School Board to consider new impact fee rates

Manatee County’s developers may see an increase in the fees they pay the School District of Manatee County to offset the cost of development, if a resolution before the school board passes Tuesday night.

A new study providing up-to-date figures on how much consultants say builders should chip in is complete, and on Tuesday board members will vote on adopting the new rates and collecting the fees at 100 percent.

Developers pay impact fees when building new residential construction, and the money can only be used by the district for building new schools and renovating existing buildings to adapt for increased enrollment.

Tuesday’s vote will be the latest development in a protracted process to collect more money from the developers.

A long time coming

“We need this money now,” Manatee County School Board Chairman Charlie Kennedy said in December, when the board voted to begin collecting the fees at 100 percent for the first time in years.

Hopefully, Kennedy is a patient man.

Although the board passed the resolution to collect 100 percent of impact fees, county officials wanted an updated study by Maryland-based consulting firm TischlerBise before enacting the school board’s recommendation.

The Florida Impact Fee Act requires officials to use the “the most recent and localized data” when assessing fees, and the extension of the half-cent sales tax, which also provides revenue for capital improvements, created a different financial climate than when the rates were originally set in 2015, board attorney Jim Dye said. A $150 million bond released in March and plans for building a new high school in Parrish have also altered the fiscal landscape for the district.

The new fees, which the school district received on May 9, reflect the changes. The new figures are, for the most part, lower than the impact fees builders currently pay, but the district only collects 75 percent of the fees now.

The cost of fees on single-family homes decreased by $348, townhouse fees went down by $377, and fees for building multifamily dwellings decreased by $23. Manufactured home fees are the only category to increase, with the cost increasing by $493.

Ed Goff, a community member who has advocated for restoring fees to 100 percent, said the board had no business considering raising the property tax rate, which it discussed earlier this month, before telling builders they need to pay the full amount.

“I don’t think they have any ground to stand on to ask the taxpayer to pay more when the developers aren’t paying their fair share,” Goff said.

A brief history

2009: The board suspended the collection of impact fees in hopes of spurring development following the Great Recession.

November 2015: The board voted to increase the fees on a graduated scale, with developers paying 50 percent of the recommended amount for the first year, 75 percent in the second year and 100 percent in the third year. Fees would not hit 100 percent until April 2018. The board included a controversial caveat — if voters approved a half-cent sales tax extension, the fees would remain at 50 percent.

May 2016: The board reneged on its caveat, taking away the promise to lock fees at 50 percent if the half-cent sales tax extension passed.

November 2016: The half-cent sales tax passed.

December 2016: The board voted to accelerate the graduated scale and restore impact fees to 100 percent instead of waiting until April 2018. The resolution was passed on to the county, requesting the Board of Commissioners to amend their impact fee ordinance. County officials declined to amend the ordinance without an updated study in order to determine the most appropriate rate.

May 2017: TischlerBise gave the school district its updated report.

Tuesday: The board will vote on whether to adopt the updated schedule.

What’s next

If the board passes the resolution to adopt the new fee rate and begin collecting at 100 percent, the revised study would go to the county planning commission for a recommendation, and then to the county commissioners for a final vote, district general counsel Mitch Teitelbaum said. After that, there will be a cooling-off period for 90 days before the new rates go into effect.

Kennedy said even though the process has been long, he was optimistic that developers would begin paying the rate TischlerBise recommended.

“In hindsight I wish we had just said 100 percent at the beginning, but at the time, we thought to not shock the market, let’s put these fees in gradually,” Kennedy said. “I completely reject that argument now, after learning more and hearing from constituents ... but we got it right in the end.”

This story was originally published May 21, 2017 at 5:33 PM with the headline "School Board to consider new impact fee rates."