet allow …

Push for more independent review of St. Petersburg impact fees takes detour
Tampa Times, FL – April 11, 2012
Earlier this year city leaders sought more accountability in the collection of impact fees after a miscalculation that cost taxpayers nearly $160,000. In a push for clarity to prevent similar mistakes, the City Council voted Jan. 12 to order an outside audit of all transportation impact fees …

Locals weigh in on Kane County impact fee debate
Chicag Daily Herald, IL – April 10, 2012
For Kane County Board District 22 candidate Bob Getz, the focus of Kane County’s debate about impact fees should focus on comments like the one submitted by the Village of Hampshire in a recent letter. “We feel as if we are at a competitive disadvantage when competing against our neighbors …

Impact fee vs. taxes debate to continue in Kane
Chicago Daily Herald, IL – April 6, 2012
The burden of paying for road improvements needed because of new development in Kane County will either shift toward businesses or current taxpayers as county officials reexamine local impact fees. Kane is one of only two local counties — DuPage is the other — to charge impact fees on …

Kane board members fear county fee may be hurting development
Aurora Beaco News, IL – April 5, 2012
Kane County Board members are raising concerns that the county’s impact fee on developers who bring in new businesses actually may be prompting businesses to move to other counties. “I’ve received quite a bit of correspondence within my district,” said board member TR Smith, R- …

Over $127M in spending may add fuel to lawsuit asserting misuse of Portland funds
KOIN Locall 6, OR – April 5, 2012
Portland’s city attorney has compiled a detailed list of more than $127 million in recent spending by the water and sewer bureaus that could be challenged by legal action to block misuse of ratepayers’ dollars. The largest items on the list include more than $53 million transferred to the city …

County explores Sandy Creek impact fee plan
NewsHerald.com, FL – April 4, 2012
Bay County has found money that could help alleviate burdensome impact fees for Sandy Creek residents, but not all the commissioners are ready to give it away.  Callaway’s purchase of the beleaguered utility company saved customers from a massive rate hike, but still left them with a hefty bill …

Orland development proceeding with caution
Orland Press-Register, CA – April 4, 2012
Orland’s development impact fees to offset the city’s rising costs of infrastructure and service will not likely be going up very soon. The City Council wants the Orland Planning Commission to discuss facility and growth goals with Interim Planner Scott Friend and come back with …

Council to consider impact-fee reduction
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL – March 31, 2012
The Edgewater City Council is expected to temporarily reduce impact fees for some commercial properties. Elected officials, who meet at 6 p.m. Monday in the Council Chambers, 104 N. Riverside Drive, will review a waiver of all transportation/road impact fees for structures over 10,000 …

Kane Co. vote pits residents against developers
Daily Herald, Il – March 30, 2012
What’s worth more to local residents — lower property taxes or new jobs? Kane County Board members will answer that question April 10 as they set the county’s impact fees for the next five years. Officials charge an impact fee to developers when a new commercial business or residential …

Judge rejects Roseville impact-fee ordinance
Star Tribune, MN – March 29, 2012
A Ramsey County district judge has ruled that a Roseville ordinance allowing the city to impose an impact fee on developers exceeds the city’s authority. Judge John Guthmann declared Ordinance 1417 “invalid and unenforceable” in his 20-page ruling released Wednesday. The ordinance …

Palm Coast officials take aim at county over impact fee, sales tax issues
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL – March 28, 2012
City Council members on Tuesday opposed the county’s proposal to change how a half-cent sales tax would be distributed — and they weren’t happy about the county’s plans for spending impact fees, either. First, the half-cent sales tax. The 10-year tax is set to expire in December and voters …

County to consider future of road impact fees
Kane County Chronicle, IL – March 28, 2012
With the local economy still mired in the doldrums, Kane County’s government could soon decide whether the county should continue charging those building new businesses and homes to help pay to improve county roads. On Tuesday, the Kane County Board took up the discussion of …

Cumberland council to vote again on impact fees
Forecaster, ME – March 27, 2012
While it unanimously approved changes on Monday to a growth ordinance, the Town Council will vote again on amendments to an impact fee ordinance. The council also tabled to its April 9 meeting a vote on the fiscal 2013 budget, to allow more time to complete its budget review. After more …

