School Board Votes to Recommend Only Partial Re-institution of Impact Fees

Posted Wednesday, November 11, 2015 12:00 am

Jackson Falconer

BRADENTON – Following an Oct. 27 meeting that saw the Manatee School Board postpone a vote to charge developers fees for building school facilities until December, the board voted 5-0 at Tuesday's meeting to reduce the originally proposed impact fees by 50 percent, and keep the same rate if the upcoming sales tax renewal referendum is passed by voters. Reinstatement would be implemented pending approval by the Board of County Commissioners.

It was advised by Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene during the meeting that the reason for putting the vote on Tuesday's agenda–instead of waiting until December–was due to the board making an effort to align with the BOCC's schedule for voting on and potentially reinstating impact fees.

Like the school board, the county commission conducted its own study on reinstating separate impact fees to increase revenues. Reinstatement of school district and county impact fees must be approved first by the BOCC, as only they can authorize impact fees.

If the sales tax does not pass in November 2016, impact fees would go up 75 percent in the second year of reinstatement, and 100 percent from the third year on. The board's vote seemed to satisfy several developers who were present at the meeting to protest reinstatement of the fees, which had been suspended in 2009.

The school board's vote sends the BOCC an independent study on how reinstating impact fees would affect the county, and states the school board's support for reinstatement. The recommended full amount for the fees, as given by consulting firm TischlerBase, are $6,415 for duplexes/townhouses; $6,086 for single family homes; $3,276 for multifamily homes; and $1,372 for mobile homes.

If implemented, the fees would be assigned to developers for building school facilities. The scheduled vote to reinstate impact fees at a reduced rate–as opposed to the full rate that had been on the agenda at the board's Oct. 27 meeting before members decided to table that vote–was met with opposition from several community members during public comments.

Norm Nelson, speaking in support of impact fees, advised the board that they represented all members of the county and not only developers. Peggy Martin said she agreed with Nelson's sentiments, and said to the board, "It's time you face up to what you need to do." Linda Schaich said, "I'm at a loss of why the board would disagree to phase in impact fees over three years," noting that suspension of impact fees since 2007 has prevented the school district from collecting over $60 million from developers.

Several developers also spoke to the dais during public comments before the vote. Pat Neal said that the proposed fees "don't serve businesses, the workforce, or school children." Neal and other developers advised that if the fees are reinstated, the cost would be passed on to the new home buyer.

While not officially part of the eventual motion that was made, Kennedy proposed before the vote asking developers to help advocate the renewal of the sales tax. At least one developer in the chambers, Mr. Neal, indicated support for that proposal after the idea was floated to keep impact fees at a reduced 50 percent rate if the sales tax renewal passed.