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<br /> negod
<br /> _ ECONOMIC FOCUS cal oil
<br /> enor 25
<br /> the
<br /> .Makin Developers Pay : � te-J big sal
<br /> s Impact Fees ain F ar An'
<br /> G avar As they
<br /> S 3/SS intent
<br /> By JACQUELINE,BUENO lanta developers usually paid the cost of Wing
<br /> Staff Repnrter of Tim WALL STREF,T JOURNAL growth solely through the value of such control
<br /> Leon Eplan, Atlanta's commissioner improvements,called"exactions.” The
<br /> of planning and development, has be- But the$2.9 million cash windfall can tints'
<br /> come a believer. be used in ways exactions couldn't,says Brav(
<br /> Just two years ago, Mr. Eplan was Mr.Eplan.For example,to receive some GiJ
<br /> skeptical of the city's decision to charge federal grants, municipalities must con- critics.
<br /> developers a fee for every new project tribute some of their own money toward
<br /> they built.Worried that such a levy would to be
<br /> Projects. t
<br /> t
<br /> ,drive builders out to the suburbs and slow c;ra
<br /> the city's growth, he thought it best to That explains w
<br /> ."just forget the whole idea." instance, is using$
<br /> But city officials implemented the fees pact-fee funds to he
<br /> anyway, citing a need to raise funds for the 1996 Olympic G
<br /> public improvements government is kicki (�
<br /> Now, Mr. Eplan is all the happier for transportation grant
<br /> .it.Not only have the fees generated about lion in cash�has gene
<br /> $5.8 million in cash and services for At
<br /> lanta, but the city has multiplied the million in grants.
<br /> So,with the fees
<br /> gether,the total bene
<br /> lovr Atlala Player . N a million in two years.'
<br /> 1+ �Impai: •Fi Qa�11 more than the$6 mill
<br /> Fees charged deveipersiiiy+�aje city received in the h
<br /> ciiy titliirtj of tne funds,end_matcitili plementing the impac
<br /> gcahtS�eilerztted by iltosE tiiitfBy Rpdt:r , r Still,the fees have
<br /> t88�to lyafch 1895> a than the$9 million a
<br /> nally estimated it wou
<br /> son is the large num
<br /> Gish�` mitlierf that have been grant
<br /> t�tr
<br /> 1a1Silmpro{iment $
<br /> ;.. ., far.Exemptions are m
<br /> public schools, low-ins
<br /> • r ah
<br /> Yl�sfttati+drt. d tftrllfc projects in underdeveloped areas.
<br /> pgrs '6474,2!3° � �� And not everyone is in favor of impact
<br /> fees. Because of the complicated fee for-
<br /> Matching Grants
<br /> mulas, some developers complain about
<br /> l'caijpoitatieit�"` 3,
<br /> s
<br /> lid ° huge amounts of paperwork.
<br /> "There's so much effort and time and
<br /> ant W i+hrBLr IiittP ii Y, Nt- bookkeeping required that sometimes
<br /> = � you wonder if it's not better to go out and
<br /> .value of the money, using it to attract build the road"instead of paying a fee to
<br /> -matching federal grants for road con- build It,says George Barry, senior vice
<br /> •struction and park renovations. president of Cousins Properties Inc., a
<br /> The fees,Mr.Eplan says, "have been commercial and residential builder in At-
<br /> a major way for us to do things we lanta.
<br /> couldn't have done otherwise." But some developers applaud the im-
<br /> Those are encouraging words for a Pact-fee system for other reasons.Under
<br /> growing number of officials throughout the old system, some developers com-
<br /> the Southeast,who are considering simi- plained that local governments weren't
<br /> .lar fee programs in their municipalities. demanding equal payment from all
<br /> The levies,called impact fees,are used to builders.The local officials merely asked
<br /> pay for roads, parks, libraries, schools, for whatever exactions seemed appropri-
<br /> sewers, public-safety programs and ate.Some developers had to make major
<br /> other such things that growing communi- contributions, while others—smaller
<br /> ties demand. ones in particular—made none.
<br /> Atlanta was one of the first municipal- So, in 1990, the Georgia Legislature
<br /> sties in the Southeast to charge impact outlawed the old method. Local govern-
<br /> =fees, but now such fees are becoming ments had to develop a more equitable
<br /> "the strategy for collecting funds" method of payment,or forgo payment at
<br /> among local governments, says Marty all. Municipalities began deciding to im-
<br /> Leitner, a Kansas City, Mo.,lawyer who pose impact fees. "Now every developer
<br /> is helping Beaufort County, S.C., create is on a level playing field." says Barry
<br /> an impact tee program. Finkelstein, spokesman for Atlanta de-
<br /> Chatham and Orange counties in veloper John Wieland Homes.
<br /> North Carolina recently received legisla- Possibly the biggest losers are con-
<br /> tive a r roval to implement the fees to r
<br /> {P { snorers, who:u e finding the (ees n;isset{
<br />
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