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June 15, 2006

Impact fees...

... it's been quiet in here lately. I've been spending a fair amount of time on stories not related to north High Point or Jamestown. We've got some relevant things coming up over the next couple of days.

But I thought I'd note quickly the N.C. Court of Appeals' impact fees decision. Here's some places to look for commentary.

If you're not familiar with the case, here's the quick run-down. To enact impact fees -- those charged to a developer ostensibly to pay for infrastructure created by a new home or other development and the fee is typically passed on to the consumer -- a county must get approval from the state legislature. That's something the General Assembly hasn't done in the last 15 years. A few counties went ahead and put them in place anyway. And developers in Durham -- one of those that did -- sued. The case went to the state appeals court, which decided Durham was in the wrong and must return all fees collected over the last five years -- to the tune of $7.5 million. Durham is appealing.

I'm not aware of any effort to use impact fees here in Guilford County. But since more than once when I've noted a new development working its way through the city's planning office people have asked questions about who will pay for necessary infrastructure created by the development, I thought I'd bring it up.

It's an interesting question. Should people building houses pay a fee to help pay for schools and roads? What if they already live here and are just moving from one house to another, is it still fair then? Realtors will tell you that it's not. Others say it will have a negative effect on homeownership among poorer residents and less homes will be built as a result. Yet others say they're more efficient than property taxes at paying for growth and increase home prices by about half of the actual fee.

If I had the answer, I'd be in consulting. But I thought it'd be worth some discussion here.

Posted by Jonathan Jones at June 15, 2006 5:04 PM

Comments

High Point's City Council routinely asks developers to pay for road improvements when they create a need, as when the Palladium shopping center created the need for an access road, turn-in lanes and yet another Wendover red light. It's clear schools are over-crowded in North High Point, and a 200-home development will create the need for new classrooms (or trailers). How is it different to require that developer to pay for the costs of those new classrooms just as they would have to pay for road improvements?

It's a no-brainer. Of course, developers don't like it. They don't even want to pay for sidewalks when concrete costs $8 a bag.

The only reason that developers aren't paying these costs is that they have much better lobbyists than homeowners do.

Again, all the North High Point people fixated on Terry Grier really need to be focusing on the High Point City Council. It's caused the over-crowded schools in North High Point by approving subdivision after subdivision while knowing that the school infrastructure isn't sufficient to accommodate all those residents--unless those new residents are bused to less crowded schools in central High Point.

Posted by: Emerywould at June 16, 2006 9:34 AM