links to recent newspaper articles relating to impact fee events

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Activist says Ascension school growth 'critical'
2theadvocate.com, LA - Sep 27, 2005
Ascension Parish needs an "adequate public facilities ordinance" that would tie residential development with the capacity of the school system to handle new students, a community activist
 
Port St. Lucie authorizes study of new impact fee
Palm Beach Post, FL - Sep 27, 2005
Hours after approving a $9 increase in storm-water utility fees Monday, city council members took the first step toward creating a new storm-water impact fee to help keep new homes high  
 
Builders to challenge Palm Beach County on growth fees
Palm Beach Post, FL - Sep 27, 2005
Anti-tax sentiment is expected to simmer again in Palm Beach County today as the local builders association plans to oppose a proposed impact fee increase. Owners of new homes
 
Impact fees on new residential development proposed by state
New Bern Sun Journal, NC - Sep 27, 2005
Local governments have been trying for years - if not decades - to get the General Assembly to authorize them to assess impact fees on new residential development. The fees - which could

Jefferson County considering raising impact fees
Hagerstown Morning Herald, MD - Sep 26, 2005
School impact fees for new single-family homes in Jefferson County would increase by $1,283 under a proposal being considered by the Jefferson County Commission. Under the plan, the
... (PDF click here)
  

Proposal on growth draws fire
Charlotte Observer, NC - Sep 25, 2005
Planners call it a choice for developers. Developers call it an added cost that will be passed to home buyers. By any label, Lincoln County's proposed "adequate public facilities ordinance"
... (PDF click here)

'Smart Growth' isn't always smart growth
Hagerstown Morning Herald, MD - Sep 25, 2005
In early 2001, as the stock market bubble was collapsing and companies such as Pets.com, e-Toys and Webvan were fading into oblivion, a money management firm launched an ad campaign
... (PDF click here)
 

Libraries' impact fee on table
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Sep 25, 2005
The Polk County Commission will decide Wednesday whether to adopt an impact fee for libraries. If approved, the fee for single-family homes would be $197. 
 
Commissioners this year ... (PDF click here)

State lawmakers could get involved in impact-fee fray
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Sep 24, 2005
As Florida's population booms and impact fees collected to pay the costs of growth fill local coffers, state lawmakers want to know if legislation is needed to regulate how those fees are ... (PDF click here) 
 

Builders see solution to school-fee dispute
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Sep 24, 2005
Attorneys for a home-builders group offered a compromise in a battle over school-impact fees during a hearing Friday at the Osceola County Courthouse. Lawyers for the Home Builders ... (PDF click here) 

Parking impact fees target of petition
The Union Leader, NH - Sep 24, 2005
When Jim Clark was thinking about relocating his downtown coffee shop a few streets away to a more visible location, he found out he couldn't afford to move. It wasn't the high rents Bow ... (PDF click here) 
 
Red Bluff, Chamber to meet on fee study
Red Bluff Daily News, CA - Sep 23, 2005
The City of Red Bluff and the Red Bluff-Tehama County Chamber of Commerce will meet once again regarding the Development Impact Fee Study. The public meeting will take place at the ... (PDF click here)
 

City parking fee draws fire
Portsmouth Herald News, NH -
Sep 23, 2005
A petition drive has been launched to try and persuade officials to change the city’s public-parking system and ease the burden on small business. Copies of a letter addressed to Mayor Evelyn  ... (PDF click here)
 

Child-care fee moves forward
The Desert Sun, CA - Sep 23, 2005
An innovative ordinance to charge commercial developers a special fee to pay for more child-care facilities in Palm Desert took a big step toward passage at Thursday's City Council meeting. The  ... (PDF click here)

Cost to extend SAWS: $852
San Antonio Express (subscription), TX - Sep 23, 2005
City Council members on Thursday easily passed a temporary water-supply impact fee of $852 for new homes built in the San Antonio Water System's service area. But the discussion leading  ... (PDF click here)

The Effect of Skyrocketing Park Impact Fees on San Diego Apartment rents
Voice of San Diego, CA - Sep 23, 2005
Sometimes our government, which was established to serve the populace, gets things so turned around that a good citizen can't figure out whether they should laugh or cry. So it is with a   ... (PDF click here)
 

County studies education impact fee
Ocala.com, FL - Sep 22, 2005
The cost of building a single-family hoCme in Marion County will increase substantially if a proposed education impact fee is approved.  If the fee recommended by the School Board is ... (PDF click here)
 
Nevada County Transportation Commission: To Fee or Not to Fee
YubaNet, CA - Sep 22, 2005
To fee or not to fee, that was the question before the Nevada County Transportation Commission (NCTC) Wednesday morning as commissioners discussed the Regional Transportation Mitigation
... (PDF click here) 
 
Developers subsidizing childcare?
The Desert Sun, CA - Sep 22, 2005
Families across the country are calling Stella Leonard's child-care center in Palm Desert, hoping to nab one of her highly coveted 75 spaces. And right now she's turning them all down.  "I can't ... (PDF click here)
 
 
Wildlife habitat law may change
ReviewJournal.com, NV - Sep 21, 2005
As Congress this week reviews protections for endangered species, Las Vegas stakeholders are casting a nervous eye on an initiative some fear could unravel local efforts to spur development
... (PDF click here) 

Pay now, or later
Florida Today, FL - Sep 21, 2005
Growth. That, in a word, is what Brevard County is all about.  Just since 2000, 44,000 new residents -- roughly the population of Titusville -- have poured into our community.  Meeting the
... (PDF click here)

Polk Home Permit Hot Streak Continues
The Ledger, FL - Sep 21, 2005
Just because summer is ending doesn't mean Polk's real estate market is cooling off. Polk County's builders pulled 980 single-family home permits in August; 359 more than a year ago. This total ... (PDF click here)

City will try to resolve differences
Orlando Sentinel, FL -Sep 21, 2005
The City Council has voted to try to resolve its differences with the Lake County School Board before proceeding with a legal challenge over more than $700,000 in supplemental education ... (PDF click here)

County extends lot fee deadline
St. Petersburg Times, FL - Sep 21, 2005
To the landowners who have already paid the old, lower impact fees on vacant lots, the County Commission lived up to a promise on Tuesday. The Commission voted to extend from ... (PDF click here)

City Impact Fees Add $5,000 To New Home
Polk County Democrat, FL - Sep 20, 2005
Impact fees adopted by the Bartow city commission will add about $5,000 to the price of a new home, Gene Boles, the city's impact fee consultant from theUniversity of Florida, told the city ... (PDF click here)

Sycamore eyes increased impact fees for schools, parks
MidWeek, IL - Sep 20, 2005
Impact fees for the Sycamore School District and the Sycamore Park District may be increased in the near future. Members of the Sycamore Plan Commission approved a motion during their Sept. ... (PDF click here)

Guidon: Growth cause for impact fee
Canon City Daily Record, CO -
Sep 20, 2005
Monday night, the Cañon City Council took the next step toward creating a fire district impact fee by approving the first reading of an ordinance imposing an impact fee for fire protection ... (PDF click here)
 

County urges up-to-date data in impact fee projections
Reno Gazette Journal, NV - Sep 20, 2005
Use of up-to-date information has been urged in considering projected growth in Lyon County’s future, as impact fees need to be calculated as accurately as possible. This was one of the bigger ... (PDF click here)

Council approves impact fee increase
Dekalb Daily Chronicle, IL -Sep 20, 2005
Developers will pay the Sycamore school and park districts more in impact fees after the city council's decision Monday to raise them.  The council acted on a suggestion to increase the fees ... (PDF click here)

CMS asks city to add fee for rezoning
Charlotte Observer, NC - Sep 20, 2005
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools took an unprecedented step Monday, asking the city to make some developers pay a fee if they add new students to already overcrowded schools. School ... (PDF click here)

Council to work on impact-fee panel
Daily Inter Lake, MT - Sep 19, 2005
Formation of an impact-fees committee faces Kalispell's city council today. The state requires such an advisory committee to review the calculating, assessing and spending of standard ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees for schools belong in win column
Orlando Sentinel, FL -
Sep 18, 2005
If the battle over impact fees were a football game, this summer's ruling by a circuit judge upholding the method used to calculate Osceola's school-impact fees is the equivalent of scoring a 
... (PDF click here)
 

Who decides? Aldermen want council vote on impact fees; attorney wants election
Northwest Arkansas Times, AR - Sep 18, 2005
The question of who will decide whether Fayetteville will assess additional development charges to pay for police and fire infrastructure comes down to the whether they would be considered  
 
Formula for road costs needed
Ocala.com, FL - Sep 18, 2005
Just when Marion County and Ocala officials are finally giving serious and overdue consideration to ensuring big-money developers pay a larger, more equitable share of our runaway infrastructure  ... (PDF click here)
 
Polk passes big increase in impact fee to aid schools
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Sep 18, 2005
The Polk County Commission secured future funding for education last week when it voted to increase the school impact fee by more than 400 percent on single-family homes.  The school impact 
... (PDF click here)
 
Builders just oppose improper impact fees
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Sep 18, 2005
You may have read that the Volusia Home Builders Association recently won a legal judgment over the huge school impact fee increase.  For the record, the association is unopposed to   ... (PDF click here)

Sutherlin looks to add fees to buy park land
The News-Review, OR - Sep 17, 2005
New homes built in Sutherlin next year will likely face an additional system development charge, which would be used to purchase park land. The concept was discussed at a Sutherlin Parks
... (PDF click here)

Homebuilders file suit against city
Herald Zeitung, TX -
Sep 17, 2005
The Greater New Braunfels Homebuilders Association filed a lawsuit seeking to have the city’s stormwater development fee ruled illegal — and preventing the collection of fees until a judge ... (PDF click here)
 

Impact fees up for debate
Hernando Today, FL - Sep 16, 2005
County Commission Chairman Robert Schenck will have a chance to make good on his promise to try and protect those who paid impact fees before they were nearly doubled this summer.  ... (PDF click here)
 
Population increase funds state of the art parks
WBBH, FL - Sep 16, 2005
As more people move into Southwest Florida, their impact fee dollars are paying for new parks. Some new, state of the art parks are already underway in Lee County. Schandler Hall Park
... (PDF click here) 
 
ACTC urges Plymouth to join regional traffic mitigation fee plan
Amador Ledger-Dispatch, CA - Sep 16, 2005
Charles Field, executive director of the Amador County Transportation Commission, hosted a public workshop on traffic fees for development and urged the Plymouth City Council last ... (PDF click here)

Clash on St. Lucie impact fees still boiling
Palm Beach Post, FL - Sep 15, 2005
City and county officials made little headway in their dispute over how to divide impact fees for public buildings, roads and parks Thursday, meaning new-home builders south of Midway ... (PDF click here)

UF expert gives School Board a primer on impact fees
Naples Daily News (subscription), FL - Sep 15, 2005
If you wanted to get an education on how impact fees work, Thursday's Collier County School Board workshop was for you. But people who were wondering whether the School Board ... (PDF click here)

Polk jacks up impact fee so it can build more schools
Sun-Sentinel.com, FL - Sep 15, 2005
Lagging far behind in getting growth to pay for itself, Polk County commissioners on Wednesday approved a more than 400 percent increase in the impact fee to help build new ... (PDF click here)

New development should help pay for schools, roads
Chambersburg Public Opinion, PA - Sep 15, 2005
Drive just about anywhere in Franklin County and you'll see new development cropping up — both residential and commercial. In southern Franklin County, the growth has exceeded ... (PDF click here)

Home Builders drop impact fee lawsuit
Gulf Breeze News, FL - Sep 15, 2005
At the September Workshop Meeting of the Midway Board of Commissioners, Commissioner Buck Thackeray announced that the Home Builders Association of West Florida (HBA) ... (PDF click here)

New fees for schools are faulty, judge says
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Sep 14, 2005
The Volusia Home Builders Association on Tuesday won a legal battle in its fight against the county's new $5,284-per-new-house impact fee for schools. But it was not immediately clear ... (PDF click here)

Polk Raises School Impact Fee
The Ledger, FL - Sep 14, 2005
Polk County commissioners today approved raising the county's school impact fee from $1,607 for a single-family home to $8,596. Polk will have among highest school impact fees in the ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees tabled
Morris Daily Herald, IL - Sep 13, 2005
At the request of village attorney Scott Belt, the Gardner Village Board Monday tabled an agreement/ ordinance between the village and Gardner Grade School until next meeting. Belt also ... (PDF click here)

Planners say Sycamore needs higher impact fees
Dekalb Daily Chronicle, IL - Sep 13, 2005
Impact fees on new homes aren't high enough to cover the costs of expanding Sycamore's park and school facilities to serve a growing population, according to the city's plan ... (PDF click here)

Hopkinton eyes doubling fees for development
Westerly Sun, RI - Sep 13, 2005
A plan by the Town Council could double impact fees collected on new residential homes. During a workshop at Town Hall Monday night, councilors advanced a proposal that would ... (PDF click here)

Athens raises water, sewer rates, impact fees
The Decatur Daily, AL - Sep 13, 2005
Citizens of Athens, your water and sewer bills are going up after the Athens City Council approved increases at Monday's meeting. John Stockton, manager of the Athens Water and ... (PDF click here)

Ruling frames battle over Volusia County school impact fee
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL -
Sep 14, 2005
The Volusia Home Builders Association claimed a victory Tuesday ... saying a judge's ruling reopens debate about how much the schools can charge. "We know we are going to have ... (PDF click here)

Developers in Newberry may face extra fees
Gainesville Sun, FL -
Sep 13, 2005
Developers would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in development fees next year under a proposal the City Commission endorsed during a meeting here on Monday. In the first of two ... (PDF click here).

Athens raises water, sewer rates, impact fees
The Decatur Daily, AL -
Sep 13, 2005
Citizens of Athens, your water and sewer bills are going up after the Athens City Council approved increases at Monday's meeting. John Stockton, manager of the Athens Water and ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees ease pain of growth
Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription), GA -
Sep 11, 2005
Every year, more cities and counties are adopting impact fees to mitigate the cost of road improvements, water and sewer lines, parks, libraries and police and ... Local ... (PDF click here)

Education impact fee could hit new homes
Ocala.com, FL - Sep 11, 2005
Marion County home buyers already paying record-high prices could find themselves fronting another cost to help with local schools. Faced with explosive growth and a little pressure ... (PDF click here)

Polk's school fees could jump
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Sep 11, 2005
The Polk County Commission has proved so far this year that it supports allowing growth to pay for itself with impact fees. Already in 2005, the five-member commission has increased ... (PDF click here)
 
Schools pay price of growth
St. Petersburg Times, FL - Sep 11, 2005
Hillsborough school leaders say they are losing the fight to build schools fast enough to keep up with new students. But records show they have done little in recent years to sound the ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees a growing way to pay safety costs
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WI - Sep 10, 2005
When the Sturtevant Village Board last month approved a study to determine the feasibility of increasing building fees to help finance the police and fire departments, the village  ... (PDF click here)

City Council rejects school impact fee
Chicago Tribune, IL - Sep 10,2005
Elmhurst officials this week rejected a proposal from Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 to impose an impact fee on home construction in the city. The City Council voted 9-5 ... (PDF click here)


Red Bluff mulls developer fees
Red Bluff Daily News, CA - Sep 09,2005
The City of Red Bluff will consider more than doubling the current developer impact fees from $6,295 to $12,613 per single family residence. Commercial impact fees would be set at ... (PDF click here)
 

Impact Fees set for public hearing
Baker County Standard, FL - Sep 09,2005
The long awaited county impact fee ordinance will get its first public hearing on September 19, after commissioners voted Tuesday night to proceed with the [road and school] fees ... (PDF click here) 

Court hears impact fees appeal
Lincoln Journal Star, NE - Sep 07, 2005
The Nebraska Supreme Court on Wednesday was asked to decide if an impact fee adopted by the city of Lincoln constituted an illegal tax. In oral arguments before the high court, Lincoln ... (PDF click here)

New Home Impact Fees Considered
The Ledger, FL - Sep 07, 2005
New homeowners in Lakeland may pay another $720 in water and sewer impact fees. The Lakeland City Commission discussed increased fees at a workshop Tuesday. Based on a new ... (PDF click here)

Impact fee ordinance revision gets board OK
BurlingtonFreePress.com, VT - Sep 07, 2005
The Selectboard on Tuesday night narrowly approved a new ordinance that would revise new housing construction impact fees for schools and add a fee for fire protection.
The 3-2 vote ... (PDF click here)

Logan adopts impact fee resolution
Salt Lake Tribune, UT - Sep 07, 2005
The effects of new growth on essential services - fire and police, water and sewer, roads and electricity - are clear to Logan officials. But how to pay for an ever-increasing demand ... (PDF click here)

Expanded grandfather clause may help ease Indian River's impact fees
Vero Beach Press-Journal (subscription), FL - Sep 07, 2005
Hundreds of new home buyers may be able to escape the latest increase in impact fees under an expanded grandfather clause endorsed Tuesday by the County Commission.
"This ... (PDF click here)

PSL, St. Lucie County bicker over collection of impact fees
Fort Pierce Tribune (subscription), FL - Sep 07, 2005
Unless St. Lucie County and Port St. Lucie officials soon can agree, the county will collect impact fees on its own in the city beginning Oct. 1. The County Commission voted 4-1 Tuesday ... (PDF click here)

