By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@thecitizennews.com

Tyrone town officials appear to give the idea of impact fees paying for a jail the green light, but want to have some questions answered first.

Last week, Fayette County Commission Chairman Harold Bost told the Tyrone Town Council that the county wanted to use impact fees to help pay back the bond debt on a proposed new $25 million jail for the county.

Since all municipalities use the jail, Bost said all cities in the county had to agree to impose the fee, which is estimated at $820 per building permit.

“These impact fees will pay for 60 percent of the jail,” he said.

While the Town Council agreed that impact fees would be a good way to help pay for the jail, Councilman Ray Bogenschutz questioned some of the figures Bost was using.

“You're projecting this on an inmate population going from two for every thousand residents to 3.5 per thousand. Historically, we're a low crime county,” he said.

Bost agreed, but said the consultants who came up with the figures were reputable and he didn't have any reason to question the figures.

Bogenschutz said if the figures fell below the 3.5 per thousand, the county would have to refund the impact fees, which could create a logistical nightmare.

The councilman also didn't want people getting the wrong message.

“I don't want the ACLU coming in here questioning if we're putting people in the jail just to keep the numbers up,” he said.

Town manager Barry Amos also said the town would have to rewrite its capital improvement program for the state Department of Community Affairs. The town instituted impact fees last year and would have to add the county's project to its capital element.

Another question was the collecting of the fees and sending them to the county.

“I support it, but I'd like to see reimbursement for our time,” he said.

Bost said he would relay the concerns to the commission, but could not guarantee anything.

Bost also said he would see about staging a meeting in the near future between the county and the municipalities to try and clear up any questions.