Bill Ross III of Ross and Associates was before the Jones County Board of Commissioners again last week to answer more questions about impact fees.

Ross and his company were hired in February of 2007 to perform an impact fee study for Jones County and presented board members with a revised capital improvements element draft at their Jan. 8, 2008, meeting. The capital improvements element lists future needs projected through 2030 that are eligible for funding with impact fees.

After the final public hearing for the fees, Commissioner Mell Merritt asked for one more meeting with Ross, and that meeting took place Aug. 19 prior to the commissioners meeting.

Merritt asked Ross how exemptions for new business would affect the county if impact fees were adopted.

Ross said exemptions should only be given if the business will bring extraordinary economic development to the county.

“The economic development should give the county enough of a boost to offset the effect on the tax digest,” he said. “The exemption is a tool to use to attract business.”

Merritt asked the cost of implementing the fees, and Ross said the cost is taken out of the collected fees. He said, out of the 40 counties with impact fees in Georgia, only three of them hired another person to handle the paperwork.

“An administrative surcharge can be used for accounting, but it will not pay for a whole person,” Ross said. “A vast majority of counties roll the cost into the current process.”

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 specific in order to assure 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.

County commissioners previously identified libraries, emergency management, the Sheriff’s Department, and parks and recreation as areas that can be funded with impact fees, and 70 percent of new growth can be paid by the fees.

An estimated total of $14.8 million in local costs will be needed to fund projected capital improvements, 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.

Commissioner David Gault asked if Ross really thinks it is feasible to implement the fee with the economy in its current condition.

“I’ve been told it trickles down to existing homeowners,” Gault said.

Ross explained that, since the housing slowdown, several counties have adopted impact fees. He said the City of Madison officials decided this would be the best time to adopt the fees because it will let them know what the cost will be when the market rebounds.

“There is no right or wrong time,” he added. “The effect of the impact fee depends on the level at which it is adopted.”

Gault asked if Ross has an idea when the economy will take an upturn, and Ross said Atlanta homebuilders have estimated it could be 18 months.

The commissioner then asked if any county that has adopted the fees later opted out. Ross said none of which he is aware.

“We are not trying to surprise anyone. You can adopt the fees, and they can go into effect a ways out,” Ross said and added that the information the county has for adopting the fees will be good for approximately a year before the study will need to be redone.

“You can change your percentage any time and respond to the market. You don’t want to shut down growth,” he explained.

Commissioner Larry Childs said he does not see a $1,500 fee making a difference.

“It looks like the economy is slowly coming back, and it usually rises after the presidential election,” he said.

Gault disagreed. He said he thinks at some point in time the impact fees will affect all homeowners.

“We are talking about new citizens paying for new services, but inevitably the existing property owners will pay,” he said.

Ross agreed that the amount of the impact fee will eventually be added to the value of existing properties, but he said it is hard to look at it as a bad thing for property values to rise.

“An increase in the value of the tax digest means you may not need a tax increase,” he pointed out. “I can guarantee you that, without impact fees, you will pay higher taxes.”

He said without impact fees property taxes would need to increase at the rate of 1.36 mills a year over the next 23 years to keep up with the growth. He said the county’s projects will essentially be the same with or without impact fees. The difference is who will pay for them.

Jamey Huckeba told the commissioners that a large group of people in the county support impact fees.

“Building permits increased by 200 the year Walton County adopted impact fees,” he said.

Frank Duke and Jim Moughon are members of the Jones County Library Board, and they asked the commissioners to consider the need for expansion of the library. Moughon said $200,000 was allocated to the library from sales tax funds, but the needed improvements to the facility will cost $400,000.

Chairman Preston Hawkins said a vote on the impact fees will take place next month.