Buyers of new Indian River County homes can't avoid impact fees
Vero Beach Press-Journal (subscription), FL - Sep 06, 2005
Of 360 home buyers who hoped to beat the July 1 increase in county impact fees by showing pre-existing contracts, two-thirds of them may not qualify under the county's rules
... (PDF click here)

Impact fees need to reflect reality
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - Sep 06, 2005
The newcomers to Southwest Florida don't mean to be a burden, but they are. They clog our roads, they tap into our drinking water, they demand more police and fire protection... (PDF click here)
 

School Board Supports Impact Fees, Recognizes PE Advocate
Polk County Democrat, FL - Sep 05, 2005
The Polk County school board has voted to support the proposed new impact fees to raise money for the increased costs of building new schools. The sole dissenting vote was that of ... (PDF click here)

Down a road less traveled
Ocala.com, FL - Sep 05, 2005
For the better part of a decade the idea of making growth pay for itself in Marion County has had more than its share of advocates. But no matter how massive the backlog of infrastructure.. (PDF click here)

Richmond to hold impact-fees hearing Tuesday
BurlingtonFreePress.com, VT - Sep 05, 2005
A revised impact fees ordinance will have a public hearing and possibly a Selectboard vote Tuesday night at the Town Center meeting room. Following a narrow defeat of a proposed revision ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees need to reflect reality
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - Sep 04, 2005
The newcomers to Southwest Florida don't mean to be a burden, but they are. They clog our roads, they tap into our drinking water, they demand more police and fire protection, their ... (PDF click here)
 

Guest commentary: Impact fees must be assessed, analyzed ...
Naples Daily News (subscription), FL - Sep 04, 2005
With all the rapid growth in our area and the resulting effects upon schools, roads, fire protection, parks, law enforcement and other government services, we often hear that impact fees ... (PDF click here)

Developer complains of impact fees
Aurora Beacon News, IL -
Sep 02, 2005
A home builder complained to the Village Board this week about the village's impact fees. Rich Smolik Sr., developer of Alexander Place on the south side of the community, said he felt ... (PDF click here)
 

Santa Rosa officials discuss impact fees
PensacolaNewsJournal.com, FL - Sep 02, 2005
The Santa Rosa County Commission got a close look Thursday at how impact fees on new development might pay for new roads. At a special workshop, commissioners heard a presentation ... (PDF click here)

City, county hire firm for planning process
Calhoun Times, GA - Sep 02, 2005
The Gordon County Commission and Calhoun City Council have jointly selected MACTEC Engineering and Consulting to guide them through the state-mandated comprehensive planning ... (PDF click here)

PUB to study impact fees for developers
Brownsville Herald, TX - Sep 02, 2005
After months of disagreements on ways to save money, the Pub-lic Utilities Board is moving ahead on a top-to-bottom organizational study and a com-prehensive review of the fees ... (PDF click here)

Eyed impact fees stir debate
Spokane Journal of Business, WA
- Sep 02, 2005
The city of Spokane wants to turn its temporary, voluntary transportation-impact fee into a permanent, mandatory fee on new development, an idea that’s dusting up debate in business ... (PDF click here)

Commission may raise impact fees significantly
Ocala.com, FL - Aug 31, 2005
Anyone who builds a single-family home in Marion County currently pays a $2,212 impact fee to help pay for roads to support that development, but that fee could more than double
... (PDF click here)

Impact fees one step closer
Catoosa County News, GA - Aug 31, 2005
Catoosa County commissioners will learn the maximum impact fees the county could charge developers on September 6.
Impact fees are charged to developers to offset the costs of ... (PDF click here)

Nonresidential impact fees OK'd
Enterprise-Record, CA - Aug 31, 2005
In just under two months it is going to get more expensive to build commercial and industrial developments in Butte County. Tuesday the Board of Supervisors established a ... (PDF click here)

County backs off building ban
Bradenton Herald, FL - Aug 31, 2005
The Manatee County Commission backed away Tuesday from the idea of imposing a building moratorium across the county until more roads and schools are built. No vote was ... (PDF click here)

Supervisors approve non-residential impact fees
Mercury-Register, CA - Aug 31, 2005
BACKGROUND: For months the Butte County Board of Supervisors has discussed the imposition of impact fees on non-residential developments.
WHAT'S NEW: Tuesday the ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees, not gas tax, should pay for new roads

St. Petersburg Times, FL - Aug 31, 2005
Re: Raising gas tax is a hard but right road to take, Jim Fowler letter, Aug. 26. The letter by Citrus County Commissioner Jim Fowler states, among other things, his reasoning for his ... (PDF click here)

Builder: Triple the impact fees
MidWeek, IL - Aug 30, 2005
A DeKalb-area builder told the Plan Commission last week that the already tripled impact fees should be tripled again. City staff have proposed that total impact fee be increased from ... (PDF click here)

GOP Executive Committee Opposes New Polk Taxes
Polk County Democrat, FL - Aug 30, 2005
In a rare, perhaps unprecedented, move, the Polk County Republican Executive Committee voted 30-to-4 Thursday night to urge four Republican county commissioners to abandon ... (PDF click here)

County sets hearing on impact fee proposal
Reno Gazette Journal, NV -Aug 30, 2005
The Lyon County Board of Commissioners will conduct a public hearing on Sept. 15 to consider land-use assumptions that are a requirement towards implementation of impact fees in ... (PDF click here)

Property tax increase to replace failed fire fee
Palatka Daily News, FL - Aug 30, 2005
The growth in the city's budget next year will be covered by an increase in property taxes since the proposed fire service fee was voted down last week, city officials said Monday. ... (PDF click here)

Builders, city debate sewer fee
Gary Post Tribune, IN - Aug 30, 2005
A proposed fee increase to connect new homes to Valparaiso’s sewer system has sparked a squabble between the City Council and the Porter County Builders Association. Developers ... (PDF click here)


Planning committee takes up impact fees in Madison County
Belleville News-Democrat, IL - Aug 30, 2005
The Madison County Planning and Development Committee will meet Thursday for the first time since hearing the pro and con arguments of bringing a school impact fee to the county.
... (PDF click here)


Advice is plentiful in debate on impact fees
St. Petersburg Times, FL - Aug 30, 2005
The County Commission looked at the latest offering from the Citrus County Builders Association and politely passed. Thanks, they said in effect last week, but we don't need it. We ... (PDF click here)

Another warning bell
Florida Today, FL -
Aug 30, 2005
It's no news to anyone that Brevard County is literally exploding with new homes, condos and apartments. If the pace of building continues through December, the county's ... (PDF click here)

GOP plan targets growth
Gainesville Sun, FL -
Aug 29, 2005
As they work to rehabilitate their party's reputation in the eyes of Alachua County's blue voters, local Republican party officials are taking a page from Bill Clinton's 1992 campaign ... (PDF click here)

Borrowing will bring classrooms
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Aug 28, 2005
The School Board is planning to assume more debt to accelerate the pace of construction and ease extreme crowding at south Lake campuses. In the next two years, board members ... (PDF click here)

Polk increases impact fee 175%
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Aug 28, 2005
The Polk County Commission voted last week to increase the transportation impact fee for single-family homes 175 percent. In a unanimous decision, the five-member commission ... (PDF click here)

Managing growth in Stafford is a complex issue

The Free Lance-Star, VA - Aug 28, 2005
As members of the Stafford County Board of Supervisors, we feel that recent opinion pieces by Kathy Beard and Ferris Belman of the Stafford Council for Progress--a development ... (PDF click here)

Large Fee Hike Likely To Pass
The Ledger, FL - Aug 27, 2005
A majority of Polk's county commissioners pledged their support Friday to increase the school impact fee for new homes by nearly 435 percent. If the County Commission votes to ... (PDF click here)
 

Committee hears options
Hilton Head Island Packet, SC - Aug 27, 2005
As local governments look to raise hundreds of millions of dollars for road, park and school needs over the next 15 years, consultants are suggesting that regional planning be ... (PDF click here)

Committee seeks alternatives to fees
Hi-Desert Star, CA - Aug 27, 2005
In the third installment of Blue Ribbon Committee meetings, which were convened for the purpose of discussing development impact fees in Yucca Valley, the review group Monday... (PDF click here)

New, Higher Impact Fees Approved In Plant City
Tampa Tribune, FL - Aug 27, 2005
Not unexpectedly, representatives of home builders and real estate interests showed up Monday to comment on the city's impact- fee proposals.  Perhaps less predictably, they ... (PDF click here)

Plan calls for impact fees to soar
Hilton Head Island Packet, SC - Aug 26, 2005
Consultants who have identified almost $500 million in upcoming infrastructure needs for southern Beaufort County are recommending massive increases in development impact...
(PDF click here)

County's burden: Get ready for crush
Orlando Sentinel, FL -
Aug 26, 2005
Move over, Osceola residents. You're about to get a whole bunch more neighbors. Those who feel crowded now will feel the squeeze even more in 2025, by which time the ... (PDF click here)

Town prepares for the future
Rockingham News, NH - Aug 26, 2005
In the next 20 years, Raymond’s population is expected to increase by almost three times, reaching a maximum density of 1,000 people per square mile, according to the town’s ... (PDF click here


Impact fees get look from Triad

Edwardsville Intelligencer, IL - Aug 26, 2005
With the ever growing population in Troy and the overcrowding in schools, Triad Community School District 2 wants to apply impact fees towards new developers to take the burden ... (PDF click here)


Growth Strains Polk Schools

The Ledger, FL - Aug 26, 2005
Sandhill Elementary has made a classroom of its TV studio, and its stage. Two classes are set up in the media center, four classes meet in the cafeteria and several more in utility ... (PDF click here)

Builders take impact-fee battle back to court
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Aug 26, 2005
Lawyers for a home-builders association have filed a motion seeking a rehearing after an Osceola circuit judge earlier this month struck down their attempt to overturn a hefty 2004 ... (PDF click here)


Valpo to try again to raise connection fee

Munster Times, IN - Aug 25, 2005
The Valparaiso City Council appears ready to draw a line in the sand with the Porter County Builders Association over the issue of increasing sewer connection fees. Councilman Jan ... (PDF click here)

Moratorium talk elicits opposition
Bradenton Herald, FL - Aug 25, 2005
Just saying the "m" word could be detrimental to the local economy, many in Manatee County fear.One day after county commissioners asked their legal department to study... (PDF click here)


Impact Fee Increase Approved

The Ledger, FL - Aug 25, 2005
Polk County commissioners Wednesday voted to increase the county's road and transportation impact fee by 175 percent. But it may not stay that high long. Commissioners unanimously ... (PDF click here)

Public Library Impact Fee Proposed
The Ledger, FL - Aug 25, 2005
Consultant Randy Young proposed a $130 impact fee for library service Wednesday, but members of a county committee want more information about costs and credits before they're ... (PDF click here)

Hub tier bill passes, sales tax waits
Henderson Daily Dispatch, NC -
Aug 25, 2005
Last minute manuervering in the hectic hours of the 2005 session of the N.C. General Assembly left the Kerr-Tar Hub project with the tier-sharing authority it needs, but Vance and ... (PDF click here)

Transportation Tax on "Other Development" Lowered
Reno Gazette Journal, NV - Aug 25, 2005
Other options were offered but eventually a 25-cent per square foot residential construction tax on “other new development” - not residential construction - for the “tax for the ... (PDF click here)

County wants impact fees Oct. 1
Newszap Florida, FL - Aug 24, 2005
As of Oct. 1, Hendry County hopes to take a big step toward preparing for the growth that everyone agrees is already in progress. At their Aug. 9 regular meeting, county commissioners ... (PDF click here)

Illinois School Districts Consider Impact Fees On New Homes
KSDK, MO - Aug 24, 2005
Another Madison County, Illinois school district could turn to impact fees to offset rapid population growth. The fees are tacked onto the price of newly constructed homes. It's been
... (PDF click here)

Council gives OK to impact fee
Baraboo News Republic, WI - Aug 24, 2005
Tuesday Baraboo City Council members gave first approval to a fee that would generate money for Baraboo Public Library expansion or building improvements. The $415 fee would
... (PDF click here)

School Board Backs Levy Hike
The Ledger, FL - Aug 24, 2005
The Polk County School Board on Tuesday backed a fourfold increase in school impact fees, finally taking a firm public position in the ongoing debate over the fees. A solid majority
... (PDF click here)

County will study impact fee changes
Aurora Beacon News, IL - Aug 24, 2005
Kane County transportation officials will go almost back to square one to restructure the county's transportation impact fee ordinance. Members of the Transportation Committee... (PDF click here)

Building freeze may follow fee hike
Bradenton Herald,  FL - Aug 24, 2005
Frustrated by rampant growth and rising costs of public services, Manatee County commissioners Tuesday boosted impact fees more than 40 percent and decided to take a fresh ... (PDF click here)

DeKalb Council likes impact fee hike
MidWeek, IL - Aug 23, 2005
The DeKalb City Council was generally pleased with the staff’s proposed tripling of impact fees plus numerous residential guidelines for new annexations. The presentations were ... (PDF click here)

Three Impact Fees Approved by Bartow
Polk County Democrat, FL - Aug 23, 2005
Imposition of three impact fees on new construction - one for recreational facilities, one for roads, and one for other public facilities - was approved by the Bartow city commission ... (PDF click here) 

St. Johns development group wants to study taxes, fees
Jacksonville Business Journal, FL - Aug 23, 2005
A St. Johns County economic development group plans to ask county commissioners Tuesday to allow county staff to aid them in doing an independent study of taxes and fees. ... (PDF click here)

Kane set to start over on road-fee schedule
Chicago Tribune, IL - Aug 23, 2005
After just 16 months of collecting road-improvement impact fees, Kane County officials are looking to toss out their fee-assessment system and start over. The old system was ... (PDF click here)
 
Impact fee increases tip growth balance
Bradenton Herald, FL - Aug 23, 2005
Even as Manatee County Commissioners show signs that they are concerned about the unavailability of affordable housing for ordinary working people, they are preparing to drive ... (PDF click here)

Politicians dump costs onto home buyers
North County Times, CA - Aug 22, 2005
Sherlock Holmes once solved a mystery by explaining what did not happen. The dog did not bark.  The recently passed $268 billion federal transportation bill provided some mystery ... (PDF click here)

County looks to shift costs to developers
Ocala.com, FL - Aug 22, 2005
Developers are going to have to pick up the cost of roads if they want to develop in Marion County, and they are going to have to kick in for schools, too. At a workshop Wednesday, the Board ... (PDF click here)

Springdale : Rapid growth has city considering impact fees
Arkansas Democrat Gazette, AR - Aug 22, 2005
After adding more than six square miles to the city’s borders in 2004, Springdale leaders are looking at equitable and feasible ways to add millions of dollars in streets and sewer lines. ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees may increase by 40%
Bradenton Herald,  FL - Aug 22, 2005
County and school impact fees each might rise more than 40 percent in Manatee County on Oct. 1, adding several thousand dollars to the cost of building a new home or business. ... (PDF click here)

Builders to make case for cap on impact fees
The News-Press, FL - Aug 22, 2005
The cost of doing business in Lee County keeps going up for home builders as local governments become more dependent on impact fees. Tim Rose, president of Lyons Housing  ... (PDF click here)

Builders group cares about itself, not taxpayers
St. Petersburg Times, FL - Aug 22, 2005
An additional layer of bureaucracy is about to be imposed needlessly on the taxpayers of Citrus County for the sole benefit of a politically powerful special-interest group, the ... (PDF click here)

Editorial: Impact fees rising along Treasure Coast
Fort Pierce Tribune (subscription), FL - Aug 22, 2005
The cost of moving onto the Treasure Coast is getting more expensive, and it's not just the result of the red-hot housing market. Impact fees — those fees added to the cost of new ... (PDF click here)

Editorial: Counties play leapfrog in assessing higher fees
Stuart News (subscription), FL - Aug 22, 2005
This fall, Martin County will raise its residential impact fees to $7,118 per home. In doing so, Martin commissioners are trying to catch up with Indian River County, which recently ... (PDF click here)

Who pays for growth?
Hamilton Journal News (subscription), OH - Aug 21, 2005
When 45,000 people move into Butler and Warren counties in less than five years, who pays to widen the highways to accommodate the new cars?  Who pays to build new schools ... (PDF click here)

Roads impact fee may go up
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Aug 21, 2005
Polk County's impact fee for roads could more than double for single-family homes if commissioners approve it at their board meeting Wednesday.  A transportation impact-fee study ... (PDF click here)

Impact fee decision Tuesday
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - Aug 21, 2005
The county and schools want to pin more growth expenses on new homes and businesses as costs for roads, sewer lines and school construction rise. If proposed increases are  ... (PDF click here)

Two local developers appointed to statewide impact fee task force
Naples Daily News (subscription), FL - Aug 21, 2005
Two local developers have been appointed to a statewide task force that will look into how impact fees are levied in Florida.  As members of the Florida Impact Fee Task Force, Al ... (PDF click here)

School Board: Land offered by developer for school not appropriate
Naples Daily News (subscription), FL - Aug 21, 2005
The developers of the Coconut Point Town Center in Estero say they're ready to hand over the five acres they pledged to provide for a school site, but the Lee County School Board ... (PDF click here)

