By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@TheCitizenNews.com

Residential impact fees to help pay for a new jail and fire service improvements in Fayette County will be lower than anticipated.

That's because the County Commission last week approved a new schedule of impact fees that includes commercial and industrial property.

Impact fees are charged to developers to pay the cost of new government services made necessary by their developments. County planners have been working for two years to develop the fees.

When commissioners approved the fees earlier this year, projections were that residential developers would pay about $1,700 per new home. But the county's governing body last week approved a new plan calling for $527.25 per home for fire services and $770.99 per home for the jail.

The group also approved a schedule of fees for new business and industry based on the type of business and number of employees. For instance, a retail trade business employing 15 people would pay $4,331.56 for the jail and $4,232.92 for fire services.

The bottom line should be about the same, said Dennis Davenport with the county attorney's office. “This should produce the same revenue as the totally residential fund would have produced,” he said.

Commissioners are hoping the fees will pay about $1 million toward the $25 million cost of a new jail and courthouse complex, and about $18 million over 20 years for new fire stations and equipment.

Now that the final numbers are in, county officials are waiting for Fayette's municipal governments to approve collection of the jail impact fees within their borders before sending the entire package to the state Department of Community Affairs for approval, after which collections can begin.

But it may be August before all the cities will complete the required public hearings and get the information back to the county, commissioners said.