Commissioners make impact with higher fees

More worried about the impact of a growing community than possible hits to economic development, county commissioners voted 5-2 and passed impact fee increases at their Dec. 3 Land Use meeting.

That decision is expected to generate an estimated 14% increase in additional impact fees or just over $2 million next year.

"We're heading for a fiscal cliff, and we need to do this," District 1 Commissioner Larry Bustle said to his fellow commissioners.

"We need to have revenues in place to do these improvements," District 2 Commissioner Charles Smith said. "Our only revenue sources are gas taxes, property taxes and impact fees."

Meanwhile, Schroeder-Manatee Ranch CEO Rex Johnson opposed the increases.

"We ought to get in a room and work something out," Jensen said. "Raising impact fees isn't just an abstract exercise of plugging a hole in a spreadsheet. One size doesn't fit all."

Jensen was worried that higher fees will limit development and economic growth in the county.

"We have to encourage economic development, and this (choice) doesn't do that," Jensen said.

Impact fees are one-time fees on new development that help fund county services, such as parks, law enforcement, public safety, libraries and transportation.

Manatee County hired an independent consultant to outline an impact fee schedule that would adequately prepare for expected growth. The commissioners voted to adopt 80% of that proposal for 2016, 90% in 2017 and 100% in 2018.

District 5 Commissioner Vanessa Baugh and Chairwoman Betsy Benac voted against the impact fee increases and noted that the commission should wait until the newly-appointed finance committee had a chance to give its report in May.

"We've got to come up with other revenue sources," Baugh said. "I don't want the county to be come one of the most expensive places to live."

Adding to the financial overload, library funding will come out of impact fees for the first time in 2016, To serve the growing need, the county must provide 16,200 square feet of additional library space and 65,300 additional supplies by the year 2025, county documents said. Those projects would total about $6.2 million. 

And even more stress on economic development could be created when the Manatee County Planning Commission reviews a proposal from the Manatee County School District on Dec. 10 to impose a new schools impact fee schedule. County Commissioners could consider that plan at the Land Use meeting on Jan. 7.

The impact fees passed on Dec. 3 follow a complicated formula based on square feet of finished living space. The impact fee amount to be paid varies on which area of the county the development is located. Garages, front porches and patios aren't included in impact fee assessments.

In 2016, a single family, detached home of 1,301 to 1,700 square feet in the northeast portion of the county will cost $8,335 in county impact fees. Commercial projects could carry a price tag as high as $13,256.