This is what I sent my County Council this morning:
Hello to all Georgetown County Council members,
I am writing you this weekend because I feel it is necessary to share my opinion, and some facts, on why Georgetown County needs those impact fees.
Impact fees are a more efficient way to pay for infrastructure than general taxes, increase the supply of buildable land, have complex effects on housing prices, and do not slow job growth. In a 2003 Brookings Institution report, impact fees and their effects on employment and economy are thoroughly examined.
In this report, the authors examine the relationship between impact fees and economic development to determine whether these fees stifle investment and stunt job growth, as private developers and other opponents have argued. They tested their hypothesis that impact fees do not restrict job growth by comparing communities that are identical in every respect except for impact fees, Their sample included 67 counties in Florida between the years 1993 and 1999, about half of which collected user fees. The data was taken from the Florida Statistical Abstract.
Twenty-two states have now passed enabling legislation to promote the use of impact fees by local governments. The authors attribute the growth of impact fees to three factors. First, since the 1980s the federal and state governments have reduced funding for local construction projects. Second, the federal government has raised the standards on infrastructure, which, in turn, have increased maintenance costs for local governments. Third, popular opposition to local taxes--particularly the property tax--has grown over the last few decades, leading local governments to rely more heavily on alternative sources of revenue.
Impact fees facilitate growth by expediting development approvals, increasing the amount of developable lands, and reducing citizen opposition to new growth.
I also point you towards ImpactFees.com for additional information supporting the above.
In the statehouse, H. 3302 shows you that impact fees could be used for educational funding.
Sen. Mike Rose, R-Summerville, has already had a bill pass the Senate which would help District 2.
I thank you for your time in this important matter and please make sure you click the hyperlinks for the data to back up what I am writing.
2 comments:
Georgetown County needs to pass impact fees to make up for lost revenue in the slow down, not to fund needed infrastructure. What they should be doing is cutting staff and overhead. What will happen is, this will spur people into annexing into municipalities where available. It will stifle growth that would have created jobs that and would have increased the tax base.
The popular comment layout is common, so it is easily recognized when scanning to post a comment. If the comment section is in a different format, then I am going to spend more time trying to decipher what everything means.
part time worker
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