Agenda - 11-17-1998 - 10b - Laserfiche WebLink

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Technical Report 8 than the 1995 Technical Report estimate based on 1990 Census data - 0.45 students per housing unit - and may be due to lower birth rates in new families in rural portions of the county. TABLE 3 COMPARISON OF STUDENT GENRATION RATES BY SCHOOL TYPE AND SCHOOL DISTRICT 1994 -95 SCHOOL YEAR AND 1992 -94 HOUSING UNITS Source: A Study of Housing Characteristics and Student Generation Rates for Orange County, N.C. and 1995 Technical Report. Support for such trends exists in the form of student enrollment numbers. As shown in the graphs in Table 4, average daily memberships in elementary, middle, and high schools in the Chapel Hill - Carrboro School District have increased at higher rates than those in the Orange County School District, a trend which reflects the higher student generation rates in the district. For this reason, the 1995 student generation rates are used as the basis for calculating impact fees in this report. Service Standards A "service standard" is generally expressed in terms related to land development. For example, a service standard for schools might be expressed in terms of square feet of building [or land] area per student. Standards used in determining need are best established within the comprehensive plan. In the absence of such standards, those recommended by state agencies may be used. In North Carolina, minimum service standards for public schools are set by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. These standards are contained in the 1995 publication, North Carolina Public Schools Facility Standards: A Guide for Planning School Facilities. Care should be taken when using such standards for they would still have to be compared with the existing community standard. Moreover, such standards should relate to both existing developments and new developments. The application of the same standard to both components of the community means that new development cannot be required to raise the standard. If the community wants to raise the existing standard of service, it must identify the existing deficiency and make provisions to eliminate those deficiencies by means other than impact fees. In reports prior to 1996, service standards for the purpose of calculating public school impact fees were based on a comparison of the minimum state standards with existing community standards; e.g., "local averages" based on a survey of all public schools in the county. This methodology was used School District Orange County Chapel Hill- Carrboro 1990 1995 1990 1995 School Type Census Housing Study Census Housing Stud All Schools 0.45 0.33 0.29 0.64 Elementary 0.22 0.21 0.14 0.36 Middle School 0.10 0.06 0.07 0.14 High School 0.12 0.06 0.08 1 0.14 Source: A Study of Housing Characteristics and Student Generation Rates for Orange County, N.C. and 1995 Technical Report. Support for such trends exists in the form of student enrollment numbers. As shown in the graphs in Table 4, average daily memberships in elementary, middle, and high schools in the Chapel Hill - Carrboro School District have increased at higher rates than those in the Orange County School District, a trend which reflects the higher student generation rates in the district. For this reason, the 1995 student generation rates are used as the basis for calculating impact fees in this report. Service Standards A "service standard" is generally expressed in terms related to land development. For example, a service standard for schools might be expressed in terms of square feet of building [or land] area per student. Standards used in determining need are best established within the comprehensive plan. In the absence of such standards, those recommended by state agencies may be used. In North Carolina, minimum service standards for public schools are set by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. These standards are contained in the 1995 publication, North Carolina Public Schools Facility Standards: A Guide for Planning School Facilities. Care should be taken when using such standards for they would still have to be compared with the existing community standard. Moreover, such standards should relate to both existing developments and new developments. The application of the same standard to both components of the community means that new development cannot be required to raise the standard. If the community wants to raise the existing standard of service, it must identify the existing deficiency and make provisions to eliminate those deficiencies by means other than impact fees. In reports prior to 1996, service standards for the purpose of calculating public school impact fees were based on a comparison of the minimum state standards with existing community standards; e.g., "local averages" based on a survey of all public schools in the county. This methodology was used