Palm Coast, county at odds over impact fee money
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL – March 27, 2012
The City Council will discuss setting priorities today for spending about $5 million in transportation impact fees held by Flagler County. It’s a bit of a touchy topic, because Palm Coast officials believe the money belongs to the city and they should be able to decide how best to spend it. But a …

Councils share cost of study to revise development fees
Yuma Sun, AZ – March 25, 2012
The impact fees that Somerton, San Luis, Ariz., and Wellton charge developers for residential and commercial projects are expected to be revised this year to comply with a new state law. All three municipalities’ councils have hired the consulting firm TischlerBise to study the cities’ existing …

Flowery Branch wants out of impact fee deal with Hall
Gainesville Times, GA – March 25, 2012
Flowery Branch officials say they want to “even the playing field” when it comes to development impact fees. A June 2004 agreement that has the city collecting impact fees on behalf of Hall County has come under scrutiny particularly from new Flowery Branch council members Damon Gibbs …

Some businesses to be assessed new fee in West Deer
Valley News Dispatch, PA – March 23, 2012
Incoming business to West Deer and existing ones that plan to make changes or expansions will most likely have to pay a nominal fee. Supervisors adopted an impact fee that is meant to generate money for projects like new intersections, traffic lights and road repairs but haven’t set a rate. …

Impact fees could be refunded
Morgan County Citizen, GA – March 21, 2012
Madison Mayor Bruce Gilbert on Monday urged the Madison City Council to refund all impact fees collected since the city adopted the impact fee ordinance in 2009. “I think since we have repealed this, we should give back the money we collected,” Gilbert said at the meeting of the Madison …

Transportation Impact Fee Heads To Santa Monica City Council
Santa Monica Mirror, CA – March 20, 2012
Hoping to alter the future of traffic management in Santa Monica, the Planning Commission unanimously recommended on Wednesday night that the City Council adopt a Transportation Implementation Fee (TIF), which aims to mitigate traffic in Santa Monica while furthering the goals …

County’s choice of consultant divisive
Fernandina Beach News-Leader FL – March 19, 2012
Nassau County Commissioners voted 4-1 Monday to award a consultancy to Gillette Associates, Inc., despite a recommendation from staff to hire McCranie Associates. The decision drew opposition from engineer Daniel McCranie and Commissioner Steve Kelley, but the board accepted …

City council takes step to lower impact fees, increase home building
Rockwall Herald Banner, TX – March 19, 2012
The city council has taken a step to temporarily lower impact fees, a move members believe could spark more home construction in Royse City. The motion made during the March 13 regular city council meeting called for the Impact Fee Advisory Board to consider lowering the impact fee on homes …

Developers facing new fee to fund transit projects
Santa Monica Daily Press, CA – March 16, 2012
The Planning Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to move forward a new fee that planners estimate could raise $60 million for transportation projects over the next 20 years. It’s one of the highest such fees anywhere in Los Angeles County outside of the coastal corridor, which …

Planners Seek Law Hiking Developer Fees
Santa Monica Patcch, CA – March 15, 2012
Developers building in Santa Monica should be required to pay transportation-related fees that would be among the highest in Los Angeles County, if not the state, the Planning Commission said Wednesday. The commission is recommending approval of an ordinance to force housing …

Pasco schools approve new home impact fee
Tri-City Herald, WA – March 14, 2012
The Pasco School District again could be asking Franklin County commissioners to look at a school impact fee for new home construction. School board members put their final stamp of approval Tuesday night on an agreement with the city of Pasco to charge up to $4,700 for new home …

Volusia School Board sets 2-year moratorium on impact fees
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL – March 14, 2012
A two-year impact fee moratorium won approval from the Volusia County School Board on Tuesday in a move a homebuilders’ official expects will help the area’s construction industry recover from the recession. “We’ve had tremendous activity since the first of the year,” said Sandy …

