By DAVE HAMRICK
dhamrick@thecitizennews.com

Fayette County's proposal for impact fees — charged to developers to defray the cost of county services made necessary by their developments — is ready to go to state agencies for approval.

But city governments must still approve collecting some of the proposed impact fees within their borders before the package can be sent to the state Department of Community Affairs.

Once DCA approves the plan, the county can begin collecting fees, but probably not in time to prevent or reduce an expected tax increase to cover debt service this coming year.

Included in the formal proposal approved by county commissioners last week is a new set of impact fees to be charged for industrial and commercial development. The net effect of those fees will be to reduce residential impact fees, since the total amount of revenue the county can collect through the fees is regulated by the state.

When commissioners approved the fees earlier this year, projections were that residential developers would pay about $1,700 per new home. The new plan calls for $527.25 per home for fire services and $770.99 per home for the jail.

New business and industry would pay fees 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 about $18 million over 20 years for new fire stations and equipment.

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

The county must establish its property tax rates in September, so it's unlikely the new fees can be approved in time to affect an expected 1.5 mill tax hike to cover the $4 million debt service on the jail and courthouse complex.