Letters regarding position of impact fee - VII-A - 3-21-95

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Dear Commissioners, March 21 , 1995 My wife Robin and I do not support the proposed increase in the impact fee for new homes from $750 to $1000 or beyond. According to the annual report for the FY 1993-94 revenues collected in the Orange County School District represented only 27%, for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School District only 28% of the Planning Department's projected revenues. The supporters will angry that due to the shortfall this should warrant the increase in the impact fee. There was a rush to obtain building permits in May and June before the impact fee became effective on July 1 , 1993. The Planning Department's technical report provided projections of impact fee revenues based on past building trends, without any consideration for the expected rush to obtain a permit before the fee became effective. The Orange County Planning Department demonstrated a total lack of COMMON SENSE in estimating the revenues to be generated by the fee. At least the County Budget Department demonstrated some sense when it cut the revenue projections in half for the capital improvement program. Errors by the Planning Department should not constitute action on our part. Any projections by the Planning Department should be fully scrutinized. I know some people will say, yea tax those outsiders coming in. If that was only true, it would gain a lot of support. The truth is that it does not matter if you have lived here one week or all your life, such as my wife Robin who has lived some 30 plus years in Orange County and whose family dates back well over 200 years. If you buy or built a new home you pay an impact fee. The fact is the majority of the newcomers purchase resale homes and there are more resale homes on the market than new homes being built. How many people who have paid the impact fee have lived in the County 5 years or more? How many newcomers have actually paid the impact fee?! What really needs to be done is to tax those newcomers who have lived here less than five years whether they buy a home just completed or one that is 100 years old. As it stands right now if that family of four who just moved here buys that 100 year old home they pay no impact fee. How would you administer such a program? Simply put if you paid county taxes less than 5 years you pay an impact fee. In my opinion this would also deal with the affordable housing issue to a great deal . Granted it would not solve the issue but it would reduce it to a level that is more manageable. Another possibility is a transfer fee for each deed that can be base on a flat fee or a percentage of the price of the property.