TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Highlands Today

County To Consider Changing Impact Fee Payments

ADVERTISEMENT

By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: October 5, 2008

SEBRING - On Tuesday, the Highlands County commissioners will consider a major change in the way impact fees are paid.

These fees, assessed to keep infrastructure on pace with growth, now must be paid just before construction begins, when building permits are taken out.

The county commissioners will consider changing that to paying impact fees when construction of a residential or commercial building is finished and a certificate of occupancy is issued.

The change was recommended by the 11-member Citizens Advisory Committee on Impact Fees, appointed by the county commissioners.

Jack Richie, chairman of the committee, said the change is "a matter of fairness" and also designed to help builders finance projects.

"Until a building is completed and occupied there is no impact, because nobody has moved into it," he said.

"It's a very big change," he added. "And most counties are going that way now."

Construction of most new homes takes from six months to one year, Richie said.

Only licensed contractors will be able to pay the impact fees when the certificate of occupancy is issued. For owner-built homes or buildings, the impact fees will still have to be paid when building permits are taken out.

Mike Secor, president of the Highlands County Builders Association, endorsed the change and said it will particularly help the smaller home building companies.

"It's only fair," Secor said. "There is no impact from a new building until there is a certificate of occupancy."

Secor, a member of the impact fee advisory committee, said home builders "have up-front costs when you start a building that represent a pretty substantial amount of cash." Paying impact fees of about $7,000 on a typical new home before construction begins places an unnecessary financial burden on builders as they start a project, he said.

Jim Konkoly can be reached at 863-386-5855 or e-mail jkonkoly@highlandstoday.com

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT