Impact fees are designed to help pay the expenses for new growth in a community, but finding the balance of a fee amount that will not discourage development is the challenge faced by the Jones County Board of Commissioners.

An advisory committee selected to help with that decision met last week, but members opted to hear public input before making their recommendation. The question of impact fees will be discussed at two upcoming public hearings, the dates of which have not been set, before the commissioners make their decision.

Background

Adopting impact fees is not an easy process, and the Board of Commissioners hired the Atlanta firm of Ross and Associates in February of 2007 to perform a feasibility study in order to determine if the time was right to implement the fees locally. Impact fees have been discussed by Jones County commissioners for several years, especially when they set the county’s tax rate. By definition, a development impact fee is a fee charged to cover a new development’s impact on infrastructure.

The Georgia Development Impact Fee Act was enacted into law in 1990. According to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs Web site, the act sets rules for local governments that wish to charge new development for a portion of the additional capital facilities needed to serve it. The provisions of DIFA are extensive in order to ensure that new development pays no more than its fair share of the costs and that impact fees are used for growth and not to solve existing service deficiencies.



One of the steps in the process is to appoint and obtain the recommendation of an advisory committee of county residents with at least 40 percent of its members from the development community.

That committee met in August and again Jan. 31. Members in attendance were Larry Sheppard, Susan Green, George Luther, Mickey Parker, David Price, Jon Carter, and Ted Stone.

The committee members listened to a report by Bill Ross III of Ross and Associates and were tasked with reading the methodology report from the consultant, listening to an overview of the proposed impact fee ordinance, and coming up with a recommendation for the commissioners concerning impact fees.

Development view

Sheppard was the first to speak up at last week’s meeting questioning the values used to calculate the maximum fee. He suggested using the 2006 fees without the revaluation increase would not be accurate.

“We are creating another bureaucracy in Jones County, and we have bureaucracies running out our ears,” Sheppard said. “Putting another $2,700 per dwelling is outrageous. If this is implemented, we are not going anywhere.”

The developer said he remembers the years during Jimmy Carter’s presidency when interest rates went to 27 percent.

“It’s going to kill development in Jones County,” he added. Sheppard said he was also concerned that Gray officials had not been included in the discussions, and the fees were calculated without city participation.

City too?

He said not only have city officials not been informed, but, from his conversation with one of the council members, the only thing they know is what was in the newspaper.

“If we don’t involve the city, a tremendous amount of money is left on the table.”

County Administrator Mike Underwood said when the discussion of impact fees began, he talked to the mayor.

“The city wanted to piggyback with us, but they couldn’t. They have to do their own,” the administrator explained.

“There is absolutely no way the city is going to agree. We may as well take that off the table,” Parker added.

Ross explained that the calculation of new growth added value, and that does not change as the tax digest increases. He also said participation with the city could be done with a contract, but most cities do not join with counties to collect impact fees.

“The county has the right to charge impact fees in the city but doesn’t have the mechanism to do it,” the consultant said. “Impact fees shift the burden to new growth, and if the city doesn’t participate, you have to calculate credit. It can be very complicated because the element of the fees is negotiable with the city.”

Who pays?

Green, a former commissioner, said she would hope people would pay $2,700 more to live in Jones County, and she believes growth should be contributing to the services it creates.

Parker said his concern was balancing the fee to be fair to the builder.

“There is a point it won’t go,” he commented.

Underwood pointed out that development creates the need for more services. He said either new growth pays its fair share, or the ones who have lived here for years will pay for the growth.

Stone was selected as chairman of the committee, and he pointed out that the first item for the group to decide was if they want an impact fee.

Parker asked what happens after the committee’s recommendation is made to the commissioners. Ross said that the committee is solely advisory and the commissioners can do what they want.

Sheppard suggested that the committee is going to a lot of trouble if the commissioners can just do what they want anyway.

Future plan

“We are planning for the future,” Ross explained. “You don’t have to have impact fees. You can continue to increase property tax, but you will need a 1.5 mill increase every year to pay for the projects that are planned.”

Sheppard said he does not object to having an impact fee, but he does object to a $2,700 per dwelling fee.

The county identified four areas: libraries, emergency management, the Sheriff’s Department, and parks and recreation to use impact fees, and 70 percent of new growth can be paid by the fees.

Ross presented the results of the study to commissioners Dec. 19 complete with a chart showing the maximum impact fees that could be charged to fund future projects related to growth through 2030. He returned to the Jan. 8 board meeting with updates requested by Commissioner Larry Childs.

The study shows an estimated $14.8 million in local costs will be needed to fund capital improvements over the next 23 years, including $600,000 for libraries, $7.9 million for emergency management, $2.1 million for the Sheriff’s Department, and $4.2 million for parks and recreation.

The total maximum fee per residential dwelling would be $2,338. Commercial and industrial property impact fees are based on different criteria, and those impact fees vary according to the type of business. Ross explained that the county does not have to use the maximum impact fee or adopt impact fees at all.

Ross said an impact fee is charged at the time of a building permit application, and if adopted, every habitable structure in the county has the value of the fee. He said building permits that have been applied for at the time the fees are adopted are grandfathered in. Ross also explained that new mobile home parks pay a one-time fee for each pad.

“The key to the charge is if it causes an increase in services,” he said.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Carter suggested the group meet again after listening to input at the next public hearing and then make their presentation to the commissioners. It was decided among the members to choose one or two representatives to present their ideas, depending on whether they can come to a consensus of what to recommend.

One opinion

Parker, however, said he will not be able to attend the next meeting, and wanted to make his opinion known.

“I was in favor of impact fees, but now I would be opposed. No surrounding counties have the fees, and if I were doing a distribution center and found out we had impact fees, I would mark us off the list,” he stated. “We might put ourselves in a competitive disadvantage. If someone came here to build a big motel, I’d kiss them right now.”

Parker said he understands the county can make an exemption, but the county has an industrial park with 1,000 acres. He said the development authority has received calls from companies interested in the development, but impact fees could adversely affect that interest.

“I’m seeing a lot of pain out there. Folks are hurting, and I’m afraid impact fees could deepen the pain. I’m opposed to any regulation that makes it an advantage to move inside a city that has a dysfunctional government like I saw last week,” he added. “That is my personal opinion.”

The date of the next public hearing will be set following the transmission of the Capital Improvement Elements, which the commissioners approved Tuesday.