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Impact fee systems generally must demonstrate that the when a building permit is issued; the person who receives
<br /> fee imposed satisfies these six factors. Usually, that means the permit—either an individual homeowner, builder, or de-
<br /> 1 impact fees are restricted to capital expenditures and cannot veloper—must pay the fee, which the count✓ collects and
<br /> be used for normal maintenance and operation. The fees forwards to the school district. We pay a small administra-
<br /> j must be spent within a relatively short period of time (typi- five charge for that collection service.The money,which we
<br /> catty between three and seven years), and maintained in a have in a four-year escrow account, will be used strictly to
<br /> l separate account. Fees may be used for new facilities only; build new facilities and not to renovate existing facilities. Ul-
<br /> monies may not be used for the repair of existing buildings. timately, expecting that we will raise some$20 million over
<br /> In addition to the general limitations listed above that the next 20 years, the impact fees will be used to repay our
<br /> apply to all types of impact fees, school facilities fees usually $32 million bond issue.
<br /> have some additional requirements. These include: requir- Arguments pro and con
<br /> ing an annual review of the data used to derive the amount
<br /> of the impact fees and raising or lowering the amount when Our community has been very supportive of the impact
<br /> warranted; crediting property owners for past taxes paid on fees. In a survey we took, 87 percent of the people within
<br /> the land and for future taxes to be paid on bonded indebted- our school district were in favor of the fees, and we had
<br /> ties- of already existing school facilities; exempting com- unanimous support from the school board and from city
<br /> mercial property from fees; charging second homes less and county elected officials. We also won support from real
<br /> than primary residential units; and restricting the expendi- estate brokers, developers, and home builders, some of
<br /> ture of the funds to schools while prohibiting use of the whom had already voluntarily provided impact fees.
<br /> funds for the building of district offices, bus facilities, ware- The imposition of impact fees in our district has not gone
<br /> houses,and other structures without classrooms. uncontested, though. Last December, a bill was introduced
<br /> We used all these techniques when we established impact in the state Legislature that would prohibit school impact
<br /> i fees for the Park City School District. fees from being issued, and serious efforts are being made
<br /> I� Calculating the fee at the legislative level to countermand our efforts in Park
<br /> City.Opponents have raised the issue of affordable housing,
<br /> Although some states specify a total fee (usually based on claiming that the cost of housing will rise so significantly
<br /> a specific dollar amount per square foot or per bedroom or that people, especially first-time home owners, will no
<br /> bathroom), many states do not. In some states, school dis- longer be able to afford to buy a house.
<br /> tricts may devise their own method for calculating the fee, Nationally, other arguments have been made against
<br /> taking the following six variables into account: school facility impact fees. Opponents argue that impact
<br /> I. Capacity of current facilities—The greater the capacity fees are really nothing more than user fees that conflict with
<br /> or the more room that exists in current buildings, the less most state constitutions that, in turn, require a free and uni-
<br /> need there is to build new facilities and, consequently, the form system of public education to be provided at public ex-
<br /> smaller the amount the impact fee is likely to be. pense. It is this constitutional requirement that makes
<br /> 2. The school district standard—Each school district school facility impact fees different from every other type of
<br /> must establish a local standard for the number of children impact fee,opponents contend.
<br /> per classroom its citizens wish the schools to maintain.The In the July 1992 issue of Land Use Law,though,authors C.
<br /> greater the number per classroom, the less the amount of L. Siemon and M.J. Zimet contend that a#bblic school dis-
<br /> the impact fee. trict is no less free or uniform simply because the district re-
<br /> i3. Average school costs—The cost of land, construction, quires developers to pay a pro-rata share of the cost of addi-
<br /> and equipment for a new school will differ from location to tional school buildings needed to accommodate the student
<br /> location.The size of the school will also determine the aver- growth directly caused by their developments. The Florida
<br /> age cost of a school per student.The lower the cost of build- Supreme Court agreed with that assertion when it upheld
<br /> ing,the lower the amount of the impact fee. the constitutionality of school building impact fees in the St.
<br /> 4. Projected student growth—The past student growth in Johns County,Florida v. Northeast Builders Association.
<br /> a school district, as well as other growth factors such as the There are limitations to what school facility impact fees
<br /> state of the general economy, the attractiveness of the area, can accomplish, however. They clearly cannot pay for the
<br /> and the economic incentives given to businesses to relocate, entire cost of new construction,since the simple act of cred-
<br /> help determine the growth a school district can reasonably iting past and future taxes significantly lowers the amount
<br /> i expect in the future. The lower the projected growth, the of the impact fee. In Park City, such credits lowered the
<br /> less the amount of the impact fee. amount of the fee by 38 percent. Other factors, such as pro-
<br /> 5. Student generation rate—The number of children per jected student growth, reduced the figure even more. As a
<br /> household or dwelling unit will affect the total facilities result, we currently estimate our school facility impact fees
<br /> needed. Thus, the lower the number of students per house- to generate only between 25 percent and 35 percent of the
<br /> hold,the lower the amount of the impact fee. funds necessary to build new facilities. Nonetheless.
<br /> 6. Credits for back and future taxes paid for bonded in- throughout the nation these percentages can add up to bil-
<br /> debtedness—Landowners should receive credit for the lions of new dollars.
<br /> back taxes they have paid or the future taxes they will pay The real justification of impact fees, though. ultimately
<br /> ! to help finance school construction bonds.The more taxes rests with our future—our children. To educate our chil-
<br /> 1 that are paid,the lower the amount of the impact fee. dren for the 21st century,we must have adequate classroom
<br /> Taking those variables into account, we developed a for- space. In our experience, school impact fees are the fairest
<br /> i mula in Park City that resulted in a fee of$3,400 per unit,for and most sensible way of raising the funds necessary to.
<br /> a total of about $1 million for the first year. The fee is paid build the schools of the future. ®'
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<br /> 34 MARCH 1995 THE AMERICAN SCHOOL BOARD.101'RNA].
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