Maxcy's Proposed Stimulus Package Grows With Ideas

SEBRING - Suspending impact fees is just one of the ideas Highlands County Commissioner Guy Maxcy will propose for a "stimulus package" to jump-start the county's stalled economy.

Since Maxcy first proposed suspending both impact fees and building permit fees to get the struggling construction industry going again, people have been giving him additional ideas.

At least four of those ideas will be added to Maxcy's plans to suspend impact and building permit fees when he officially presents his "stimulus package" to the county commission.

Maxcy said Monday he will ask Edgar Stokes, the chairman of the county commissioners, to schedule his proposed stimulus package as a discussion item at the March 4 commissioners meeting.

"I'm still formulating the ideas I've had and ideas that other people have come up with to present to the board (of commissioners) on March 4," Maxcy said.

"Something has to be done," said Maxcy, who is seeking his fifth four-year term on the county commission, "because there are a lot of people who are really hurting.

"I have not seen, but I have heard of many individuals and businesses that are on the edge of financial failure," he said.

"My whole premise," he added, "is that if people aren't pulling building permits now, if we suspend these (impact and building permit) fees, that might put people over the top in their thinking.

"It might make them think that, 'Although the times are tough, I'm going to go ahead and build the home I've been waiting on now.'"

Maxcy said Highlands County should do something locally to stimulate the economy, just as President George W. Bush and Congress are sending $600 tax rebates to people to stimulate the economy.

Maxcy said he considered a similar tax-cash give back to citizens on a county level, but it isn't feasible.

"If we gave back one mill of property tax on a rebate, that would take $5 million in revenue away from the county," Maxcy said. "Now, there are about 45,000 households in Highlands County, and $5 million divided into 45,000 households equals a rebate of $111.11 per household."

That would be too little to spur spending and the tax loss would be too great, Maxcy said.

"I just know that when someone pulls a building permit, great things happen for a lot of people in this county," Maxcy said. "I know that every time somebody pulls a building permit, that feeds a lot of mouths in this county."

From e-mails and other forms of communication, Maxcy has received other ideas to add to his stimulus package. So far, he said, he has decided on adding four of those ideas to his suspension of impact and building permit fees.

Those four ideas are:

* Shortening the time it takes a builder to get county approval on engineering and building plans;

* Suspending the county fees for site plan review and approval on building projects;

* Suspending the fees for dumping concrete and construction debris at the county landfill, because most building projects incur this expense; and

* Fast-tracking approvals for the county's three building projects this year so that construction workers can get on those jobs as soon as possible.

At a cost of about $500,000, the county is scheduled to replace the two motor vehicle inspection "barns," in Avon Park and Lake Placid, this year. Also, the county will build a new building for the Veterans Services Office, paid for with a $400,000 federal grant.

"If we can fast-track these projects and get them under way as soon as possible, that's putting people back to work," Maxcy said.

Maxcy said he needs discussion by the four other commissioners, and from the public, on March 4 to sort out exactly what an economic stimulus package should contain.

"Some of these ideas may be immediate 'toss-outs,' and so we get rid of them," he said. "Some of these ideas may be great, and we may have more ideas before March 4 to talk about too."

Maxcy said the biggest mistake the county commission could make is to do nothing while the county's economy stays down.

Last week, the Polk County commissioners voted 3-2 to defeat a proposal to suspend impact fees to stimulate the local construction industry.

Maxcy said Polk County's decision could be good news for Highlands County, as it could encourage investors to move projects from Polk to Highlands County. Cutting impact and building permit fees out of a building's cost could be a big incentive to build here, Maxcy said.

Maxcy said the stimulus package won't create a building boom. But, he said, for every one building permit pulled because of such a package, "that provides a lot of good things for a lot of people in our county."