Proposed ice cream shop seeks waiver from parking impact fee
seacoastonline.com, NH – March 14, 2012
A specialty chocolate and ice cream shop could be moving into the former RiverRun Bookstore location on Congress Street. Kilwins, a franchise focused on handmade chocolates, fudge, and ice cream since 1947, could be moving into the site of the former bookstore at 20 Congress St., according …

Ferndale approves higher traffic fees but will give rebate to big-box stores
The News Tribune, WA – March 14, 2012
Developers will pay higher fees to help cover the costs associated with additional traffic at new stores, but some of them will qualify for a rebate. The City Council on Monday, March 12, approved a traffic impact fee of $3,243 per evening rush-hour vehicle trip in a 443-acre area around …

More than 250 Indian River property owners could share $1.4 million in fee refunds
TCPalm.com, FL – March 13, 2012
More than 250 county property owners stand to get shares of a $1.4 million refund of fees the county hasn’t spent on new parks or fire stations since 2006, county Community Development Director Bob Keating said Tuesday. Under a new ordinance passed by the County Commission, Keating’s …

Cumberland council to vote on budget, ordinance changes
The Forecaster, ME – March 13, 2012
The Town Council scheduled several public hearings Monday, on adoption of the fiscal 2013 budget and proposed growth and impact fee ordinance changes. The hearings will take place at the council meeting on Monday, March 26, when councilors are expected to vote on adoption of next …

Impact fees, changes to attendance zones top Volusia School Board agenda
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL – March 11, 2012
The School Board is expected to make a two-year moratorium on collecting school impact fees in Volusia County official this week. The moratorium, which would be retroactive to Jan. 1, is part of an agreement the board reached in January with the Volusia Building Industry Association to end …

Ferndale council weighs traffic fee, rebate on Monday
Bellingham Herald, WA – March 9, 2012
City Council members return to the drawing board Monday, March 12, when they reconsider how much to charge developers for the additional traffic their businesses create. Under pressure at a March 5 public hearing from those who seek to build homes or lease vacant building space, the council …

School board gives up impact fees, with nothing in return
Orlando Sentinel, FL – March 8, 2012
That was what the Lake County Commission demanded to know last month. The School Board had passed along a new study showing that the impact fee on new homes should be $10,292. That’s the amount it costs the school district, on average, to provide for new students each time a home …

Pasco City Council adopts school impact fees
Mid Columbia Tri-State Herald, WA – March 6, 2012
A portion of the millions of dollars the Pasco School District needs to build classrooms to educate future students will come from a new $4,700 building fee. The Pasco City Council approved the school impact fees requested by the Pasco School District in a 4-2 vote Monday. The district told the city …

Tooele’s new impact fees would outpace comparable communities
Transcript Bulletin, CA – March 6, 2012
On Wednesday, the Tooele City Council will consider adopting new culinary water, public safety and parks and recreation impact fees that will raise the cost of building a new home in Tooele by $1,300.  That raises other questions: Are Tooele’s impact fees higher than comparably sized …

Developers react to school impact fee
KNDO/KNDU, Wa – March 6, 2012
For years now that Pasco has been a rapidly growing city. Acres and acres of new housing have sprung up, and it’s meant thousands of new school age children causing extreme overcrowding in Pasco classrooms. Now, the city council has approved what’s called a school impact fee to be paid …

Impact fees to be refunded
Hometown News, FL – March 2, 2012
Notices will be in the mail soon for some barrier island residents who qualify for an impact fee refund from Indian River County. During its Feb. 21 meeting, the board of county commissioners unanimously approved refunding unspent impact fees for homeowners on the barrier island south …

Albuquerque City Council extends impact fee moratorium
New Mexico Business Weekly, NM – February 28, 2012
Albuquerque has extended the moratorium that reduced impact fees on new construction for at least eight more months and, perhaps, as much as one year. The Albuquerque City Council voted last week to maintain the impact fee moratorium until a study on their affect can be completed …

Lee commission delays impact fee hearing
News-press.com, FL – February 28, 2012
The Lee County Commission on Tuesday delayed a public hearing to raise impact fees for parks and lower them for schools and most emergency services until April 10. Commissioner Ray Judah asked to push back a public hearing on the matter from March 13 to April 10. He said to allow …

