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Letters to the Editor

Manatee County, it's about time to reinstate impact fees

Concrete blocks are piled and ready for building at a Lennar Homes construction site in River Place in this 2005 file photograph. Manatee County officials and school board members are considering reinstating impact fees on new construction to help pay for new schools, roads, and other needs.File Photo-GRANT JEFFERIES/Bradenton Herald
Concrete blocks are piled and ready for building at a Lennar Homes construction site in River Place in this 2005 file photograph. Manatee County officials and school board members are considering reinstating impact fees on new construction to help pay for new schools, roads, and other needs.File Photo-GRANT JEFFERIES/Bradenton Herald Grant Jefferies

Thanks to the Herald for reporting the outstanding news that Manatee County is finally considering reinstating impact fees on new construction. With the steel grip that the developers have on the school board and county commission, it was a long shot that impact fees could ever pass.

But now there is hope that our elected officials will finally do what is best for the people and put the cost of development on the people creating the need for it. It has been far too easy for the past six years to put those costs on the backs of our current citizens. Bravo to our officials for seeing the light, I just hope that they have the courage to put the fees back and not water them down to pennies on the dollar.

Dan Crumpler

Bradenton

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Manatee County, it's about time to reinstate impact fees ."

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