Growth Comes To Screeching Halt
The Ledger, FL - Aug 21, 2005
The cheerleaders for unrestrained, explosive growth have worked themselves into more than just a little problem. Nearly two weeks ago, Polk County building officials in Bartow... (PDF click here)

Nye County formally adopts impact fees
Pahrump Valley Times, NV - Aug 19, 2005
Nye County commissioners formally adopted impact fees for new construction in the Pahrump Regional Planning District. The fees, the maximum allowable in the State of Nevada, are ... (PDF click here)

Yuma council imposes new development fees
Arizona Daily Sun, AZ - Aug 19, 2005
The City Council voted to scale back development fees on new construction. The Council voted Aug. 3 to impose the maximum fee allowed, but decided Wednesday instead to charge only... (PDF click here)


Plan nearly doubles fire impact fees
Ocala.com, FL - Aug 19, 2005
If you plan to build in Marion County after Oct. 1, you could find yourself paying roughly double the current fire impact fees. At a workshop meeting Thursday, the four members of the .. (PDF click here)


Maximum impact
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - Aug 19, 2005
Next week, the Manatee County Commission is expected to decide whether to boost impact fees to levels that a consulting firm identified two years ago as the highest that could be ... (PDF click here)

Mouse fee still a sore issue
PensacolaNewsJournal.com, FL - Aug 19, 2005
Some Escambia County commissioners agree that homebuilders would be unfairly burdened by fees proposed to help save the Perdido Key Beach Mouse. But they may not be able to ... (PDF click here)

The high cost of our quality of life
Charlotte Sun-Herald, FL - Aug 19, 2005
In our last column (published on Aug. 11), we talked about the linkage between our quality of life here in Florida and the need to make investments in our infrastructure to preserve that ... (PDF click here)

Budget workshop focuses on impact fees
Baker County Standard, FL - Aug 18, 2005
The Baker County Board of Commissioners held a budget workshop Tuesday afternoon, that shifted focus from setting priorities for the coming year to reaching a consensus on impact ... (PDF click here)

Officials say public safety fee is a dead issue
Catoosa County News, GA - Aug 18, 2005
While five out of five Catoosa County commissioners agree that a proposed public safety fee is now a dead issue, questions remain as to whether commissioners will make any cuts in the ...(PDF click here)


County wants impact fees Oct. 1, LaBelle agrees to 100 percent
Caloosa Belle, FL - Aug 17, 2005
As of October 1, Hendry County hopes to take a big step toward preparing for the growth that everyone agrees is already in progress. At their August 9 regular meeting, county .. (PDF click here)

Dearing request: max fees
Bradenton Herald, FL - Aug 18, 2005
Following the county commission's lead, Superintendent Roger Dearing said Wednesday that he will ask the Manatee County School Board to approve a resolution asking for the maximum.... (PDF click here)

infotext: mandatory
Springdale Morning News, AR - Aug 18, 2005
It will soon cost more for developers to build in Lowell. The City Council unanimously approved fire impact fees at their meeting Tuesday night. The fees will be used to buy new ... (PDF click here)

Committee Puts Off Fee Opinion
The Ledger, FL - Aug 17, 2005
The Polk County School Board has no direct say in the size of impact fees imposed to help pay for local school construction. But board members' opinions are proving a complication ... (PDF click here)

Bartow Approves New Home Fees
Lakeland Ledger, FL - Aug 17, 2005
The price of an average new house in Bartow grew by $1,254 on Monday night when city commissioners approved a new construction fee to cover recreation expenses. And the commission ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees could hit max
Bradenton Herald,  FL  - Aug 17, 2005
Impact fees imposed on developers and builders soon may be the maximum amounts that Manatee County commissioners believe they can justify and defend in court. Some impact ... (PDF click here)

County building fees may rise
Palm Beach Post, FL - Aug 17, 2005
(Palm Beach) County commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to increase impact fees, one-time assessments tacked on to new properties that help pay for growth, by $1,500 ... (PDF click here)

Fees to protect endangered mouse
Bradenton Herald,  FL  - Aug 17, 2005
Land developers and new residents, both blamed for threatening to squeeze the Perdido Key beach mouse out of existence, may instead help save the endangered rodent ... (PDF click here)

Impact Fees Charged to Developers Rise 55% in Rio Rancho
ABQ Journal (subscription), NM - Aug 16, 2005
The amount of impact fees Rio Rancho has charged to developers has risen more than 55 percent since last fiscal year.   Developers were charged $7,158,260 in fiscal year 2005.  ... (PDF click here)

City, developers to discuss fees
Victorville Daily Press, CA - Aug 16, 2005
City Council members and representatives of the business community are scheduled to discuss today an increment in development impact fees. While all sides involved have agreed that ... (PDF click here)
 

At the Palmetto City Commission meeting: IMPACT FEES: New ...
Bradenton Herald, FL - Aug 16, 2005
That was the message sent by the Palmetto City Commission after it voted 5-0 to ask staff to draft an ordinance for collecting water and sewer impact fees. Impact fees are ...(PDF click here)

New formula will lower road impact fees
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL - Aug 16, 2005
Four months after developers questioned the way the city calculated its road impact fee, city officials have come up with a new formula that lowers the cost per new ... (PDF click here)

Fee would protect beach mouse
PensacolaNewsJournal.com, FL - Aug 16, 2005
Perdido Key residents and developers are resigning themselves to a hefty proposed impact fee to protect the island's endangered beach mouse.  A revised proposal by federal, state... (PDF click here)

Raise builders' impact fees
Palm Beach Post, FL -
Aug 16, 2005
Today, the Palm Beach County Commission will consider raising by 18 percent the fees the county charges builders. The increase makes sense because that money helps build parks, .
.. (PDF click here)

Builders challenge Granville impact fee
Durham Herald Sun, NC -
Aug 15, 2005
An association of 24 homebuilders in the Granville County area filed a civil suit against the county, calling its impact fee ordinance unconstitutional. The suit, filed last week, claims... (PDF click here)

Chandler plans 45% impact fee increase
East Valley Tribune, AZ - Aug 14, 2005
Chandler officials plan to increase impact fees tacked onto single-family homes by 45 percent next year. The City Council tentatively approved raising impact fees on single-family
 ... (PDF click here)

Impact-fee plan may spur backlash
Palm Beach Post, FL - Aug 14, 2005
Builders and developers refer to it as the "Welcome, Stranger" tax and say it puts an unnecessary crimp on the American dream. Governments call it a necessity — a way for those ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees to face review
Bradenton Herald, FL - Aug 12, 2005
Some impact fees levied on new construction in unincorporated Manatee County may rise more than 30 percent Oct. 1. County commissioners are slated to review three sets of fee. ... (PDF click here)

Port Orange finds error, lowers fee for roads
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL - Aug 12, 2005
Traffic engineers and homebuilders found out this week they were right: Port Orange's math didn't compute. Developers in May questioned how the city calculated its new road ... (PDF click here)

Santa Rosa working on details before beginning impact fees
Pensacola News Journal, FL - Aug 12, 2005
Fees on new development to help pay for roads in Santa Rosa County are closer to reality as the county looks to flesh out details soon. The County Commission on Thursday ... (PDF click here)

Panel backs county impact fee in Port St. Lucie
Palm Beach Post, FL - Aug 12, 2005
The St. Lucie County Planning and Zoning Commission on Thursday endorsed a new way of collecting impact fees in Port St. Lucie that involves putting liens on new buildings. But the ... (PDF click here)

St. Lucie planners approve increase in impact fees
Fort Pierce Tribune (subscription), FL - Aug 12, 2005
Beginning Oct. 1, every new single-family home built in St. Lucie County could pay 55 percent more in school impact fees. The county Planning and Zoning Board approved an increase. ... (PDF click here)

North Port project's fees may not cover needs
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - Aug 11, 2005
A West Palm Beach developer is projecting the city will reap $784 million in property taxes and impact fees by the time his 15,000-home project is completed in 2021, including... (PDF click here)

DeKalb proposal would triple impact fees on new homes
Dekalb Daily Chronicle, IL - Aug 10, 2005
Impact fees charged on new home construction and used to pay for things like roads, schools and parks would more than triple under a proposal before the DeKalb Plan Commission ... (PDF click here)

School Board weighs legal fight
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Aug 10, 2005
(Lake County) School Board members thought they had a deal. Groveland agreed to collect an extra $2,000 in impact fees for each home from developers so the district could build ... (PDF click here)

Realtors object to proffers’ fast track
Virginia Gazette, VA - Aug 10, 2005
Leaders of the Williamsburg Association of Realtors fear the public is uneducated about cash proffers and could become snookered if they're adopted next month (by James City). ... (PDF click here)

County restarts impact fee waiver program
Naples Daily News (subscription), FL - Aug 10, 2005
Some affordable housing buyers can now knock $16,000 off the price of their new home. Collier County officials have created a new impact fee deferral program, which will reduce ... (PDF click here)

Impact Fees Case Reaches High Court
Omaha Channel.com, NE - Aug 9, 2005
Developers across the state are watching a court case that will decide the legality of Lincoln's decision to charge a so-called "impact fee'' on new homes. The state Supreme ... (PDF click here)

Parks and Recreation Impact Fee Approved
Polk County Democrat, FL - Aug 9, 2005
An ordinance imposing a parks and recreation fee on new homes and motel rooms built in Bartow was passed on first reading by the city commission on Monday. Unlike most ... (PDF click here)

North Port officials tentatively OK three impact fee increases
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - Aug 9, 2005
After balking at an increase recommended by a consultant five years ago, the City Commission now agrees higher impact fees are needed to pay for new parks and public safety ... (PDF click here)

Osceola school-impact fee upheld
Tallahassee Democrat, FL - Aug 9, 2005
A circuit judge late Friday struck down a home builders' challenge to Osceola County's school-impact fee, the highest in the state, potentially freeing up nearly $30 million held in ... (PDF click here)

Oakwood looks at county impact fees
Access North Georgia, GA - Aug 9, 2005
Assistant Hall County Administrator Phil Sutton spoke before the Oakwood City Council Monday night to encourage the city to begin collecting county impact fees. He stressed that... (PDF click here)

School officials consider tax increase
St. Petersburg Times, FL - Aug 8, 2005
Hillsborough school officials may soon ask voters to approve a half-cent sales tax that would raise $80-million a year to build new schools and repair old ones. Without it, the school ... (PDF click here)

Editorial: School funding
Naples Daily News (subscription), FL - Aug 7, 2005
The Lee County School Board had to do something. Members confronted a deadline for sending a half-cent sales tax hike to an off-year November referendum. At their last ... (PDF click here)

Queen Anne's County to reduce its sewer fees
Annapolis Capital, MD - Aug 7, 2005
Queen Anne's County officials are considering a drastic reduction in sewer hookup fees in hopes of attracting more new businesses, such as Anne Arundel Medical Center's proposed .... (PDF click here)

Two From Polk Appointed to State Task Force
The Ledger, FL - Aug 7, 2005
Polk County will have a voice greater than its population should merit in a coming statewide discussion of impact fees. School Board member Frank O'Reilly and engineer ... (PDF click here)

Editorial: Higher impact fees in Martin push up costs for everyone
Stuart News (subscription), FL - Aug 7, 2005
On Oct.1, it will cost more to build a home or business in Martin County than any other county in the state except Indian River County and Charlotte County. Martin County.... (PDF click here)

Judge upholds Osceola school-impact fee
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Aug 6, 2005
A circuit judge late Friday struck down a home builders' challenge to Osceola County's school-impact fee, the highest in the state, potentially freeing up nearly $30 million held in ... (PDF click here)

Commission looks to update impact fees
Charlotte Sun-Herald, FL - Aug 6, 2005
At the July 11 meeting, (North Port) City Commissioners voted to approve a new agreement with James Duncan & Associates Inc., to perform updates to the city's impact fees. ... (PDF click here)

Impact Debate Affects Schools
The Ledger, FL - Aug 5, 2005
Should the burden of paying for Florida's class size reduction effort fall on local homebuyers or state taxpayers? That question is emerging as central to the debate over a huge ... (PDF click here)

Yuma looking at highest-allowable impact fees
KOLD-TV, AZ - Aug 4, 2005
Yuma is a step closer to imposing the highest possible impact fees allowable by law. City council members voted this week to introduce an impact fee ordinance and could adopt ... (PDF click here)

Turnaround may hurt credibility
The News-Press, FL - Aug 4, 2005
The Lee County School District, which was saying recently that it likely would need to ask voters for a sales-tax increase to build enough schools for its burgeoning student population ... (PDF click here)

Lee builders unhappy with decision not to pursue sales tax vote
Naples Daily News (subscription), FL - Aug 4, 2005
As much as some builders oppose ever-escalating impact fees, many have consistently said they could live with the fees as part of a broad-based funding scheme for publicl ... (PDF click here)

Pittsburg raises developer fees for road projects
Ledger Dispatch, CA - Aug 4, 2005
The City Council voted Monday to raise the fees it charges developers to fund regional transportation projects. Effective immediately, the city will charge developers $15,000 ... (PDF click here)

Bartow Gives Preliminary OK To Raising Fees on New Homes

The Ledger, FL - Aug 4, 2005
The cost of a new home in Bartow is about to swell by an average $1,400. City commissioners gave preliminary approval Monday night to a fee on new construction to offset costs... (PDF click here)

Consultant To Revisit Impact Fee
The Ledger, FL - Aug 4, 2005
A consultant on Wednesday agreed to revisit a proposed school impact fee after the Polk County School Board said the recommended increase may be too steep. Consultant Randy... (PDF click here)

Richmond residents to weigh in on impact fees, again
BurlingtonFreePress.com, VT - Aug 4, 2005
Following the narrow defeat at the polls in December of a proposed change to impact fees on new housing construction, the Richmond Selectboard plans to hold a public hearing .. (PDF click here)

Development must pay its own way
Camden County Tribune, GA - Aug 3, 2005
At a long and sometimes contentious work session last week, the Camden County commissioners hashed out their preliminary plans for controlling the high pace of residential ... (PDF click here)

County lets developers keep lower road fees
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Aug 3, 2005
Developers scored a victory Tuesday after Orange County commissioners backed a disputed policy that allows them to build on clogged roads by paying a fee that's half as much as ... (PDF click here)

Seattle Parks: Pay as you grow
Seattle Post Intelligencer, WA- Aug 3, 2005
Seattle parks need the help that Mayor Greg Nickels is proposing. Indeed, Seattle residents will probably want more of the same if the mayor and City Council go ahead with his ... (PDF click here)

Paying for city growth, Part 2 of 2
Casa Grande Valley Newspapers, AZ - Aug 3, 2005
Between Sandia and the area where unfinished homes are currently popping up, there are several other PADs with developers anxious to start building and selling, and this month ... (PDF click here)

The impact of it all
Greater Baton Rouge Business Report, LA - Aug 3, 2005
One of the great enigmas of our time is the never-ending boom that is the Baton Rouge construction market. Those who deal in hardy plank and stucco have theories, but all have ... (PDF click here)

Palmer Ranch sues over school impact fees
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - Aug 2, 2005
Palmer Ranch Holdings has sued Sarasota County, claiming that it doesn’t have to pay school impact fees and that the county can’t withhold building permits for nonpayment. ... (PDF click here)

Bennington scraps size caps, keeps impact fees

WCAX, VT - Aug 2, 2005
The Select Board in Bennington (Vermont) has rejected a new move to cap the size of big-box retailers in town. But the board voted yesterday to impose impact fees on ... (PDF click here)

Richmond to set library impact fees
Contra Costa Times, CA - Aug 2, 2005
The Richmond Library is joining the ranks of other regional and county libraries that collect impact fees from developers of new homes and businesses to pay for books, materials ... (PDF click here)

Granville OKs delay in new impact fee
Durham Herald Sun, NC - Aug 1, 2005
The Granville County commissioners voted unanimously Monday night to allow a 30-day grace period before they would begin assessing impact fees on homebuilders. Three .... (PDF click here)

Palmetto spotlights impact fees
Bradenton Herald, FL - Aug 1, 2005
The Palmetto City Commission will hear a report from its consultants on impact fees, which are construction taxes charged to new development. Palmetto is planning to ... (PDF click here)

Rochester planners warn of shortcomings of impact fees
Laconia Citizen, NH - Aug 1, 2005
When it comes to possibly enacting citywide impact fees to cover things like school or library upgrades — as opposed to just improvements to new developments as is presently ... (PDF click here)

Council may vote on citywide impact fees
Yuma Sun, AZ - July 31, 2005
Citywide impact fees will be up for debate and a possible vote at the Yuma City Council meeting 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the council chambers in City Hall, One City Plaza. ... (PDF click here)

Martin County may adopt second-highest impact fees in state
Stuart News (subscription), FL - July 31, 2005
Martin County will have Florida's second-highest impact fees on new development if the County Commission approves a new fee proposal on Tuesday. New businesses would ... (PDF click here)

Growth brings costs and opportunities
Greensboro News Record, NC - July 31, 2005
The rumblings of bulldozers and clamor of new construction are among the familiar signs -- and sounds -- of growth in Guilford County. We can expect more to come, and along... (PDF click here)