Kalispell’s water, sewer impact fees will get further review
Daily Inter Lake, MT – February 28, 2012
Kalispell’s water and sewer impact fees are going back to the drawing board, with the City Council questioning proposed fee adjustments that were based on a study done by HDR Engineering in August 2010. Public works staff will update the study’s figures in-house and return with revised …

Simpler Impact Fees Urged
abqjournal.com, NM – February 28, 2012
The consultant helping Albuquerque reshape its impact-fee system has a suggestion: Keep it simple, stupid. Duncan Associates, a firm from Austin, Texas, doesn’t use those words exactly, but that’s a key concept in its 35-page policy memo, presented to city councilors last week. The firm …

Lee committees recommend impact fee suspension, officials question economic effect
NaplesNew.com, FL – February 28, 2012
A proposed two-year suspension of impact fees probably wouldn’t result in a flood of new development within Lee County, Community Development Director Mary Gibbs said Tuesday afternoon. The county’s Local Planning Agency, a citizen’s advisory committee, recommended a suspension …

Pasco to mull over school impact fee
TriCity Herald, WA – February 27, 2012
Pasco is moving forward on requiring a school impact fee when new homes are built. The Pasco City Council will consider an interlocal agreement with the Pasco School District and an ordinance setting the fee tonight. The Pasco School District has told the city it needs the fee to pay a portion …

Red Bluff restores impact fees
redbluffdailynews.com – February 24, 2012
Construction is well underway at the site of a new Holiday Inn Express just north of The Home Depot on North Main Street in Red Bluff. ( DN-Thompson )Development Impact Fees will be reinstated after a one-year suspension expires March 3 in Red Bluff. City Council members opted …

Fees on home construction best way to handle crisis
Tri-City Herald, WA – February 24, 2012
Pasco has seen major growth for more than a decade. And no part of the city has felt the crunch more than the schools. The schools are jammed with students, and the district has been looking for ways to find new sources of money to help pay for new buildings. Based on the district’s existing …

City torn over fees
Morgan County Citizen, GA – February 23, 2012
All cards were on the table Monday night when Mayor Bruce Gilbert put fellow council members on the spot at an impact fee work session, asking each member to tell where they stand on the issue. Three councilmen were opposed to the fee, while the two in favor, Councilmen Michael Naples …

Council to review study behind impact fee plan
Daily Interlake, MT – February 23, 2012
Questioning a 19-month-old study, the Kalispell City Council put the brakes on proposed adjustments to the city’s wastewater and water impact fees Tuesday night. Council member Bob Hafferman moved to table for two weeks a pair of resolutions that would have set a March 19 public …

American Canyon three-year deficit elimination plan still on track
Times-Herald, CA – February 23, 2012
Some developers won’t have to pay certain city fees until after their project is done and occupied, with the final passage of an impact fee deferral ordinance at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. Instead of having to pay public facility, park and traffic impact fees, developers will be able to …

Pasco moves toward school impact fees
Bellingham Herald, WA – February 22, 2012
The Pasco City Council took the first step toward adopting school impact fees Tuesday. The council approved the Pasco School District’s 2011-17 capital facilities plan in a 4-3 vote. Last week, City Manager Gary Crutchfield told the council that would be the same as supporting a school …

Businesses earn reprieve from city fee until March 2013
IssaquahPress.com, WA – February 21, 2012
City leaders offered entrepreneurs a reprieve from a fee for another year, as officials attempt to entice businesses to relocate to or remain in Issaquah. In a unanimous decision, City Council members agreed to exempt businesses from paying the transportation impact fee until March 2013. …

Hundreds of Indian River County property owners eligible for impact fee refunds
TCPalm.com, FL – February 21, 2012
Bill Furr, a resident of Painted Bunting Lane in Vero Beach, is excited to see if he gets a notice from the county that could mean an extra $1,500 in the bank in the form of a refunded impact fee he never actually paid. “To me, this would be like a gift from heaven,” he said Tuesday. “It’s great. …

