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Highlands Today

Impact Fees Raised For Inflation

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By JIM KONKOLY

Highlands Today

Published: September 10, 2008

SEBRING - Highlands County commissioners voted Tuesday to raise impact fees, effective Jan. 1, to account for inflation.
Impact fees are charged to cover the cost of additional roads, sewers, law enforcement, recreation facilities, schools and other infrastructure as new construction raises the county's population.

Currently, the eight separate impact fees total $5,060 for a new home of up to 1,500 square feet. On Jan. 1, these fees will go up to $5,331, an increase of $271.

The commissioners approved the recommendation of the 11-member Citizens Advisory Committee on Impact Fees, appointed by the commissioners. The committee recommended raising the impact fees according to the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflationary increases in the cost of goods and services.
Impact fees are now assessed at 30 percent of the recommended level for the seven county government fees, and 50 percent for the impact fees that go to the county school board.

The advisory committee recommended, and the county commissioners agreed, not to increase the percentage at which the impact fees are charged.

Individually, the separate impact fees will go up for next year by the following percentages: correctional facilities, 3.5 percent; law enforcement, 5.5 percent; fire rescue, 3.6 percent; EMS, 3.7 percent; libraries, 3.4 percent; parks and recreation, 15.9 percent; education facilities, 3.8 percent, and transportation, 7 percent.

The impact fee for parks and recreation went up much more than the others because the cost of new parks is determined mainly by the cost for land, which has risen, according to Bernis Gainer, director of the county's Office of Management and Budget.

The new impact fee charges were approved in a 3-1 vote. Commissioner Guy Maxcy cast the lone "no" vote, saying that the fees should not be raised during these troubled economic times when many businesses and residents are struggling.

Commissioner Edgar Stokes was absent from the meeting.

In other action, the commissioners agreed to consider: increasing the property tax break for low-income senior citizens in Homestead houses; moving some of their county commission meetings to evening hours; and reducing the number of their meetings from four to three per month.

For nearly a year and a half, several seniors, most notably John Drennan, have been asking the commissioners to raise the tax break for low-income senior homeowners. The county now drops the taxable value of a low-income senior citizen's home by $5,000 if they apply for this tax break.

State law allows counties to set this tax break anywhere from zero to $50,000. Drennan has been asking the commissioners to raise it from $5,000 to $25,000 per year.

At the request of Commissioner Barbara Stewart, county Administrator Michael Wright said he plans to put this issue on the agenda for a vote in early October. Over the past several months, two commissioners, Maxcy and Don Bates, have said they support some increase in this tax break, but neither has committed to a specific amount.

Maxcy said some constituents have asked for evening meetings of the county commission, so that more people could attend. Stewart said Tuesday evening meetings of the county commission would conflict with at least some of the city and town council meetings of the three municipalities.

Probably, Stewart said, the commissioners could hold only one Tuesday night meeting per month that would not conflict with the municipal council meetings.

Wright agreed to make a recommendation on the idea of holding a limited number of evening county commission meetings on a trial basis, to see if it does increase the number of citizens attending.

Wright also said he believes the commissioners could pare the number of their meetings down from four to three a month. He asked for and was given permission to come up with a proposal to do that.

"Present any ideas you have, sure," Maxcy told Wright.

"We'll be back to you," Wright responded.

Maxcy said the biggest complaint people have about access to the county commission meetings is the poor sound quality on the live cable TV broadcasts of the meetings by Comcast.

Many people do or would like to watch the commission meetings live on TV, Maxcy said, but they often complain of very poor sound quality on the broadcasts.

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

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