Paying For Polk's Needs
The Ledger, FL - July 31, 2005
Tax increases are never popular. But when tax cuts take place on the national and federal level, the money to keep up locally has to come from somewhere. This trickle-down effect... (PDF click here)

Council to consider IGA, impact fee question
Canon City Daily Record, CO - Jul 30, 2005
The Cañon City Council will consider Monday two measures that were tabled at the July 18 meeting be-cause of a miscommunication with the Cañon City Area Fire Protection ... (PDF click here)

Stakes high in impact fee game
Durham Herald Sun, NC - Jul 30, 2005
Durham County's the one in court, but it's hardly the only North Carolina county trying to find a way to levy per-home impact fees or something like them to extract money ... (PDF click here)

Study calls for jump in impact fees
The News-Press, FL - Jul 30, 2005
School impact fees could double so Lee County's housing growth pays for its share of school growth, according to a consultant's study released Friday. But higher impact fees .... (PDF click here)

Officials consider big hike in Lee school impact fees

Naples Daily News (subscription), FL - Jul 30, 2005
Lee County's school impact fees may be on the rise, with consultants recommending an increase of 95 percent. The fees, currently $2,232 for every new single-family home, .... (PDF click here)

Road impact fees could be next to go up in Lee County

Naples Daily News (subscription), FL - Jul 30, 2005
When consultants updated the calculations for school impact fees in Lee County, the main factors driving the recommended 95 percent increase were construction and land ... (PDF click here)

Study suggests nearly doubling Lee school impact fees
Naples Daily News (subscription), FL - Jul 29, 2005
A just-released study of Lee County school impact fees recommends a 95 percent hike, one that would take the fee from $2,232 to $4,343 for every single-family home built. ... (PDF click here)

School impact fees could double
The News Press, FL - Jul 29, 2005
School impact fees should nearly double so builders of new homes in Lee County would pay their fair share to construct new schools, according to a consultant's study released ... (PDF click here)

School district considers doubling impact fees
WBBH, FL - Jul 29, 2005
New homeowners could be paying even more for new schools in Lee County. A new impact fee study recommends those building new homes pay double what they do now. Impact ... (PDF click here)

Home builders vigorously oppose impact fees
Belleville News-Democrat, IL - Jul 29, 2005
Delegates from the housing industry presented to Madison County Board members Thursday reasons they believe school impact fees could crush the area's residential growth. ... (PDF click here)

Dover couple gets waiver on school impact fee to build home
Laconia Citizen, NH - Jul 29, 2005
The Planning Board granted a local family a waiver for a fee associated with construction of their new home, saying it's time that the panel used its discretionary power to give ... (PDF click here)

Idaho group complains of rising property taxes
Twin Falls Times-News, ID - Jul 29, 2005
Charging that Idaho lawmakers are not doing enough to prevent rising property taxes from driving people out of their homes, a grass-roots group says it will file papers today with ... (PDF click here)

Somersworth planners mull whether to implement impact fees
Foster's Daily Democrat, NH - Jul 28, 2005
At least one city planner is wondering why in the world the city is waiting to implement some method of collecting impact fees from developers. Somersworth Vice Planning ... (PDF click here)

City considers new fee
Baraboo News Republic, WI - Jul 28, 2005
For a little more than a year, fees on new housing have generated money for parks in Baraboo. Now some want to apply that system to the public library as well. Impact fees, as ... (PDF click here)

Growth management follies include political pandering
Tallahassee Democrat, FL - Jul 28, 2005
Florida's growth management debate heated up this year, but it still boils down to two basic issues: how to regulate growth and how to pay for it. I'll skip the regulatory issue except ... (PDF click here)

Sides make their case in school-fee debate
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Jul 28, 2005
Volusia school officials defended the county's new $5,284-per-house impact fee against a challenge by home builders during a hearing Wednesday in Tallahassee. The Volusia Home ... (PDF click here)

School impact fees OK'd
News Leader, FL - Jul 28, 2005
Nassau County will assess a $3,726 school impact fee on every new home effective Aug. 24. Nassau County Commissioners unanimously approved the fee Monday based on a ... (PDF click here)

Antrim considers impact fees to pay for connector road
Waynesboro Record Herald, PA - Jul 27, 2005
Taking the lead from neighboring Washington Township, Antrim Township is considering an impact fee to pay for the second phase of a planned connector road between Route 16 ... (PDF click here)

County hires new consultant
Newszap Florida, FL - Jul 27, 2005
In a significant step forward towards bringing a profitable change to county policy, the Glades County Board of County Commissioners moved to actively investigate and ... (PDF click here)

Fire and police impact fee ordinances ready for city’s consideration
Northwest Arkansas Times, AR - Jul 27, 2005
Impact fees for fire and police are ready for review by the Fayetteville City Council, though work remains on the road fee. City Attorney Kit Williams drafted separate ordinances ... (PDF click here)

County to reconsider pre-paid impact fee rule
St. Petersburg Times, FL - Jul 27, 2005
Hernando County landowners who prepaid their impact fees could get a two-year extension on when they need to begin building. The Hernando County Commission voted 4-1 Tuesday... (PDF click here)

City to update impact-fee study
Benton County Daily Record, AR - Jul 27, 2005
Fees associated with the development of land in Bentonville are about to be reviewed and updated. At its meeting Tuesday night, the Bentonville City Council unanimously decided to ... (PDF click here)

Builders could see earlier, costlier fees in Manatee
Bradenton Herald, FL - Jul 27, 2005
Impact fees levied on developers and builders in Manatee County may be raised more and faster than scheduled. ounty Commissioner Amy Stein suggested Tuesday that ... (PDF click here)

Builders want responsible growth
Charlotte Sun-Herald, FL - Jul 27, 2005
Asking commissioners to raise impact fees 300 percent won't solve all of the city's road problems, said members of the North Port Contractors Association. At last week's ... (PDF click here)

Prineville to raise development fees

Bend Bulletin, OR - Jul 27, 2005
The cost of doing business with the city of Prineville is going up. The Prineville City Council voted 4-1 Tuesday night to raise and set new fees in the planning, police and public works ... (PDF click here)

Beach buys into county impact fee plan

St. Augustine Record, FL - Jul 26, 2005
St. Johns County impact fees collected inside the limits of St. Augustine Beach will now be partially shared with the city. On a 4-1 vote at Monday night's special meeting, the City ... (PDF click here)

Tools can help ease property tax burden
The State, SC - Jul 26, 2005
Property taxes have long been the whipping post of those who like to rail against local government. For years, property taxes were the only own-source revenue for funding local ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees to begin sooner
Bradenton Herald, FL - Jul 26, 2005
Citing continuous growth in the student population and construction costs, the Manatee County School Board voted Monday to move up a scheduled school impact fee increase ... (PDF click here)

Council tied up on drainage ordinance
Herald Zeitung, TX - Jul 26, 2005
New Braunfels’ controversial drainage ordinance remains in place for now, after city council debate ended in a 3-3 tie vote Monday. Councilwomen Kathleen Krueger, Beth Sokolyk ... (PDF click here)

Real Estate Center to study local growth-control ordinances, impact fees
The Lincoln Tribune - Jul 25, 2005
The Center for Real Estate at UNC Charlotte has received grants totaling $57,500 for research projects on Adequate Public Facilities Ordinances (APFO) and impact fees.
... (PDF click here)

Developer fees may be earmarked for schools
Beaufort Gazette, SC - Jul 25, 2005
Beaufort County and school district officials are considering ways to raise money for new schools that don't depend on raising property taxes. At meetings today, two County ... (PDF click here)

Stable policy: Fayetteville’s sewer committee forwards proposed rate policy to full council

Northwest Arkansas Times, AR - Jul 25, 2005
An established sewer rates policy — like the one that made it out of the Fayetteville City Council’s Sewer Committee Thursday — might have helped head off hours of emotional ... (PDF click here)

New Impact Fee Study On Agenda
Springdale Morning News, AR - Jul 25, 2005
Bentonville might add stormwater impact fees if a new study recommends it. Members of the Bentonville City Council approved impact fees for sewer, water and fire in 2002 ... (PDF click here)

County launches impact fee appeal
Durham Herald-Sun, NC - Jul 23, 2005
With a little help from its friends, Durham County has begun its attempt to convince the state Court of Appeals to reverse a lower-court ruling and allow it to levy school impact fees. ... (PDF click here)

Judge weighs options in suit over school fees
Osceola News-Gazette, FL - Jul 22, 2005
Osceola Circuit Judge R. James Stroker is looking for a way to rule on the school impact fee lawsuit that is fair to all parties. Near the end of the trial Wednesday, Stroker asked ... (PDF click here)

Fees make impact on Minooka High
Morris Daily Herald, IL - Jul 22, 2005
Joe Cook on Thursday presented Minooka Community High School a symbol of the village of Channahon’s ongoing support of local taxing districts. The symbol, appropriately ... (PDF click here)

County, school holds joint meeting on impact fees
Baker County Standard, FL - Jul 22, 2005
Baker County is at a cross roads between being a rural county and something more." That was how Ed Lehman, with the Northeast Florida Regional Council, opened his presentation ... (PDF click here)

Area school districts push for fees
Belleville News-Democrat, IL - Jul 22, 2005
The first of three public hearings was held Thursday to explain how school impact fees could help or hinder the future growth of Madison County. During the hearing, school officials ... (PDF click here)

Developers agree to pay up to $50 million to build Rincon Hill
San Francisco Examiner, CA - Jul 22, 2005
Developers of five proposed downtown residential towers agreed Thursday to pay a record-setting $25 per square foot in impact fees, under a deal that could yield $34 million in ... (PDF click here)

Sandwich increases fees on new homes
Dekalb Daily Chronicle, IL - Jul 21, 2005
The city council last week increased a spate of fees charged on new housing and used to pay for things like new city buildings and police and fire protection. Mayor Tom Thomas ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees hit one man's home
St. Augustine Record, FL - Jul 21, 2005
Paul Vladimir Wolfgang Christian Hansen shook his head Wednesday outside the patched and weathered mobile home he owns near Cypress Road in St. Augustine. "I should ... (PDF click here)

Tell taxpayers the real choice
Charlotte Observer, NC - Jul 21, 2005
The headline on Joe Polite Jr.'s piece in the June 27 Charlotte Observer, "I favor bonds, not new fees," would have been more correct if it had read, "I favor property tax rate ... (PDF click here)

County, builders argue in court over impact fees

Osceola News-Gazette, FL - Jul 21, 2005
How should property taxes have been used in the formula that set Osceola County’s school impact fee at $9,708 for each new home? That’s the principal question Circuit Judge R. ... (PDF click here)

Judge rules Bentonville’s impact fee ordinances valid
Benton County Daily Record, AR - Jul 21, 2005
The ordinances enacting the city of Bentonville’s impact fees are valid, but the only remaining issue is whether impact fees are actually fees or taxes. Circuit Judge Tom Keith issued a ... (PDF click here)

Judge Rules Impact Fee Ordinances Valid
Springdale Morning News, AR - Jul 21, 2005
Ordinances establishing the collection of impact fees in Bentonville are valid, a judge ruled Wednesday. But whether the money collected should be considered a fee or a tax ... (PDF click here)

Impact fee vote set for Monday
Bradenton Herald, FL - Jul 21, 2005
Desperate to find ways to cover soaring construction costs, the Manatee County School Board is expected to vote Monday to move up a planned increase in school impact fee rates ... (PDF click here)

Bonita impact fees to swell 132 percent
The News-Press, FL - Jul 21, 2005
Road impact fees charged to single-family home builders in Bonita Springs will surge nearly 132 percent during the next nine months, making the city's road fees the highest in Lee... (PDF click here)

Quite an impact
Bay News 9, FL - Jul 21, 2005
In an effort to manage skyrocketing growth and the needs that come with it, Polk County commissioners are considering a very steep hike in impact fees. Impact fees for... (PDF click here)

Share the burden
Bradenton Herald, FL - Jul 20, 2005
Manatee County commissioners will doubtless try to justify an earlier increase in impact fees by citing the inflation in building costs and land values. That's what's behind plans ... (PDF click here)

Impact fee ordinance adopted in Washington Township, PA
Hagerstown Morning Herald, MD - Jul 20, 2005
Two ordinances that will affect the lives of Washington Township, Pennsylvania residents - one to ban leaf and brush burning, the other establishing an impact fee ... (PDF click here)

Fire Impact Fees On The Way In Lowell
Springdale Morning News, AR - Jul 20, 2005
Developers may soon have to factor fire impact fees into their costs if they plan to continue developing in Lowell. An ordinance establishing a fire impact fee on land ... (PDF click here)

Spring Hill would be ninth city in Midstate without property tax

Dickson Herald, TN - Jul 20, 2005
Spring Hill, which stunned its residents Monday night with a proposal to get rid of itsproperty tax, would become only the third city in Tennessee with more than 10,000 residents to ... (PDF click here)

Tense schools watch fee fight
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Jul 20, 2005
As the legal battle about impact fees raged in an Osceola County courtroom Tuesday, school district officials braced for the outcome. Ever since the Home Builders Association of ... (PDF click here)

Osceola fees unfair, lawyers say at trial
Sun-Sentinel.com, FL - Jul 19, 2005
Lawyers for a home builders group spent the first day of trial Monday picking apart the methodology used in creating Osceola County's school-impact fee. In April 2004, the Home ... (PDF click here)

DeLand to assess parks impact fee
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL - Jul 19, 2005
It's going to cost new homeowners $1,000 more to live here after city commissioners agreed Monday to begin charging them for parks and recreation services. The impact fee, ... (PDF click here)

City to delay applying for impact fees
Herald Zeitung, TX - Jul 19, 2005
City council agreed Monday roadway impact fees were a good way to help alleviate some of the city’s growing pains but decided they could wait until October to begin the process ... (PDF click here)

Guest columnist: Resist scheme to make state pay for 'growth management'
Stuart News (subscription), FL - Jul 19, 2005
Florida's growth-management debate heated up this year, but it still boils down to two basic issues: how to regulate growth and how to pay for it. I'll skip the regulatory issue except ... (PDF click here)

Judge will decide fate of Osceola impact fee
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Jul 18, 2005
A judge will decide whether the state's highest school-impact fee on new homes in Osceola County is constitutional in a nonjury trial that begins today. At stake in the case, county ... (PDF click here)

Clay County Schools Target Impact
WJXX, FL - Jul 17, 2005
A hard look is being given in Clay County to increasing the impact fee on new home construction to help build new schools. The Clay County School Board is entertaining a plan that ... (PDF click here)

School district math: Does it add up?
Miami Herald, FL - Jul 17, 2005
How many new students will head to a public school in Broward County from each new home that pops up in a development? Ask the Broward County School District, and you'll get ... (PDF click here)

Debate over traffic impact fees begins
Herald Zeitung, TX - Jul 17, 2005
City council will resume the journey toward better streets Monday by deciding whether impact fees are the best funding method for new and improved roadways. The fees are designed... (PDF click here)

County hires expert to study impact fees
News Leader, FL - Jul 16, 2005
The man who "wrote the book" on impact fees will add Nassau County to his long list of clients. University of Florida professor Dr. James C. Nicholas has agreed to help the county ... (PDF click here)

Locally Derived Funding Is On Rise
The Ledger, FL - Jul 16, 2005
State lawmakers have slowly shifted the cost of paying for public education away from the state's sales tax toward an increased reliance on property taxes -- a shift made easier by ... (PDF click here)

Impact fee trial to start-more than $30 million in fees now held in escrow
Osceola News-Gazette, FL - Jul 15, 2005
How Osceola County pays for future schools will be at stake Monday as a lawsuit over increased impact fees begins in Osceola circuit court. A group of plaintiffs — the Home ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees face challenge
Baxter Bulletin, AR - Jul 15, 2005
Determining the actual cost of upgrading public utilities to serve an expanding city and dividing that cost fairly among all residents is a challenging problem common to all growing .... (PDF click here)

St. Lucie County planning lien to collect impact fees in Port St. Lucie
Palm Beach Post, FL - Jul 15, 2005
Port St. Lucie officials have voted to quit collecting some of St. Lucie County's development fees, but that doesn't mean owners of new buildings are off the hook. They could be ... (PDF click here)

Audit: City lacked fiscal oversight
The Desert Sun, CA - Jul 15, 2005
The city of Desert Hot Springs can't find deeds to its property, had inadequate reserves in accounts and failed to produce a report outlining its significant development fees. That's ... (PDF click here)

Corning to cut back development fee hike
Red Bluff Daily News, CA - July 14, 2005
New development impact fees were again a big topic of Tuesday night's Corning City Council meeting. The good news is that after reviewing the hike, which brought the fees to ... (PDF click here)

Before tax, higher fees
Palm Beach Post, FL - July 14, 2005
The Martin County Commission put the cart before the horse again on Tuesday by finalizing plans to ask voters for a six-year, 1-cent sales-tax increase — before commissioners ... (PDF click here)

Road Impact Fee Hike Urged
The Ledger, FL - July 14, 2005
Polk commissioners were asked by their impact fee committee Wednesday to consider raising the county's road and transportation impact fee to as much as $7,447 for a new single.... (PDF click here)

Council delays review of housing, fees plan
Pasadena Star-News, CA - July 14, 2005
The (Pasadena) City Council has delayed consideration of a proposal to use development fees charged for new parks as an incentive for affordable housing. Because of the ... (PDF click here)