Pasco schools bursting at the seams
News Tribune, FL – February 20, 2012
The Pasco School District cut in half the cost of proposed new schools and facilities it will need to teach new students in the next six years. But the district says it still needs school impact fees on new homes to help pay for the space to house the coming wave of students. In the next six years, …

Fee seen as a bar to new business
Westerleysun.com, RI – February 20, 2012
Patricia Isted, who is developing the Twisted Vine Wine Bar at 3 Canal St., recently asked the Town Council to review the fee and how it is administered and disclosed to those opening new businesses in the town. Isted said that while she had a vague memory of the fee from a discussion …

Kalispell considers boosting some impact fees
DailyInterlake.com, MT – February 19, 2012
Two weeks after killing off the short-lived transportation impact fees, Kalispell City Council members are staring at a whopping $2,846 proposed increase to more than double the city’s wastewater impact fee. The proposal would push the fee from $2,499 to $5,345 per single-family home …

Jefferson County Commission eliminates impact fee department, director’s position
Heraldmail.com, WV – February 16, 2012
Following a recommendation from the outgoing county administrator, the Jefferson County Commission Thursday voted to eliminate the county’s impact fee department and abolish the director’s position. Tim Boyde, who resigned as county administrator in January, suggested in a confidential …

City: Impact fees do not drive away business
Crestview New Bulletin, FL – February 15, 2012
Crestview city planner Eric Davis addressed head on what some contend is a popular misconception while speaking to the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce’s Government Issues committee. “One thing I would like to set straight is that the city of Crestview’s impact fee does not drive away …

School Board should ask county to collect impact fees, raise property taxes for schools
OrlandoSentinel.com, FL – February 15, 2012
School Board members are trying desperately to find $387 million over the next five years, mostly for new schools and for renovations to make small schools accommodate more students. Now they think they’ve found a new source to stick with the bill: you, the taxpayer. All through the building …

Pasco growth forces council to look at impact fees
The NewsTribune.com, FL – February 14, 2012
Adopting Pasco School District’s capital facilities plan would be the same as supporting a school impact fee, Pasco City Council members were told Monday. The council still would need to pass a fee ordinance, but adopting the district’s plan without the impact fee would be failing to implement …

Transportation Impact Fee Adopted By Santa Monica Planning Commission
Santa Monica Mirror, CA – February 13, 2012
Developers eyeing new projects in Santa Monica may have to be cognizant of how their respectively planned residences or commercial buildings will impact traffic within the city, or be willing to pay City Hall a fee for not fostering its goal of “No New Net Trips” during p.m. peak hours. …

Sudden impact: Mobility fees may soon pave way to improve other transportation
NaplesNews.com. FL – February 12, 2012
Soon, the fees developers pay to maintain roads may also be used for bus shelters, bicycle paths and other modes of transportation.The county is going to evaluate the transition from a roads-based impact fee to a mobility fee. The change will allow the county to expend impact fee revenue …

Will burden for new schools be shifted from those who move here to those who live here?
OrlandoSentinel.com, FL – February 11, 2012
The two most important elected bodies in Lake County have been tossing a jar of political nitroglycerin back and forth. They know the one that fumbles first is toast. But it has come to this point: They’re standing toe-to-toe, shoving it back and forth into one another’s gut like kids on a …

School Board to discuss countywide tax hike to make up for impact fees
Orlando Sentinel, FL – February 11, 2012
School Board members say they want to sit down with county commissioners to discuss them supporting a higher impact fee or a tax hike so they can have the funds to run the school district. Board members debated at a workshop this week whether to ask commissioners to levy a countywide …

The red-headed step fee
SanDiegoCityBeat, CA – February 8, 2012
Tony Young hasn’t forgotten a promise he made last July. The San Diego City Council president, a Democrat who tends to be fiscally conservative, was the deciding vote against raising a fee that helps fund affordable housing. But Young’s vote came with a warning to opponents of the fee …

Council dumps road impact fees
Daily Inter Lake, MT – February 7, 2012
The Kalispell City Council voted to kill the city’s transportation impact fees Monday night, and in coming weeks will refund $143,702 collected since the fees took effect in March 2009. The controversial move prompted ethics allegations against Mayor Tammi Fisher and triggered the resignation …

Kalispell Council Axes Transportation Impact Fees
NBC Montana, MT – February 7, 2012
Four out of five members of Kalispell’s impact fee committee have resigned after the city voted to do away with transportation impact fees at a meeting Monday night. The council’s decision to do away with the fees went against the committee’s recommendation to keep the one-time fees …

Impact fee waiver considered for Coupeville historic barn mover
Whidbey News-Times, WA – February 6, 2012
The town of Coupeville is considering a proposal that would lessen the cost a Coupeville builder is paying to move a historic barn. The town may waive the park impact fee for Dan Miranda, who is paying to move the Holbrook barn from a lot on NE Eighth Street to the community lot behind …

Bill Would Funnel Impact Fee Cash to Odenton
Odenton Patch, MD – February 6, 2012
The Anne Arundel County Council is set to consider a measure designed to funnel new money from development fees toward transportation upgrades in the Odenton Town Center. The bill from County Executive John R. Leopold would give Odenton priority status when the county distributes …

Impact fees are clearly confusing
Coeur d’Alene Press, ID – February 4, 2012
I noted a recent letter to the editor on the general topic of county impact fees. The writer, Larry Spencer, makes a few good points but creates some confusion in his attempt to clear up “common misconceptions.” To begin with, impact fees are not an attempt to make new growth pay a …

Reorganization is an issue for commission
Martinsburg Journal, WV – February 3, 2012
Before leaving his post as Jefferson County administrator and returning to his old job in Pennsylvania, Tim Boyde outlined a proposed reorganization plan for the county’s government. The reorganization recommendations, which Boyde outlined in an exit memo to the commission, address …

OUR VIEW: Waiving or delaying impact fees is no solution
Bakersfield Californian, CA – February 2, 2012
Bakersfield City Councilmen Ken Weir and David Couch are pushing to eliminate or sharply reduce the transportation impact fee that new homebuilders must pay the city. In their eyes, lowering the $12,870 fee will miraculously jump-start the sale of new homes and bring back …

Cape city council looks at sewerage alternatives
The News-Press, FL – February 1, 2012
Cape Coral might have found a piece to help solve the puzzle of bringing less expensive sewer service to the city’s north side. A system made by Orenco Systems of Sutherlin, Ore., could help people who have homes on acreage, several council members agreed during a Wednesday workshop. …

Sherwood City Council tables impact fee proposal
Pulaskinet.net, AR – February 1, 2012
The Sherwood City Council voted 6-2 Monday to table “indefinitely” a proposal to enact impact fees. Alderman Tim McMinn made the motion and Alderman Charles Harmon seconded it. Besides McMinn and Harmon, the motion was supported by Aldermen Kenneth Keplinger, Toni Butler, …

Impact fees dip $200K in Jefferson
Martinsburg Journal – January 28, 2012
Jefferson County collected $1,348,092 in impact fees during 2011, down from the $1,564,678 collected during 2010, according to the Annual Report on Impact Fees presented to the Jefferson County Commission on Thursday by Impact Fee Coordinator Mark Schiavone. Impact fees are paid …

School district supports impact fee
KNDO/KNDU, WA – January 26, 2012
The Pasco school district wants the city council to consider possible impact fees to deal with the district’s growth. The fees are being discussed by the city’s planning commission, and would charge an unspecified amount to developers looking to build in the city. Pasco is one of the fastest …

Town to receive reports on impact fees, utility rates
Tri Valley Central, AZ – January 26, 2012
The town of Florence has engaged consultants to perform a Utility Rate Study and a Development Impact Fee Study and Infrastructure Improvement Plan. Recent changes in Arizona Statutes relating to Development Impact Fees have created a need for the town to engage Duncan …

