Wednesday, September 27, 2000
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Wednesday, September 27, 2000 |
| County still 'plugging
away' on impact fees
By DAVE HAMRICK Fayette County officials will "keep plugging away at it" in the wake of Tyrone's refusal last week to go along with the latest version of impact fees for a new county jail, said assistant County Attorney Dennis Davenport. Davenport will address the Fayetteville City Council in its work session tonight. Impact fees are charged to developers to help defray the cost of new county services and facilities made necessary by their developments, as a way of holding down property taxes for current property owners. By state law, the fees can be assessed only to cover the cost of a given service or facility that is directly attributable to the new construction. County commissioners voted last May to approve charging the fees for the jail in principle, but taking the concept from that point to reality has been no easy task, as the approval was tied to a stipulation that all Fayette's cities must agree to collect the fees within their borders in order for the process to move forward. Numerous meetings have been conducted in which city officials' objections to various aspects of the impact fee plan have been woven into several new versions. In the latest version, developers would pay $794.12 for each new home built, $8,663.12 for each new retail business over 50,000 square feet in size, $4,331.56 for retail businesses under Tyrone officials declined to approve that plan because it doesn't contain a third retail category for businesses under 10,000 square feet. Small mom-and-pop stores shouldn't have to pay as much as 50,000-sq. ft. stores, they say. Davenport said retail stores bring more crime and add to the jail's population more than homes or industries, but added, "I told them if they've got information showing that there should be a third category, then please share it with me." Meanwhile, he said, "We're having a positive outlook that we can get things resolved." Peachtree City's government has approved the new plan. Brooks will discuss it next week.
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