City task force report maps future growth
Columbus Business First, OH - Jul 13, 2005
Columbus' future should include impact fees, focused tax breaks and a little more cooperation between local governments, according to a group of community volunteers. ... (PDF click here)

County approves plan to share impact fees with the beach
St. Augustine Record, FL - Jul 13, 2005
With little discussion and no opposition, the St. Johns County Commission approved a plan to share impact fees for roads and public buildings evenly with the city of St. Augustine ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees not the way to fill city's tax coffers
The Tennessean, TN - Jul 13, 2005
It sounds like such a simple solution to bring in more money for schools and city services, without hitting taxpayers yet again. Why not add a fee to every new house built in ... (PDF click here)

Beach wants county to raise percentage of impact fees
St. Augustine Record, FL - Jul 12, 2005
The [St. Augustine Beach] City Commission voted 3-1 Monday night to ask the St. Johns County Commission to raise the percentage of impact fees for roads and public buildings ... (PDF click here)

Study: Raise Impact Fees 446%

The Ledger, FL - Jul 12, 2005
Polk County's aspiring homeowners would have to shell out more than five times the current school impact fee if county commissioners adopt a consultant's recommendation. Fees ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees on board's agenda
Bradenton Herald, FL - Jul 12, 2005
A proposal to start collecting higher impact fees eight months ahead of schedule will get its first public airing at Thursday's Manatee County Planning Commission meeting. The ... (PDF click here)

School impact fee prompts hearings in Madison County
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO - Jul 11, 2005
The Madison County (IL) Board plans a series of four public hearings to help members decide whether to go along with impact fees on new houses to help pay for new schools. ... (PDF click here)


Cape homeowners get notice of sewer costs

The News-Press, FL - Jul 11, 2005
Cape Coral notified 3,834 property owners — many owning duplexes that are rented — at the end of June that they will be charged $10,500 for sewers now being installed in an area ... (PDF click here)


Impact fees may rise in Martin County
Stuart News (subscription), FL - Jul 11, 2005
Impact fees on new construction that help pay for new roads, schools, emergency services and parks could be raised about 42 percent per home, 169 percent for a convenience ... (PDF click here)

Richmond's park fees low
Contra Costa Times, CA - Jul 10, 2005
Faced with a pocket park but no play structure, mothers in Richmond's El Sobrante Hills area have been piling their preschoolers in the car and driving to parks in Martinez, Benicia ... (PDF click here)

Law said to allow impact fees a farce, needs changing
The State, SC - Jul 10, 2005
The law legislators passed in 1999 — supposedly to allow local governments to enact impact fees on new development to help pay for increased service demands — is a sham. ... (PDF click here)

Development fees top Corning agenda
Red Bluff Daily News, CA - Jul 9, 2005
After receiving input from the community at the last city council meeting concerning new development impact fees, the council will again review the item with staff at ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees may see raise
Bradenton Herald, FL - Jul 9, 2005
Moving up planned increases in school impact fees is expected to be a topic of discussion Monday between Superintendent Roger Dearing and the Manatee County School Board. ... (PDF click here)

Share the road
Northwest Arkansas Times, AR - Jul 9, 2005
... [Fayetteville] City Attorney Kit Williams is drafting road, police and fire impact fee ordinances, which are expected to be included on the same ballot as the sales tax ... (PDF click here)

Layton OKs impact fee for public safety
Standard Examiner, UT - Jul 9, 2005
The impact fee Layton needed to build a $9.6 million police station and three fire stations at a cost of $6.8 million is now officially in place. The Layton City Council on Thursday ... (PDF click here)

High Court Sides with County on Impact Fees

Bremerton Sun, WA - Jul 8, 2005
In a decision with statewide implications, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Kitsap County can avoid paying back millions of dollars it collected ... (PDF click here)

Attorney to Ascension Growth Organization: Developers Like Impact Fees
2theadvocate.com, LA - Jul 8, 2005
Attorney Charles Landry told the Ascension [Parish] Growth Organization Thursday that in many localities developers "actually like impact fees." The fees are predictable, and ... (PDF click here)

Lot fee OK'd to lure firms
Johnson County Daily Journal, IN - Jul 7, 2005
Builders in the county could begin paying a [linkage] fee to boost economic development as early as August. Commissioners unanimously approved an ordinance Monday night to ... (PDF click here)

City ponders impact fees
Bonner County Daily Bee, ID - Jul 7, 2005
Claiming Sandpoint is facing a potential population build-up that could swell to almost 40,000 residents, a California land-use planning firm received unanimous consent to ... (PDF click here
)

Proposed impact fees draw resistance in Logan
Salt Lake Tribune, UT - Jul 7, 2005
Businessman Larry Miller doesn't want his hometown to be like other communities in Cache County, the state of Utah and throughout the nation, most of which assess impact fees ... (PDF click here)

Lee building permits pass 1,000 mark in June

Naples Daily News (subscription), FL - Jul 7, 2005
Opinions differ on the reasons, but one thing is indisputable: Lee County is growing at a record-breaking pace. Led by Lehigh Acres, building permits for single-family homes ... (PDF click here)

In High Springs, impact fees begin
Gainesville Sun, FL - Jul 6, 2005
It will cost a little more to buy or build a new home in High Springs starting this week, as the small city northwest of Gainesville has become the first Alachua County municipality to ... (PDF click here)

Longmont’s parks fee may increase
Longmont Daily Times-Call, CO - Jul 6, 2005
People who buy new homes in Longmont may have to pay substantially more to help build themselves new parks under a plan being considered by city leaders. Today, every ... (PDF click here)

Smaller fee hike pleases builders
Dallas Morning News (subscription), TX - Jul 6, 2005
Builders in Frisco soon will be paying more to put up new houses. But they won't be paying nearly as much as had been proposed. On Tuesday night, the Frisco City Council ... (PDF click here)

Crisfield debates charging impact fees
Delmarva Daily Times, MD - Jul 5, 2005
Recognizing that growth can be as costly as it is beneficial, town elected officials agreed last week to seek input by state planning experts on establishing impact fees, a revenue- ... (PDF click here)

Debate over ag-mitigation fees
Tri-Valley Herald, CA - Jul 5, 2005
When the city of Lathrop reached an agreement with Richland Development of Roseville on an agricultural-mitigation fee for a new development west of Interstate 5, ... (PDF click here)

Impact fee proposal is losing its appeal
The State, SC - Jul 4, 2005
A charge added to the value of new homes in Lexington County — a so-called impact fee — would raise little revenue, apply to few projects and require specialized legal advice ... (PDF click here)

Alternate funds hunt began here
Daily News Journal (subscription), TN - Jul 3, 2005
.A trend of shifting the burden of paying for services from the federal and state levels down to local government may have sparked another trend - cities and counties looking for ... (PDF click here)

Building trade says it pays its share for development
The Desert Sun, CA - Jul 1, 2005
When a developer has a project approved, he or she has donated many acres of land to the city for offsite streets, sidewalks, setbacks and other municipal uses. The developer has ... (PDF click here)

Builders rush to beat Indian River County impact fee hike
Vero Beach Press-Journal (subscription), FL - Jul 1, 2005
Vero Beach general contractor Orville Shelton loves paying impact fees, he said Thursday. "You get roads, schools, everything like that," he said. "I think it's great. But my client ... (PDF click here)

Council to mull cost to connect: City impact fees could reach $4,000
Sussex Countian, DE - Jul 1, 2005
The cost of connecting to Milford water and sewer might soon rise from $500 and $600, respectively, to $4,000 altogether, said Milford City Manager Richard D. Carmean. ... (PDF click here)


Number crunching to begin on impact fees
Whitefish Pilot, MT - Jun 30, 2005
Impact fees -- dreaded by some, a cure-all for others -- will be given a serious look by Whitefish city staff now that new legislation has helped clarify how they can be implemented. .... (PDF click here)

Impact-fee system fair?
Albuquerque Tribune, NM - Jun 30, 2005
The ads might have seemed more like a warning than an invitation. They ran on the radio in May, promoting the El Rancho Grande community on the Southwest Mesa. Buy a home ... (PDF click here)

Local impact fees may start sooner
Bradenton Herald, FL - Jun 30, 2005
Increases in Manatee County school impact fees may be advanced more than eight months, matching the plan to move up increases in county impact fees. School ... (PDF click here)

Input Sought On Soaring Impact Fees Mayor Asks For Input On Impact Fee Schedule
Tampa Tribune, FL - Jun 30, 2005
Looks like (Plant City) Mayor John Dicks might be having last-minute qualms about the impending rise in transportation impact fees. He's seeking public reaction to a proposed ordinance .... (PDF click here)

County to implement development impact fees
Mercury-Register, CA - Jun 30, 2005
The Butte County Board of Supervisors gave administration the nod to move forward with non-residential development impact fees in unincorporated areas of the county. County ... (PDF click here)

Building fees study may lead to hike
San Bernardino Sun, CA - Jun 30, 2005
The city set the wheels in motion Wednesday to raise fees on development in the city.
The city levies fees on new building to compensate for impacts on traffic, sewers ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees for fire district to be on ballot
Canon City Daily Record, CO - Jun 30, 2005
Members of the Public Works Committee agreed Tuesday to submit a single ballot question asking voters to approve implementing impact fees for the local fire district. The Cañon ... (PDF click here)

Marana proposes new water impact fee, rate hikes
Northwest Explorer, AZ - Jun 29, 2005
Marana is moving forward with a new water impact fee and water rate increases that could take effect January 2006 pending approval from the town council. "Nobody likes to see... (PDF click here)

Rogers: Council hires firm to study new fees
Arkansas Democrat Gazette, AR - Jun 29, 2005
Rogers aldermen unanimously approved a $38,100 contract with Austin, Texas-based Duncan Associates to research enacting impact fees to pay for road improvements. Money... (PDF click here)

Road-fee plan helps developers, Jacobs says
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Jun 29, 2005
Taxpayers were shortchanged as much as $10 million because Orange County staffers wrongly gave developers discounts on fees meant for wider and better roads, County ...(PDF click here)

Council caving in to big developers
Hi-Desert Star, CA - Jun 29, 2005
The town council approved a development impact fee study by an outside consultant firm for $43,000, and then quickly rejected recommended structure fees. Guess what, ... (PDF click here)

Build in the city, pay a new fee
Santa Cruz Sentinel, CA - Jun 28, 2005
Developers looking to build in the city should be ready to shell out big bucks to help pay for traffic signals, wider streets, medians and turn lanes. City leaders are crafting a plan to ... (PDF click here)

County may share impact fees with Beach
St. Augustine Record, FL - Jun 28, 2005
The St. Johns County Commission will decide today if it will make an offer that St. Augustine Beach commissioners may hesitate to refuse -- $100,000 a year for the Beach's share of ... (PDF click here)

Volusia center of impact fee fight
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL - Jun 27, 2005
Faced with more children pouring into classrooms every year, Volusia County and other Florida school districts are searching for ways to keep up with growth. But the choice ...
(PDF click here)

Meadowlands impact fees authorized
NorthJersey.com, NJ - Jun 25, 2005
Developers looking to build in the Meadowlands now will have to pony up some cash for the traffic they create. Acting Governor Codey on Friday signed into law a bill that creates ... (PDF click here)

Council continues study of impact fees' impact
Frisco Enterprise, TX - Jun 24, 2005
Currently, Frisco charges 68 percent of the maximum fee allowed by state law, but a Fort Worth-based consulting firm, Kimley Horn and Associates, hired by the city to study its.... (PDF click here)

Manatee moves to raise gas tax, fees
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - Jun 24, 2005
With thousands of new homes and cars coming and construction costs rising, Manatee County's traffic prognosis is grim: There isn't enough money to maintain existing roads ... (PDF click here)

Group pitches Lee police fee
The News-Press, FL - Jun 23, 2005
Keeping your home protected by Lee County law enforcement should cost new single-family home buyers more money, a Bonita Springs activist group insists. The Taxpayer Action ... (PDF click here)

Vision Committee Backs Impact Fees
Lakeland Ledger, FL - Jun 23, 2005
Polk Vision's Steering Committee supports the County Commission's efforts to eliminate what county government and consultants have identified as a $581 million infrastructure deficit ... (PDF click here)

Any decision city makes will encompass what’s best for all
Silverton Appeal Tribune, OR - Jun 22, 2005
This letter is in response to the opinion piece submitted to the Appeal Tribune by Dean Oster regarding a recent City Council decision related to systems development charges. ... (PDF click here)

Township considers impact fees
The Evening Sun, PA - Jun 22, 2005
.West Manheim Township officials are considering enacting an impact fee, which would be charged to developers for each lot in future subdivisions. At Tuesday afternoon's work ... (PDF click here)

High Springs set to impose impact fees
Gainesville Sun, FL - Jun 22, 2005
For months, city officials here have debated the merits and pitfalls of impact fees, listening to pleas from developers who say the fees would discourage economic development. ... (PDF click here)

Park-hungry Tigard brainstorms for ideas
OregonLive.com, OR - Jun 21, 2005
Tigard is short of parks for a growing population and has no recreation programs, but volunteers with the city Parks and Recreation Advisory Board hope to change that. Board
... (PDF click here)

Rochester planners support impact fees
Laconia Citizen, NH - Jun 21, 2005
The Planning Board is behind a proposed impact fee ordinance and is sending a formal recommendation to the City Council to move ahead with plans to develop an .. (PDF click here)

Port St. Lucie will no longer collect some county fees
Palm Beach Post, FL - Jun 21, 2005
Port St. Lucie's Building Department will quit collecting county development fees for roads, public buildings and parks Sept. 30, but city council members said they might collect ... (PDF click here)

Right money, right time
Palm Beach Post, FL - Jun 20, 2005
Builders often oppose increasing them. Governments frequently are nervous about imposing them. Taxpayers, however, should be grateful for impact fees, which charge some of ... (PDF click here)

DeKalb to work on new development policy
Dekalb Daily Chronicle, IL - Jun 20, 2005
A week after putting a "stay" on the approval of any new housing development, the city council will kick off an effort tonight to craft a policy on residential development that could ... (PDF click here)

Study on costs of growth will cost $140,000
Lawrence Journal World, KS - Jun 20, 2005
City commissioners aren’t sure what the costs of growth are in Lawrence, but they now know how much it will cost to find out: $140,000. Commissioners on Tuesday will decide
... (PDF click here)

Paying for growth can be thorny
Orlando Sentinel, FL - Jun 19, 2005
In less than two months, the Polk County Commission has raised existing taxes, implemented others and will look at increasing more impact fees. The moves might come with ... (PDF click here)

Impact Fees Rise As Result Of Growth
Tampa Tribune, FL - Jun 18, 2005
In three weeks, Doug Gioglio went from looking at model homes and pondering floor plans to signing a contract for a new $280,000 house in Spring Hill. If it had taken a week ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees sent back to the drawing board
Baker County Standard, FL - Jun 17, 2005
County Manager Jason Griffis summed up the situation facing elected officials over the controversial impact fee issue, at a joint meeting with county commissioners and school board ... (PDF click here)

Commissioners look down the road
Glenwood Springs Post Independent, CO - Jun 17, 2005
The Garfield County Commissioners got a look this week at a preliminary transportation plan for maintaining and improving roads over the next 20 years. Driving the need for road ... (PDF click here)

City may consider new plan to raise road impact fees
Naples Daily News, FL - Jun 16, 2005
Bonita Springs City Council members laid to rest Wednesday their original proposal for increased road impact fees, opting instead to set their sights higher. The City Council now is ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees loom for developers seeking building permits
New Mexico Business Weekly, NM - Jun 16, 2005
City developers with a legal plat of land who hope to avoid impact fees will have to submit their building permits to the Albuquerque Planning Department before July 1, when the ... (PDF click here)

Madison board cuts sewer rate, hikes impact fee
Huntsville Times, AL - Jun 16, 2005
Sewer customers will see their rates decrease, but new home buyers will see a price increase because of higher water and sewer impact fees. The Water and Wastewater ... (PDF click here)

Somerton council examines increase for impact fees
Yuma Sun, AZ - Jun 16, 2005
Building a house in Somerton may become more expensive in October. The city council is considering whether to raise impact fees by 20 percent. Officials are also deciding ... (PDF click here)

Rio Rancho housing leaps
Albuquerque Tribune, NM - Jun 15, 2005
The movement of home builders from Albuquerque to Rio Rancho has kicked into a higher gear, fueling speculation the West Side boomtown will surpass its neighbor in new ... (PDF click here)

City Council considers raising construction tax
Casa Grande Valley Newspapers, AZ - Jun 15, 2005
City Manager Bob Flatley is encouraging the Coolidge City Council to consider raising its construction tax levied on home sales from 3 percent to as much as 4 percent, and a number ... (PDF click here)

System development charges will increase
Lincoln City News Guard, OR - Jun 15, 2005
The City Council of Lincoln City approved an increase in wastewater system development charges for residences and commercial/industrial buildings at its Monday evening council... (PDF click here)

Debate continues on impact fees
Brownsville Herald, TX - Jun 14, 2005
Brownsville developers continue to lean on the Brownsville Public Utilities Board to include them in discussions about whether to increase infrastructure fees. The Lower Valley ... (PDF click here)