Jefferson Countians can not afford fire/EMS fees
Martinsburg Journal, WV – January 25, 2012
Jefferson County faces numerous obstacles in the onset of 2012. Expenditures are growing out of control, county agencies and personnel are constantly demanding larger budgets and staffing needs, and residents can no longer afford to live in the community and area founded upon farming. …

City to vote on ending transportation impact fees
Daily Inter Lake, MT – January 25, 2012
The end may prove nigh for Kalispell’s 2-year-old transportation impact fees. With a tight 5-4 vote on a motion Monday, the Kalispell City Council set itself up to vote on a resolution to end the fees at its next regular meeting Feb. 6. “The transportation impact fee is broken, and the right …

State audit questions how Lake Co. impact fees are spent
WFTV Orlando, FL – January 24, 2012
A new state audit is questioning how hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent on Lake County schools. The state auditor general said school officials spent impact fee money on items they weren’t allowed to. Up until last year, impact fees collected from the construction of new homes …

Audit faults Lake public school finances
Orlando Sentinel, FL – January 23, 2012
A state audit that reviewed three years of financial activity for Lake County Schools found that the district misspent hundreds of thousands of dollars meant for new school construction on things like gaming curriculum and software. The report, issued by the State Auditor General, found …

Consultant explains how proposed impact fees would help Sherwood budget
Sherwood Voice, AR – January 23, 2012
The Texas consultant who last fall authored a study about how imposing impact fees would help Sherwood’s budget was on hand Tuesday to answer questions about the study. The visit by Jim Duncan, president of Duncan Associates of Austin, Texas, came less than a week before the Sherwood …

Parkland imposes impact fees on new development
Sun-Sentinel, FL – January 20, 2012
With Parkland poised for substantial growth in the next few years, city officials have passed a law that requires developers to pay their proportionate share of the capital costs associated with providing additional infrastructure facilities. Leaders recently approved an ordinance that …

Washington County weighs pros and cons of development tax
Daily Journal of Commerce, OR – January 20, 2012
There’s a thin line between love and hate, at least when it comes to Washington County’s Transportation Development Tax. Recently, the TDT – a system development charge assessed to businesses when they change the intended use of a building space – has spurred much debate. At the …

Kalispell looks at impact fees
KPAX-TV, MT – January 18, 2012
Kalispell City Council members are constantly looking for ways to stimulate economic growth in Kalispell and on Tuesday night they discussed one way of trying to bring more business back into Kalispell, although it could come at a cost to taxpayers. Council members discussed whether they think the …

Commissioners debate impact fees, Main Street, library district
Gainesville Sun (blog), FL – January 17, 2012
County commissioners continued to debate impact fees and a maintenance agreement for Main Street during a Tuesday informal meeting. Comm. Susan Baird also threw the property tax rate of the Alachua County Library District into the mix. On the impact fee issue, Commissioner …

Volusia School Board members ready to end impact fees for 2 years
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL – January 17, 2012
A deal to suspend collection of school impact fees in Volusia County for two years and end a longstanding legal challenge to them will go before the School Board today. A majority of School Board members said Monday they plan to support the deal to end the litigation and hope it will help …

City to Audit of Impact Fee Collections
Patch.com, FL – January 13, 2012
By a 6-2 vote, St. Petersburg city council members approved an external audit of the city’s transportation impact fee collections. Th call for an audit came following publicity of a $160,000 tax break that was given to the Hilton at Carillion hotel in 2003, which the city said was a mistake. …

Fremont development impact fees reduced
Fremont Bulletin, CA – January 13, 2012
In an effort to attract new developments, Fremont City Council Dec. 13 unanimously approved extending a development impact fee reduction through the end of 2012. City of Fremont charges impact fees to fund traffic improvements, public buildings, fire stations and public parks related to …

Polk City Council Extends Impact Fee Moratorium
The Ledger, FL – January 12, 2012
The City Council in Polk City has given initial approval to a one-year extension of an impact fee moratorium that will save builders of a new home $3,779. The council on Monday unanimously approved the ordinance that will extend the moratorium on municipal impact fees for police, fire, …

