A new task force that will look for ways to charge developers some of the costs of new county facilities and services caused by their developments will have its first meeting June 23.

The ten-member impact fee study commission will meet at 4 p.m. in the County Commission meeting room at the County Administrative Complex, 140 Stonewall Ave., Fayetteville.

County planner Chris Venice has mailed information about Georgia's impact fee laws to the group, which will make recommendations to the County Commission about how it sh ould administer impact fees.

Such fees are charged to developers to help defray the cost of new services, but state law requires that the county prove its case before levying the charges. That's the task force's job.

Commissioners Linda Wells and Greg Dunn, elected last fall, promised during their campaigns to push for imposition of the fees, and Commissioner Harold Bost, now in his second term, has advocated impact fees for two years.

Proponents say the fees will take some of the burden of growth off of current residents and shift it to new residents moving into the county.

Appointment of the advisory committee is the first step. The group will study the county's plans for capital improvements and make recommendations for which of those could be partially paid for using impact fees.

Fees can be charged to developers to help build new recreation fields, roads or other facilities, or to fund county programs, but only enough to cover the demonstrated impact of a given development on those facilities or programs.

The task force will study Fayette's needs and recommend which programs should be funded using impact fees, and develop the recommended fee structure.

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