Pinal's impact fees scrutinized
Newszap Arizona, AZ - Jun 14, 2005
Pinal County has hired a Maryland firm to study the feasibility of requiring developers to pay impact fees for new construction. The study by Tischler & Associates is expected to be... (PDF click here)

St. Lucie schools want impact fee hike
Stuart News, FL - Jun 14, 2005
They can't cash the $500 million checks just yet. But the St. Lucie County School Board on Tuesday inched closer to funding two pieces of its long-term building needsIt unanimously ... (PDF click here)

Collier commissioners unanimously approve new law enforcement impact fee
Naples Daily News (subscription), FL - Jun 14, 2005
On Tuesday, Collier commissioners unanimously approved a law enforcement impact fee on new construction. This fee gives money to Sheriff Don Hunter so he can handle budget... (PDF click here)

Home builders wary of outcome if tap-in fees are hiked
Munster Times, IN - Jun 13, 2005
Renewed interest by Valparaiso city officials in hiking the cost of tying a new home to the sewer system has home builders ready to raise the roof. The Porter County Builders ...
(PDF click here)

Growth conference addresses impact fees, zoning laws
Hamilton Ravalli Republic, MT - Jun 13, 2005
A conference in Helena last week focused on how how Montana counties are being impacted by record growth - and what they can do to address its effects. The Urban Counties ...
(PDF click here)

Local impact fees debated at hearing
Benton County Daily Record, AR - Jun 11, 2005
Circuit Judge Tom Keith heard conflicting views this week concerning the impact fees enacted by the city of Bentonville. Ron Boyer, who represents the builders and developers who ... (PDF click here)

Impact Fee hearing draws a crowd for county meeting
Baker County Standard, FL - Jun 10, 2005
It used to be that no one paid much attention to the business being conducted at county commission meetings, but for the past few months it has been a different story. ... (PDF click here) 

Impact Fee Lawsuit Continues
Springdale Morning News, AR - Jun 10, 2005
Attorneys on both sides of the issue have asked the judge to rule in their favor by either dismissing the case or finding Bentonville didn't have the authority to collect the money. ... (PDF click here) 

Consultant suggests St. Lucie schools increase impact fee by 61%
Stuart News, FL - Jun 10, 2005
A 61 percent hike in education impact fees is in the works to fund St. Lucie County's booming student growth. The recommended change — from $3,061 to $4,955 per single ... (PDF click here) 

Deal means ag fees for buyers of new homes
Manteca Bulletin, CA - Jun 9, 2005
Water from the just completed Woodward Reservoir treatment will start flowing through Manteca's faucets in early July. The secure surface water supply means Manteca will start ... (PDF click here)

Developers may see hike in Denver Water's tap fee
Denver Post, CO - Jun 9, 2005
Denver Water may increase the price developers pay to hook up to the utility's water delivery system, raising the fee as much as 10 percent by next year. The increase would ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees gain crucial support
St. Petersburg Times, FL - Jun 9, 2005
Higher impact fees to help build schools in Pasco County have an unlikely ally: the Pasco Building Association. Unlike five years, when builders tried one stall tactic after another  ... (PDF click here)
 

Martin building fees set to jump
Palm Beach Post, FL - Jun 8 2005
Fees on new homes in Martin County are poised to jump almost 50 percent, ranking the charges among the highest in the state. But at least one Martin County commissioner .... (PDF click here)

Lenexa views growth as a two-way street
Kansas City Business Journal, MO - Jun 8, 2005
Ringo Starr once cautioned, "Don't go where the road don't go." Substandard and yet-to-be-built roads in western Lenexa, however, haven't stopped rampaging residential... (PDF click here)

Council delays land transfer fee decision
Dekalb Daily Chronicle, IL - Jun 8, 2005
The (Sycamore) city council wants two more weeks to think about whether to pursue a referendum that, with voters' approval, would charge a fee each time a property changes ... (PDF click here)

Bonita's road fees may jump to $5,647
The News-Press, FL - Jun 8, 2005
The road fees charged for those building a single-family home in Bonita Springs could increase 131 percent as the result of a Texas consultant's study. A revised study by ... (PDF click here)

Victorville to study plan to raise development fees by 140 percent
Victorville Daily Press, CA - Jun 7, 2005
Victorville City Council tonight will discuss a plan to raise city development impact fees by 140 percent. The plan would generate more than $400 million for the city over 15 years
... (PDF click here)

Adopt Realistic Impact Fees
The Ledger, FL - Jun 7, 2005
Polk County commissioners voted 4-1 last week to give initial approval to an increase in property taxes in the unincorporated areas of the county to fund parks and library ... (PDF click here)

Bigger impact fee would allow Hall to spruce up parks

Gainesville Times, GA - Jun 7, 2005
The Hall County Board of Commissioners soon will be holding public hearings on increasing residential impact fees. That is the amount charged to property owners for their ... (PDF click here)

DeLand parks fee proposal draws ire
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL - Jun 7, 2005
The City Commission on Monday -- the same day impact fees on new homes jumped across the county -- considered tacking on another $1,300 for recreation. With building ... (PDF click here)

PSL on track to drop county fees
Stuart News, FL - Jun 7, 2005
The St. Lucie County Commission and Port St. Lucie City Council met Monday to discuss the fate of county impact fees collected by the city, but no decision will be made until the ... (PDF click here)

Granville passes impact fee proposal
Durham Herald Sun, NC - Jun 7, 2005
Among the reasons George Lesher didn't want an impact fee ordinance in Granville County is the fact that he believes they are illegal. The Granville County Commissioners ...
(PDF click here)

Higher Impact Fees Take Effect In Volusia County
WESH.com, FL - Jun 6, 2005
Starting Monday, it will cost more to build a home, and consequently to buy a home, in several Volusia County cities. Keeping up with rapid growth is costly, so now, homebuilders
... (PDF click here)

Spreading the burden
Northwest Arkansas Times, AR - Jun 5, 2005
Fayetteville residents may be asked to approve impact fees for roads, police and fire at the same time they decide the fate of a $140 million sales tax bond issue for transportation
... (PDF click here)

Ordinance would lower fees for affordable housing
St. Augustine Record, FL - Jun 5, 2005
A proposal before the St. Johns County Commission might make it possible for impact fees for affordable housing builders to go below last year's level.
... (PDF click here)

Grants could be offered to offset new impact fees
St. Augustine Record, FL - Jun 5, 2005
Johns County officials said they will consider paying grants to new and expanding businesses to offset high new impact fees, and also will consider easing the effect of high
... (PDF click here)

Population boom leads to debate on impact fees in Outer Banks
Virginian Pilot, VA - Jun 5, 2005
The people are coming to northeastern North Carolina. Houses will be built, the population will grow, and commercial growth likely will follow. In the meantime, counties and towns
... (PDF click here)

PSL to discuss county impact fees
Stuart News, FL - Jun 5, 2005
St. Lucie City Council members will meet for the first time in a year Monday to decide the fate of county impact fees collected by the city. City Council members took a step
... (PDF click here)

Council to discuss impact fee bill for new houses Tuesday
Baltimore Sun, MD - Jun 5, 2005
Seeming more like a seesaw than legislation, the proposed impact fee on new homes in Harford could shift yet again. The County Council is scheduled to take up an amendment
... (PDF click here)

Editorial: Lee County schools
Naples Daily News (subscription), FL - Jun 4, 2005
Congratulations to Lee County public schools. They have persevered and won a strategic legal battle one that should not have been necessary. The system stared down the Lee
... (PDF click here)

Impact fees called 'divisive'
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH - Jun 4, 2005
An expert on financing roads, schools and other public projects told Warren County leaders Friday that charging impact fees on home builders isn't
the only way to pay the costs of ... (PDF click here)

Construction impact fees going up July 15

Bonita Daily News, FL - Jun 4, 2005
Michael and Tona Nelson are racing to get the building permits for their new Spanish Wells home by the end of this month. Beginning July 15, new Bonita Springs homes are expected
... (PDF click here)

Santaquin votes in favor of impact fees
New Utah, UT - Jun 4, 2005
Building a home in Santaquin will now cost about $700 more. Santaquin City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night in favor of an impact fee to help fund a new... (PDF click here)

Wildwood studies feasibility of impact fees for annexed areas
Villages Daily Sun, FL - Jun 4, 2005
As Wildwood expands outward, the distance some residents must travel to reach the city's library and parks becomes greater, police officers must patrol a larger area, and residents
... (PDF click here)

Planning consultants foresee revenue gap
The Island Packet, SC - Jun 3, 2005
Carson Bise of Maryland-based TischlerBise suggested the use of increased impact fees, a capital projects sales tax, a real estate transfer fee and a local option gas tax ... (PDF click here)

Commissioners To Consider Lower Jail Impact Fee For Housing
Polk County Democrat, FL - Jun 3, 2005
As the budget season nears, Polk County commissioners are considering an update to the jail impact fee. And residential developers will be getting a break if the proposed new rate ... (PDF click here)

Livingston transaction tax advances, with conditions
theAdvocate.com, LA - Jun 3, 2005
A House panel on Thursday advanced a bill to legalize a property transaction tax for Livingston Parish but only if voters approve. The $300 transaction tax also could not be ... (PDF click here)

School adds $4000 more impact fees
Baker County Standard, FL - Jun 2, 2005
The Baker County School board met in workshop session, last Thursday afternoon and after serious discussion settled on a flat rate schedule of impact fees.
The Board elected ... (PDF click here)

County to Consider Jail Impact Fees
The Ledger, FL - Jun 2, 2005
Proposals for lower jail impact fees for homes and a first jail impact fee for businesses will be coming to the (Polk) County Commission for consideration July 13, ... (PDF click here)

Court upholds decision backing school impact fees
Bonita Daily News, FL - Jun 2, 2005
Lee County schools won a major court victory Tuesday when the Second District Court of Appeals upheld a local court decision supporting school impact fees, which are used to ...
(PDF click here)

Court OKs school fees on homes
The News-Press, FL - Jun 2, 2005
A state appeals court has cleared the way for school fees on new homes in Lee County. The fees, which already are being collected, could double as early as this ... (PDF click here)

Recalculated impact fees not likely to affect road plans
Hernando Today, FL - Jun 2, 2005
County planners' latest proposal to cut about $1,000 from their latest impact fee hike would not hurt the county's plans to improve and build new roads. That was what County ...(PDF click here)

Building Industry Association says county traffic fees too steep
North County Times, CA - Jun 1, 2005
Calling it an illegal tax, the local building association sued the county of San Diego on Wednesday and asked the courts to throw out the county's new fees to make developers pay ...(PDF click here)

Court strikes down challenge to school impact fees
The News-Press, FL - Jun 1, 2005
A state appeals court has struck down another challenge to school impact fees, a decision that could end legal battles already stretching more than three years. School board ... (PDF click here)

Hernando County could be going to court again
Hernando Today, FL - Jun 1, 2005
It is clear to us our county government does not want to cooperate with the business community and is headed to court again after a halfhearted attempt to achieve a win-win ... (PDF click here)

Cape impact fees top $10,000
The News-Press, FL - May 31, 2005
Cape Coral's road impact fee will increase by 80 percent on Sept. 1, adding $1,199 to the cost of a new home and making the city's total impact fee the highest in Lee County. ... (PDF click here)

The real cost of development
Roanoke Times, VA - May 31, 2005
Once upon a time, most people were convinced that growth paid for itself. "We must expand our tax base to survive," was the rallying cry of many pro-growth governments. But ... (PDF click here)

A close look at impact fees
Lahontan Valley News, NV - May 30, 2005
Impact fees sound like a good idea, don't they? I mean, after all, shouldn't new developments pay for mitigating the negative impacts on the existing community. Probably, but ... (PDF click here)

Lexington County right to consider impact fees
The State, SC - May 30, 2005
Lexington County Council is wisely continuing its quest to implement impact fees despite a state law that limits their use. The council has been working to determine how it can use ... (PDF click here)

County weighs merits of fees
Gwinnett Daily Post, GA - May 30, 2005
A majority of Gwinnett County commissioners say they have no problem with taking a look at implementing development impact fees. But one said he doesn’t want ... (PDF click here)

Cutback in works for impact fees
Hernando Today, FL - May 28, 2005
County planners are scaling back their original proposal of a month ago to more than double impact fees. Planning Director Larry Jennings said yesterday he would ask ... (PDF click here)

Stop delaying on impact fees
The Ledger, FL - May 28, 2005
A few weeks ago, a spokesman stood before the Hernando County Commission in Brooksville. He said, "We are for increasing impact fees to the highest level the law allows. ...(PDF click here)

North Hall cities oppose increase in impact fees
Gainesville Times, GA - May 27, 2005
Two North Hall cities may resist the Hall County Board of Commissioners' decision Thursday to double impact fees assessed on new single-family homes. City officials in ... (PDF click here)

Madison water board may raise new-home impact fees
Huntsville Times, AL - May 27, 2005
The (Madison) Water and Wastewater Board is expected to increase its water and sewer impact fees for new residential development at its next meeting, with an eye toward ... (PDF click here)

North Port's first step
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - May 27, 2005
The 27 percent increase in road-impact fees approved Monday by the North Port City Commission is a small but significant step toward making growth pay a larger share of the cost ... (PDF click here)

Council decides to keep impact-fee waivers
The News-Press, FL - May 26, 2005
The millions of dollars in water and sewer impact fees Fort Myers has waived for residential builders is bringing millions more to the city in new taxes and utility revenue. That was the ...
(PDF click here)

Corning Council more than doubles building fees
Red Bluff Daily News, CA - May 26, 2005
The cost to build in Corning will rise dramatically as soon as new fees go into effect. As of now, the fee to build a new home in the Olive City is $5,655. The council unanimously ... (PDF click here)

Consultant says St. Lucie will need five new schools in next two ...
Fort Pierce Tribune, FL - May 26, 2005
The St. Lucie County student body will grow by more than 8,200 students — a 23.9 percent increase — by October 2007, according to a 119-page consultant's report ...
(PDF click here)  

Fees for new homes to increase
Business Gazette, MD - May 26, 2005
The Frederick County Builders Association wants to assure homebuyers that a 4.73 percent jump in the impact fees charged to builders slated to take effect July 1 will not ... (PDF click here)

Paying for the impacts of growth
St. George Daily Spectrum, UT - May 25, 2005
Every time someone moves to Southern Utah — there are impacts.  When people move to this area it spurs economic growth and creates economic opportunities that those who ... 
(PDF click here)

County Panel Holds Town Hall Meeting
The Ledger, FL - May 25, 2005
Polk County commissioners took their proposed tax-increase package on the road Tuesday night with a town hall meeting at Lake Gibson High School. Residents complained about ...
(PDF click here)

Transportation impact fees raised
Charlotte Sun-Herald, FL - May 25, 2005
The city of North Port increased transportation impact fees on Monday to keep up with the rate Sarasota County is charging.  The new 27-percent rate went into effect Tuesday. ...
(PDF click here)

Lee raises park impact fee
The News-Press, FL - May 25, 2005
Impact fees for parks are going up in Lee County — from $1,116 per single-family home to $1,479. County commissioners unanimously approved the new fees Tuesday after a ...
(PDF click here)

Building boom increases costs for government projects by up to 30%
Stuart News, FL - May 25, 2005
The building boom's demand for materials and labor is increasing costs 20 to 30 percent for millions of dollars in local government construction projects, which ultimately are paid  ...
(PDF click here)

Granville moving ahead on challenged impact fee
Henderson Daily Dispatch, NC - May 24, 2005
Granville County's proposed growth impact fee was argued again Monday night. It will be argued again next month, at least once. And then maybe in the courts, if the county does ... (PDF click here)

Hopkinton considers hiking impact fees
Westerly Sun, RI - May 24, 2005
Raising impact fees for new development could help the town reduce its education costs, town officials say. During a Town Council workshop Monday, councilors agreed that ... (PDF click here)

County to pave way for new fee
Tri-Valley Herald, CA - May 24, 2005
New development in San Joaquin County soon could come with a regional traffic-impact fee.
San Joaquin Countys Council of Governments committee on regional traffic fees ... (PDF click here)

Impact fee hike a real possibility
Gainesville Times, GA - May 24, 2005
Homebuyers in Hall County could face a 51.8 percent increase in impact fees to help pay for parks and recreation. The Hall County Board of Commissioners is considering raising ... (PDF click here)

North Port raises impact fees
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - May 24, 2005
The City Commission increased impact fees by 27 percent Monday for all developers, except for three who offered $7.8 million to improve a major road. City leaders agreed to ... (PDF click here)

Lee considers raising park impact fee
Bonita Daily News, FL - May 24, 2005
Michael Reitmann doesn't want Lee County commissioners to raise park impact fees, but he won't bother going to tonight's public hearing to tell them. "We know it's a ... (PDF click here)

Granville panel mulls school impact fee
Durham Herald Sun, NC - May 24, 2005
The Granville County Commissioners were presented with a school impact fee ordinance Monday night that would charge developers $2,000 or $1,250 per dwelling unit for new ... (PDF click here)

Development fees coming to Locust Grove
Henry Herald, GA - May 24, 2005
In 20 years, the city of Locust Grove will likely need 325 acres of new parks, more than 9,000-square-feet of new police and court facilities, and will need to complete more than ... (PDF click here)

Supreme court says rent caps OK in Hawaii case
Inman.com (subscription), CA - May 24, 2005
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that Hawaii did not overstep its authority when it moved to keep gasoline prices in line by imposing caps on the rent paid by dealer-run stations, ... (PDF click here)

Supreme court clarifies constitutional property rights in lingle v chevron
Yahoo News (press release) - May 23, 2005
In a victory for property rights, the U.S. Supreme Court today clarified the circumstances under which land owners are due just compensation from the government for a "taking" ... (PDF click here)

Tax increases will be hot topic in (Nashville) mayor’s budget announcement
WTVF, TN - May 23, 2005
After months of pitches and proposals, the bottom line in the Mayor's budget has an eager group waiting for the numbers. Diane Neighbors, chair of the Budget and Finance
... (PDF click here)

City to consider new taxes and fees
Desert Dispatch, CA - May 23, 2005
The prospect of developing new taxes or fees in the city (Barstow) will be a topic at a special City Council meeting today. The city staff is proposing that the city look at ways to ... (PDF click here)

The time is now
Charlotte Observer, NC - May 23, 2005
Growth costs are ravaging local government budgets. Charlotte's city manager is proposing a 9 percent property tax increase over two years. The Mecklenburg County manager ... (PDF click here)

County officials request for donations irks developers
Hernando Today, FL - May 23, 2005
Impact fees don't do enough to pay for new schools in Hernando County so county commissioners and planning and zoning commissioners have accepted the challenge of asking ... (PDF click here)

Park commissioners blast fee proposal
Chicago Tribune, IL - May 22, 2005
Crystal Lake Park District commissioners expressed anger this week about a city plan to use a portion of park fees to help pay to transform a former gravel pit into a recreational ... (PDF click here)

Board will seek approval for impact fees

Charlotte Observer, NC - May 22, 2005
When Union County commissioners voted 3-2 Monday to join counties seeking legislative approval for an "impact tax" on residential development, they took a leap into uncertain ... (PDF click here)

Polk raises tax to expand jail

Orlando Sentinel (subscription), FL - May 22, 2005
Less than one month after raising impact fees, the Polk County Commission has increased the public-service tax to help fund an expansion to the public-service tax to help fund ... (PDF click here)

Time to sell voters on tax
The News-Press, FL - May 22, 2005
Lee County school officials say they need more revenue to accommodate the district's spectacular projected growth. They need to schedule an election on the issue this November ... (PDF click here)

PUB considers raising infrastructure costs for developers
Brownsville Herald, TX - May 22, 2005
Developers have lined up against possible steep increases in Brownsville Public Utilities Board water and sewer infrastructure fees. The last time PUB examined its impact fees ... (PDF click here)

Parkland could benefit from fee
Johnson County Daily Journal, IN - May 20, 2005
Franklin wants to charge new residents an additional fee for building a home in the city. A charge would come in the form of a recreation impact fee,, which would be used to buy ... (PDF click here)

County names impact fee panel
Calhoun Times, GA - May 20, 2005
The Gordon County Commission has appointed a 10-member impact fee advisory committee, and an orientation session will soon be held in Atlanta. “We need to get to work on it,”... (PDF click here)

If you build them, you'll need more schools

Bay News 9, FL - May 19, 2005
Overcrowded schools and the skyrocketing cost of building new ones in Manatee County has sparked an environmental group to call for a ban on more new homes until schools are ... (PDF click here)

Study Shows Need To Manage Growth
The Ledger, FL - May 19, 2005
The city's (Lake Wales) population could grow from 12,000 to 42,000 in the next 20 years -- a 250 percent jump, city officials were told this week. Continued rapid growth is
... (PDF click here).

Madison will seek review of sewer fees
Huntsville Times, AL - May 19, 2005
The Water and Wastewater Board decided Wednesday night to have a consultant review a proposal to increase water and sewer impact fees. Tom Gould, a rate consultant with ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees going to Yuma council
Yuma Sun, AZ - May 19, 2005
A recommended citywide impact fee is on its way to the Yuma City Council. Or at least by the end of today, it should be. The citizen impact fee committee unanimously approved ... (PDF click here)

Stafford supervisors are doing a very poor job with growth
The Free Lance-Star, VA - May 19, 2005
Stafford supervisors are doing a very poor job with growth. Like many people, letter-writer Rupert Farley fails to grasp the nature of our growth problem Impact fees and proffers ... (PDF click here)

Lee School Board to delay vote on half-cent sales tax referendum
Bonita Daily News, FL - May 19, 2005
A planned vote on a half-cent sales tax referendum in Lee County won't happen Monday. The Lee County School Board had scheduled a special meeting May 23 to decide whether ... (PDF click here)

Bill could cease impact fees; SB 19 would end fees on school construction projects
Sussex Post, DE - May 18, 2005
A recent bill aimed at limiting costs associated with school construction projects in Delaware has sparked concern among Sussex County town officials. Senate Bill 19, co-sponsored... (PDF click here)

Impact fees a better choice than burdening taxpayers
Lahontan Valley News, NV - May 18, 2005
Both Churchill County and the Churchill County School District are feverishly working out an impact fee schedule to bring in additional revenue. Everybody, it seems, wants a slice of... (PDF click here)

Springdale Officials Discuss Impact Fees
Springdale Morning News, AR - May 18, 2005
Planning Commissioners want the Springdale City Council to hire a firm to study implementing impact fees in the city. Impact fees are charges assessed against newly developing
... (PDF click here)

Builder contests decision
The Free Lance Star, VA - May 17, 2005
.. In a lawsuit filed last week in Circuit Court, Hazel complains that the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors demanded “illegal impact fees” in exchange for the rezoning...
(PDF click here)

Impact fee waivers are misunderstood
The News-Press, FL - May 17, 2005
Recently, we've witnessed much misinformation about Fort Myers' policy of waiving water and sewer impact fees for residential developments. We heard and read statements ...
(PDF click here)

PSL gives initial OK to growth fees
Fort Pierce Tribune, FL - May 17, 2005
Convinced the city is not receiving its fair share of county impact fees, the (Port St. Lucie) City Council voted Monday to create city impact fees for roads, public buildings and ... (PDF click here)

Council approves budget, impact fees
Las Cruces Sun-News, NM - May 17, 2005
Las Cruces city councilors unanimously approved the city’s next budget Monday at City Hall, as well as two actions that should get the city in compliance with state and local impact fee.. (PDF click here)

School district will ask for impact fees
Lahontan Valley News, NV - May 16, 2005
The Churchill County School District will ask the county to impose a residential tax on every new home constructed to pay for repairing aging schools and building new ones. ... (PDF click here)

Critics question impact fee waiver
The News-Press, FL - May 16, 2005
Fort Myers leaders have waived $69 million in sewer and water impact fees charged to builders in the past five years and expect to forgo $90 million more in the coming months. ... (PDF click here)

Laurence Reisman: County's new scheme a slap at the young
Vero Beach Press-Journal (subscription), FL - May 16, 2005
On Tuesday, the elected leaders of Indian River County are expected to tack on $7,000 extra to the price of a new home. They think newcomers to the county should pay ... (PDF click here)

Group chews on impact fees
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH - May 14, 2005
One of the hottest issues in Warren County - imposing impact fees on home builders - is unresolved, but officials on both sides remain optimistic a solution can be found. ... (PDF click here)

Editorial: Taming growth
Osceola News-Gazette, FL - May 13, 2005
The state Legislature, in the waning hours of its session, approved a $1.5 billion measure to fund roads and schools being strained under the state’s high growth rate. For the past ... (PDF click here)

State backs funds for schools, roads
Osceola News-Gazette, FL - May 12, 2005
Paying for new schools and the roads that connect them may get a little easier in Osceola County. The Osceola County School District could be a direct beneficiary of a landmark ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees double in AV
Victorville Daily Press, CA - May 12, 2005
After hours of debate and public comment, the (Apple Valley) Town Council voted unanimously to more than double development impact fees on single-family residential homes ... (PDF click here)

Builders: Yes to meeting, no to fees
Cincinnati.com, OH - May 12, 2005
What was planned as a peace summit between home builders and Warren County commissioners may turn into a showdown over impact fees. Commissioners had pledged a Friday .. (PDF click here)

Nixa likely to adopt impact fees
News-Leader.com, MO - May 11, 2005
Landowners will probably have to pay more to build homes in Nixa starting next month. The Nixa Board of Aldermen on Wednesday voted to have city staff members prepare ... (PDF click here)

Santa Rosa schools could be built with impact fees
Gulf Breeze News, FL - May 11, 2005
In an effort to establish a new revenue stream that will keep pace with the growing county population, the Santa Rosa School Board is exploring the possibility of using ... (PDF click here)

Land use changes forecast
Sun-Sentinel.com, FL - May 11, 2005
High-density development downtown will continue and developers will pay toward mass transit to control traffic under a planning framework that city commissioners accepted ... (PDF click here)

School board to discuss impact fees
Lahontan Valley News, NV - May 11, 2005
A residential construction impact fee and the search for a new superintendent top the Churchill County School District's board agenda for its Thursday's meeting ... (PDF click here)

Developer fees spark debate
Victorville Daily Press, CA - May 10, 2005
Tonight's debate on raising development impact fees has sparked unrest in the community (Apple Valley). Consider a sampling of the developments leading up to tonight's meeting: ... (PDF click here)

Indio council makes wise choice in paying for growth
The Desert Sun, CA - May 9, 2005
New City Manager Glenn Southard also deserves recognition. In less than a month on the job he quickly recognized that the city needs the developers to pay for more of the costs ... (PDF click here)

City considers impact fees for new development
Tallahassee Democrat, FL - May 9, 2005
For the past 10 years, when developers started a project in Leon County they had to pay little more than the cost of construction and land. That may change, however, as Tallahassee ... (PDF click here)

Panel OKs low-income housing fee on builders
San Diego Union Tribune, CA - May 7, 2005
Commercial developers would pay substantially higher fees to subsidize affordable housing under a plan recommended for approval yesterday by the San Diego Housing Commission. ... (PDF click here)

Lawmakers approve growth control bill
St. Petersburg Times, FL - May 7, 2005
Florida lawmakers late Friday passed a growth management bill they hope will stop the spreading epidemic of overcrowded roads and schools and overtaxed water supplies. ... (PDF click here)

Apple Valley home development fees could double
Victorville Daily Press, CA - May 6, 2005
Although development impact fees are on the verge of being doubled, possibly fetching an additional $12.8 million for the town in the next year, some town leaders are expressing ... (PDF click here)

Growth-reform legislation hits impasse
The News-Press, FL - May 6, 2005
The future of Florida's roads and schools — and perhaps the cost of gas, consumer goods, and homes — was left hanging Thursday night, as Republican lawmakers failed to come ... (PDF click here)

Builders accuse city council of illegal double-dip fees
MyTown Bay of Plenty, New Zealand - May 5, 2005
Tauranga builders have launched an attack on the way development fees are levied, accusing the council of illegally double-dipping and saying new home buyers are being overcharged .. (PDF click here)

About-face on impact fees
St. Petersburg Times, FL - May 5, 2005
A spokesman for the Hernando Builders Association stood before the County Commission Tuesday and said something extraordinary. "We are for increasing impact fees to the highest ... (PDF click here)

Bonita increases impact fees $500
The News-Press, FL - May 5, 2005
Building a home in Bonita Springs will soon cost residents at least another $500 and, eventually, maybe more than $1,000.
The City Council decided Wednesday to add $535 ... (PDF click here)

Polk adds fee for parks, increases charge for EMS
Orlando Sentinel (subscription), FL - May 5, 2005
The Polk County Commission voted Wednesday to implement an impact fee for parks and recreation and raised the existing emergency medical services impact fee. ... (PDF click here)

Senate, House ready for talks on local taxes
Palm Beach Post, FL - May 5, 2005
.. Senate leaders agreed Wednesday to formal negotiations with the House over what could be the session's linchpin issue — paying for growth. Senators rushed through a series of ... (PDF click here)

Impact fee discussion set; County invites LaBelle, Clewiston to workshop
Newszap Florida, FL - May 5, 2005
Anticipating unprecedented growth over the next few years, local government has been exploring the use of impact fees, paid by new residents and businesses, to pay for that ... (PDF click here)

Senate approves growth bill, lawmakers to work on compromise
Tallahassee.com, FL - May 5, 2005
The Senate passed a bill late Wednesday that would make it easier for cities to raise local taxes to pay for roads, schools and other needs to support Florida's growing population. ... (PDF click here)

Fee jump inevitable in boom town
The Desert Sun, CA - May 4, 2005
Don’t be surprised if, for the first time in 10 years, the Indio City Council tonight approves an increase in some fees levied on new developments to help pay for storm drains, ... (PDF click here)

Adequate facilities tax put on slow track
Maryville Daily Times, TN - May 4, 2005
.An adequate facilities tax requested by the Blount County Commission won't be voted on this year. The House of Representatives' Local Government Subcommittee voted ... (PDF click here)

Indian River County Commission approves impact-fee increase
Vero Beach Press-Journal (subscription), FL - May 4, 2005
On Tuesday, a Stuart economist faulted Indian River County's study of proposed impact fees, a year in the making, with having inaccurate calculations of the amount of park land, ... (PDF click here)

Suit challenges conveyance fee
Baton Rouge Advocate, LA - May 4, 2005
Livingston Parish faces a class-action lawsuit that could break the parish, officials said Tuesday. A suit filed Friday maintains that the parish's $300 conveyance fee is unconstitutional .. (PDF click here)

Impact fees may double
Eagle Tribune, MA - May 3, 2005
The town (Salem) wants to tack $5,500 onto the cost of a new home by charging a new impact fee designed to ease the financial pressures the town's growing population is putting ... (PDF click here)

Proposed Impact Fees Faces Criticism
Tampa Tribune, FL - May 3, 2005
Hernando County's proposed impact fee increase will charge future homeowners at least $1,500 more than is warranted, says a consultant hired by the Hernando Builders ... (PDF click here)

City parkland mandate on agenda
Arizona Daily Star, AZ - May 3, 2005
Public discussions start today on proposals to require developers to set aside parkland ... This would come on top of new-home impact fees ... to help pay for metro and regional ... (PDF click here)

St. Johns County raises impact fees for new construction
WAWS - May 2, 2005
St. Johns County is raising its impact fees today for new construction. The nation's ninth fastest growingcounty is using the money to keep up with demand for public services. ... (PDF click here)

Dundee Wants Road Impact Fee
The Ledger, FL - May 2, 2005
Town officials are convinced that the town needs to have a road impact fee, but they don't know how they can pay for the study their lawyer says is needed before they impose it... (PDF click here)

Study fails to assure leaders that growth pays for itself
Myrtle Beach Sun News, SC - May 2, 2005
Brunswick County government officials say they don't trust the numbers in a recent study that concludes growth pays for itself. "This was a lobbying group that hired these ... (PDF click here)

Engineer: Many taxed twice for same roads
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL - May 1, 2005
Volusia County claims the right to collect impact fees for improvements on 70 percent of the area's roads -- essentially any road that's not an interstate or in a neighborhood. ... (PDF click here)

Impact fee stays
Gallatin News Examiner, TN - May 1, 2005
WHITE HOUSE-The city’s current impact fee rate, at least for now, will remain just as it is with the board of mayor and aldermen divided on whether or not it is a deterrent ... (PDF click here)

Time to pay for new growth
Orlando Sentinel (subscription), FL - May 1, 2005
Poorly planned growth is strangling Florida. From schools to roads, the impact in Seminole County is undeniable. That's why Gov. Jeb Bush's ideas on how to manage growth are the ...(PDF click here)

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Council rushing to pass drainage impact fee

Herald Zeitung, TX - Apr 30, 2005
After more than a year of committee work, debate, consultants and feasibility studies, the New Braunfels City Council will try to fast track the city's drainage ordinance ... (PDF click here)

North Port raises road impact fees
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - Apr 30, 2005
The City Commission this week approved a 27 percent increase in road impact fees. While North Port has been talking for months about charging builders more, Monday night's
... (PDF click here)

Senate, House inch toward growth bill

Bradenton Herald, FL - Apr 30, 2005
Growth management reform is coming down to the wire in the final week of the legislative session, with the House and Senate getting closer but still struggling with the crucial
... (PDF click here)

Tempers flare at meeting
Hagerstown Morning Herald, MD - Apr 29, 2005
A discussion about a message that Jefferson County Commissioner Jim Surkamp posted on an Internet chat site about school impact fees and Commissioner Jane
... (PDF click here)

Building community protests putting stop to North Port growth
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - Apr 29, 2005
... In a letter to the City Commission dated April 27, the North Port Contractors Association suggested increasing the impact fees on new construction; increasing
... (PDF click here)

Lenexa considers fee, tax increases
Kansas City Business Journal, MO - Apr 28, 2005
Lenexa officials want to boost park impact fees and excise taxes to finance roads that will be needed to support development in the western part of the city.
... (PDF click here)

Deadline looms for builders facing higher fees
Osceola News-Gazette, FL - Apr 28, 2005
... The (Osceola County) commission's vote also raised school impact fees for multifamily units to $6,346 (up from $1,003) and for mobile homes to $4,657 (up from $1,582).
... (PDF click here)