Impact fee audit shows no problems with process
Lincoln Journal Star, NE – January 12, 2012
A special audit of the city’s impact fee system found no problems with the process itself, the collection, distribution or spending of the fees. The $3,800 audit reviewed the collecting and spending system but did not look at the continuing political controversy: whether impact fees …

Palm Coast backs off threat to sue county
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL – January 12, 2012
City officials decided to extend an “olive branch” to the Flagler County Commission this week rather than smacking it over the head with a tree limb. City Council members opted not to file a lawsuit against Flagler County in an effort to nullify a county decision last month to release developer …

In the wake of a $160000 mistake, St. Petersburg leaders order audit of impact fees
Tampabay.com, FL – January 12, 2012
Seven years after a botched building permit gave the developers of the Hilton at Carillon Park a $160,000 tax break, the City Council decided Thursday to see if any other sizable breaks were awarded at taxpayer expense. The council voted 6-2 to approve an external audit of the city’s …

Council asked to end transportation impact fees
Daily Inter Lake, ID – January 11, 2012
At the request of new council member Phil Guiffrida III, the Kalispell City Council will hold a work session to discuss whether the city’s transportation impact fees should be eliminated. Guiffrida, who took office Monday, asked for legislation to repeal the fees at the next regular council meeting …

City Council approves impact-fee moratorium
Santa Fe New Mexican.com, NM – January 11, 2012
The Santa Fe City Council on Wednesday agreed to a two-year moratorium on impact fees for residential construction, reducing city revenues by an estimated $350,000 a year. Councilor Rebecca Wurzburger, who co-sponsored the ordinance with Councilors Matthew Ortiz and …

Independent audit of tax breaks needed
Tampabay.com, FL – January 9, 2012
St. Petersburg taxpayers still have no idea whether a trio of unauthorized tax breaks granted to hotel developers by the city’s building department under the last mayor were an aberration or a symptom of something far more serious. And they can’t trust City Hall staff to get to the bottom …

St. Petersburg council member seeks broad audit of impact fees, taxes
TampaBay.com, FL – January 7, 2012
With new details emerging about how developers of the Hilton at Carillon Park were wrongly given a $160,000 tax break, council members are becoming increasingly uneasy with the city’s handling of the case.  “At some point, somebody should be held accountable,” said Wengay Newton. …

TCPalm, FL – January 5, 2012
Port St. Lucie hopes to lure businesses and jobs to the city by offering rebates on city road impact fees charged to developers. While the goal may be admirable, the reduction in impact fees could put an increased burden on other taxpayers to pay for road construction projects needed …

Coupeville refunds park impact fees
Whidbey News-Times, WA – January 5, 2012
Several Coupeville property owners received an unexpected gift courtesy of the town. Coupeville is refunding $13,000 in total park impact fees to 14 property owners. The refund stems from a situation concerning a quarter-block-long stretch of sidewalk on Coveland Street that was installed …

County nixes impact fees
Fernandina Beach News-Leader, FL – January 5, 2012
Due to an ailing economy, Nassau County Commissioners have voted to extend the suspension of impact fee collection by one year starting Jan. 1, and they have asked the school board and the city of Fernandina Beach to follow suit. Impact fees are charged to developers and used to help pay …

Port Orange OKs impact fee moratorium
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL – January 4, 2012
After much debate, city leaders agreed to a minimal impact fee moratorium on new residential construction for a year starting March 1. The City Council voted Tuesday night to reduce the parks and recreation fee by $250 and the fire impact fee by $100, something Councilman Don Burnette …

Schools, cities continue to disagree on impact fees
SnoValley Star, WA – January 4, 2012
They may not count as new year’s resolutions, but the two municipalities and the school district in the Snoqualmie Valley know exactly what it is they want for 2012. The Snoqualmie Valley School District wants to know if it can count on impact fee revenue from the cities of North Bend and …

Lake Worth loosens parking impact fees in downtown area
Palm Beach Post, FL – January 3, 2012
Business owners interested in moving to Lake Worth are less likely to pay parking impact fees under an ordinance approved tonight by the city commission. The ordinance eliminates the $7,500-per-space parking impact fee for businesses that move into existing buildings in some areas …