County passes transportation impact fees
Village News Network, CA - Apr 28, 2005
Unless any legal challenge is successful, the County of San Diego will have a transportation impact fee as of June 19. A 4-1 San Diego County Board of Supervisors vote April 13
... (PDF click here)

Florence school officials work to create impact fees
Hamilton Ravalli Republic, MT - Apr 27, 2005
With subdivisions come more students - and Florence-Carlton School District officials are hoping to design a fair method of charging developers for impacts to their already over
... (PDF click here)

More, higher fees urged
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL - Apr 27, 2005
Building a home here might cost more in the future. ... City commissioners last week approved spending $64,505 for the second phase of a study on impact fees --
... (PDF click here)

Editorial: Hands off impact fees
Fort Pierce Tribune, FL - Apr 26, 2005
Some Florida legislators apparently want to play city or county commissioner or planner by micromanaging how local governments establish, levy and use impact fees. ... (PDF click here)

Editorial: Growth plan doesn't go far enough
Stuart News, FL - Apr 25, 2005
The good news is there's consensus about how well Florida has managed growth in the 20-plus years since it passed a major act to handle it. Unfortunately, the consensus is .. (PDF click here)

Coyle: Impact fee bill will come back
Golden Gate Gazette, FL - Apr 25, 2005
Fred Coyle really doesn't want to be a party pooper. But the celebrations by people who are thrilled that the controversial impact fee legislation in the Florida Legislature failed ... (PDF click here)

Commercial growth may pay for affordable housing
The News-Press, FL - Apr 25, 2005
Developers of new restaurants, hotels, even office buildings could be forced to pay to help build affordable housing in Lee County. Tuesday, commissioners will be asked to ... (PDF click here)

Share the costs of growth
Wilmington Morning Star, NC - Apr 25, 2005
Growing counties can't keep piling most of the cost of new schools, new sewers, new parks, new jails and expanded services onto property taxpayers. The pain needs to be more broadly and. ... (PDF click here)

County's income can't handle growth
Orlando Sentinel (subscription), FL - Apr 24, 2005
Despite having some of the highest impact fees in Central Florida and a 1-cent sales tax to pay for schools, roads and other projects, Lake County faces a significant deficit in funding for critical ... (PDF click here)

Costs of growth squeeze counties
Orlando Sentinel (subscription), FL - Apr 24, 2005
Gridlock shuts down highways during rush hour. School campuses are crowded. Fire engines take longer to get to accidents. Police patrols must handle an increasing number of calls. ... (PDF click here)

Rush on to beat impact fee hike
St. Augustine Record, FL - Apr 24, 2005
Home builder Tom Coates grows philosophical when he thinks about St. Johns County's new higher impact fees and about how builders have been forced to get their paperwork done before ... (PDF click here)

The cost of home ownership
Orlando Sentinel (subscription), FL - Apr 24, 2005
Orange County, like governments across Central Florida, is increasingly turning to fees paid solely by people buying new homes as it tries to keep up with the region's explosive growth. ... (PDF click here)

Senator's Bill Amendment May Cost Counties
Lakeland Ledger, FL - Apr 23, 2005
Upsetting a senator can come at a cost. For Florida's counties, the tally might be about $25 million. With little warning, Bradenton Republican Sen. Mike Bennett ... (PDF click here)

Kerr Lake builders ready to fight plan
Durham Herald Sun, NC - Apr 22, 2005
The Kerr Lake Area Homebuilders Association, which serves Granville and Vance counties, intends to oppose plans to establish impact fees in Granville County.... (PDF click here)

Impact Fees Should Be On The Table
The Chattanoogan, TN - Apr 22, 2005
Most developers that I know personally have accepted impact fees (or some variation) as their responsibility to the community at large. Impact fees do not tax employers ... (PDF click here)

County begins growth study
Pahrump Valley Times, NV - Apr 22, 2005
While the cost of future growth in the Pahrump Valley is unknown, the cost to study it is $255,000 - just for starters. The news just gets worse. That's the amount the Nye County ...
(PDF click here)

Impact fees should be on the table - and response
Chattanoogan.com, TN - April 22, 2005
While it is very entertaining to watch certain elected members of our county pontificate on the importance of this, that or the other while debating the future of our children ... (PDF click here)

Jefferson County officials consider additional fees
Hagerstown Morning Herald, MD - April 22, 2005
Jefferson County officials are considering two more impact fees: one for parks and recreation and one for fire and emergency services. Jefferson County Impact Fee Coordinator ... (PDF click here)

Expert offers impact fee advice to Collier County school board
Naples Daily News (subscription), FL - April 22, 2005
Impact fees should be looked at in the same way as a city parking garage. That's what a national expert on the subject told school officials Thursday, to view them selectively. If they enter, then ... (PDF click here)

Cape road impact fees may spike soon
The News-Press, FL - April 22, 2005
A family building a new home in Cape Coral will pay more than $10,000 in impact fees if city officials approve a proposal to charge more to cover new roads. The change would raise ... (PDF click here)

Polk Looks At Impact Fees For EMS And Parks
Polk County Democrat, FL - April 22, 2005
Building in Polk may become a little more expensive. Commissioners voted on Wednesday to hold a public hearing May 4 on raising the impact fee for county medical services and instituting . ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees workshop

Baker County Standard, FL - April 22, 2005
It was a gathering of the political powers in Baker County, for a joint workshop on impact fees led by Frank Darabi. The officials came together to get a primer on the pending fees ... (PDF click here)

Indian River County's proposed impact fees rack up big numbers
Vero Beach Press-Journal (subscription), FL - April 22, 2005
County consultant Bob Wallace faced his toughest audience Thursday when he took a proposal for eight new impact fees to the county Professional Services Advisory Committee. ... (PDF click here)

Impact fee limits doomed
St. Petersburg Times, FL - April 21, 2005
Florida counties and school boards on Wednesday helped derail a plan to limit impact fees that help pay for growth. A vote on the measure was postponed in a House committee in the face of... (PDF click here)

Planning commissioners briefed on ways to share costs of growth
Port Angeles Peninsula Daily News, WA - April 21, 2005
SEQUIM -- A system of impact fees or local improvement districts could bring some sanity to the way the costs of growth are shared among developers, new residents and the public... (PDF click here)

Controversial new county fee gets second approval
North County Times, CA - April 21, 2005
A shorthanded (San Diego) county board of supervisors Wednesday unanimously finalized their approval of controversial new road-building fees that critics say will hike housing costs and hurt ... (PDF click here)

City approves new impact fees for developers
Oconomowoc Focus, WI - Apr 21, 2005
The City Council passed a new impact-fee ordinance Tuesday night and followed up with an amendment to the tax incremental financing (TIF) district agreement with Pabst Farms. ... (PDF click here)

Council ponders restructuring of development fees
Selma Enterprise, CA - Apr 19, 2005
With as many as six new housing projects on the horizon, the city of Selma is taking steps to ensure that new development "pays its way." At a meeting Monday night, ... (PDF click here)

Bills target growth
San Marcos Daily Record, TX - Apr 19, 2005
Senate Bill 142, ...would provide ...authority to require  central water/wastewater systems, minimum fire suppresions systems, roadway improvements, public space and charge impact fees . ... (PDF click here)

Homebuilders group threatening litigation over hike in Mesa ...
AZ Central.com, AZ - Apr 19, 2005
A homebuilders group is threatening litigation over the City Council's vote to raise Mesa's cultural impact fees. Monday's council decision raises the cultural impact fee on new houses by ... (PDF click here)

City set to charge impact fees
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL - Apr 18, 2005
PORT ORANGE -- Homebuilders and future owners of newly built homes beware: The city is finished talking about tacking a fire and road impact fee to the price of every new home built after Oct. 1... (PDF click here)

Granville panel votes for impact fee
Durham Herald Sun, NC - Apr 18, 2005
Granville County inched closer to finding some revenue to offset the rising cost of development by voting unanimously Monday night to direct its attorney to prepare an impact fee ordinance. . ... (PDF click here)

Gilbert looks to impact fee hike
East Valley Tribune, AZ - Apr 18, 2005
Gilbert is gearing up to increase fees on new homes again — a move that would keep the town's residential system development fees the most expensive in its area of the East Valley. ... (PDF click here)

Building fees to buy millions in facilities
San Diego Union Tribune - Apr 15, 2005
Steep new development fees here could generate $15 million for new ball fields, traffic signals, road improvements and other items over the next 10 years. ... (PDF click here)

County seeks Vero Beach's approval for eight new impact fees
Vero Beach Press-Journal (subscription), FL - Apr 15, 2005
Indian River County officials met with City Council on Wednesday to seek its approval on eight new impact fees they want to implement, six of which are countywide... (PDF click here)

Development shouldn't outrun school capacity
St. Petersburg Times, FL - Apr 15, 2005
... Why pay impact fees? ... Do you remember the impact fees that were imposed on cars brought in from another state and registered in Florida? ... (PDF click here)

Marana sets highest development impact fees in Southern Arizona ...
Northwest Explorer, AZ - Apr 15, 2005
One week after the Mayor Bobby Sutton Jr. emphatically declared Marana would set the highest impact fees in Southern Arizona, the Marana Town Council followed up on that promise... (PDF click here)

Jefferson may OK impact fees next Monday
Main Street Newspapers, GA - Apr 14, 2005
Jefferson leaders may give a final nod to impact fees in the town as early as next Monday night. After a final public hearing and discussion this week, the council could approve an impact fee... (PDF click here)

Impact-fee hike needs more study, Martin County Commissioners say
Stuart News, FL - Apr 13, 2005
A proposal to raise impact fees on new houses by about 60 percent must undergo at least two months of scrutiny by construction industry representative, the Martin County .
..(PDF click here)

Bush Calls For Growth Legislation
Tampa Tribune, FL - Apr 13, 2005
Saying it is "probably the highest priority to get done this year,'' Gov. Jeb Bush pressed for legislation that would force the creation of infrastructure to keep pace with the ... (PDF click here)

Let visitors, newcomers pay for better roads, survey says
Orlando Sentinel (subscription), FL - Apr 13, 2005
... Instead, they think tourists and new homeowners should pay for the road improvements through higher rental-car taxes or impact fees, according to the survey ... (PDF click here)

Senate: Growth, tax hike do mix
St. Petersburg Times, FL - Apr 13, 2005
... proposal comes as state lawmakers consider changes to one of the key ways counties have paid for infrastructure expansion in recent years: impact fees on new ... (PDF click here)

Whoa! Slow down on impact fees
Hernando Today, FL - Apr 13, 2005
The Hernando Builders Association is asking county commissioners to postpone public impact fee hearings and hold off potentially doubling the tax to $10,135 for each new home .. (PDF click here)

Impact fees necessary to back quality education
St. Petersburg Times, FL - Apr 13, 2005
. the Hernando Classroom Teachers Association unanimously supported the consideration of the Hernando County Planning Department to raise the impact fees on new ... (PDF click here)

Public invited to comment on city's impact fees
New Mexico Business Weekly, NM - Apr 12, 2005
The impact fee ordinances adopted by the Albuquerque City Council last November are scheduled to be implemented on June 10, and the rules and regulations governing them are now ... (PDF click here)


Impact Fees Lawsuit Halts School Construction
WESH.com, FL - Apr 12, 2005
... To fund new schools, Osceola County raised impact fees on new home construction, from $2,800 to close to $10,000. It's now the highest impact fee in the state. ...(PDF click here)

Rochester council considers impact fees to combat effects of rapid ...
Foster's Daily Democrat, NH - Apr 12, 2005
With no signs development will ease up, efforts are under way to levy impact fees on a citywide scale. City officials say a new approach to impact fees is needed to combat what some see as ...(PDF click here)

City to double developer impact fees
Hesperia Star, CA - Apr 12, 2005
Home builders soon will be paying dramatically higher fees, a move designed to meet Hesperia’s infrastructure needs over the next 30 years.
Currently at $4,707, the city’s Developer... (PDF click here)

Legislators at odds over controlling county impact fees
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL - Apr 11, 2005
... school in portables, either. Like heat, humidity and bad hair days, impact fees are a fact of life in Florida. The one-time assessment ... (PDF click here)

School Board, county discuss impact fees
Orlando Sentinel (subscription), FL - Apr 11, 2005
... Lake County Commission and the School Board expressed preliminary support for a plan that would allow the district to receive school-impact fees earlier than ...(PDF click here)

Impact fee bill clears second hurdle in Senate
Charlotte Sun-Herald, FL - Apr 11, 2005
A controversial bill that would require Florida counties to document how and where they spend impact fees paid by builders for new construction ... (PDF click here)

Lake County considers early fee collection
Leesburg Daily Commercial, FL - Apr 11, 2005
... school construction, the Lake County Commission and School Board on Monday listened to a plan that would require developers to begin paying impact fees as soon as a property is platted. ... (PDF click here)

Growth mismanagement
St. Petersburg Times, FL - Apr 10, 2005
... Bills are moving through committees that would strip authority from local governments to set impact fees and turn the state environmental agency into a quick ... (PDF click here)


20 years later, growth control still a fantasy
Orlando Sentinel (subscription), FL - Apr 10, 2005
... People do not want to be taxed to pay for growth. That's why impact fees are so popular. That's why Mobility 20-20 failed so miserably. ... (PDF click here)

Consultant considered to review impact fee proposal
Hernando Today, FL - Apr 9, 2005
County planners could soon see their impact fee proposal challenged by a local builders association.
Hernando County Homebuilders Association Vice President Tim Stoops said . ... (PDF click here)

House gives thumbs up to impact fees
The Bozeman Daily Chronicle, MT - Apr 8, 2005
Cities and counties will get to pass along the costs of development to the people buying new homes, the House decided Friday. Senate Bill 185 gives local governments the power to...(PDF click here)

One-time fees to cause long-term county troubles
North County Times, CA - Apr 8, 2005
On April 13, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors will vote on an important issue ---- one that may leave residents and workers battling worse roadway congestion. ... (PDF click here)

Impact fee gets resort approval
Ocean City, MD - Apr 8, 2005
Developers will only be required to pay half of the impact fee when they obtain a building permit, members of the Ocean City Council unanimously decided during Monday’s ... (PDF click here)

Guest commentary: Impact fee legislation would prove costly to Collier taxpayers
Naples Daily News (subscription), FL - Apr 8, 2005
Legislation which removes the requirement for developers to pay impact fees on new construction is rapidly moving through the Florida House and Senate. ... (PDF click here)

Impact fee bill needs an adjustment
Hernando Today, FL - Apr 8, 2005
The impact fee legislation currently being mulled in Tallahassee has a serious flaw that needs to be corrected before the state House and Senate approve it. ... (PDF click here)

Builders get break on fees
St. Augustine Record, FL - Apr 7, 2005
St. Johns County Commissioners gave some future commercial buildings a break Wednesday on the new impact fees that take effect May 2. ... (PDF click here)***

Looking for Impact on Fees
The Ledger, FL - Apr 6, 2005
Florida's home builders want action -- and they want it now. Builders from around the state are pushing for the passage of two bills related to impact fees. ... (PDF click here)

Consultant recommends raising impact fees in Bonita
Naples Daily News, FL (subscription) - Apr 6, 2005
A consultant is recommending that Bonita Springs leaders raise impact fees by 25 percent for individual homes to offset the surging costs of constructing new roads and parks. ... (PDF click here)

Don't be fooled by proponents of impact-fee bill
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - Apr 5, 2005
In an April 1 Herald-Tribune article, HBA officials are quoted as saying that their bill to limit impact fees would have no real effect in Sarasota and Manatee ... (PDF click here)

City mulls impact fees
Charlotte Observer, NC - Apr 5, 2005
During a work session Monday, (Mount Holly) council members gave city staff the go-ahead to research impact fees used in Cabarrus County and other communities to see ... (PDF click here)

Impact fee issue goes to mediation
The News-Press, FL - Apr 4, 2005
Cape Coral's lawsuit seeking to collect a share of school impact fees for its charter schools is on hold while the three government agencies involved go ... (PDF click here)

Don't fetter local growth controls
Miami Herald, FL - Apr 4, 2005
...The financial consequences of restricting county resources while growth continues mean that Florida roads will be in gridlock, schools will become more overcrowded and water ... (PDF click here)

Impact fees
Arkansas Democrat Gazette, AR - Apr 4, 2005
Rogers Water Utilities formed an advisory committee in late December to research newly passed impact fees to pay for $128 million in water and sewer ... (PDF click here)

County explains laborious task of calculating impact fees
Hernando Today, FL - Apr 4, 2005
If Thursday's workshop on potentially doubling impact fees is any indication, builders appear to be unconcerned that their future clients will have to pay a far heftier bill ... (PDF click here)

A major step
Orlando Sentinel (subscription), FL - Apr 3, 2005
If local communities can't afford to build adequate roads and public schools or provide the drinking water needed to accommodate growth, then local government shouldn't ... (PDF click here)

Council candidates weigh in on impact fees
Lincoln Journal Star, NE - Apr 1, 2005
... The Journal Star asked the candidates whether they agree or disagree with Lincoln builders' opposition to impact fees and what they say is a cumbersome ... (PDF click here)

Builders, cities argue over impact of impact fe