Agenda - 08-20-1991 - Laserfiche WebLink

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G� MW I A demand unit is a unit associated with a new development that generates the need for improvements in public facilities. For a single - family home, the demand unit could be school -age children for purposes of schools. On the other hand, a service standard for schools might be: Schools - One student station per pupil Given this standard, a residential unit with 2.5 persons and 0.3 school -age children would require the following: Schools - 0.3 school -age children at one student station per pupil requires 0.3 additional student stations. All services can thus be expressed in terms of demand units and standards of service. Frequently, however, these data are not available. Developing such data would be the first priority in instituting a system of impact fees. Care should be taken when using standards recommended by agencies or associations. Such standards may or may not be applicable to the community. In addition, such standards would still have to be compared with the existing standard. An example of an impact fee for schools is that of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The demand units for a single - family unit and the service level standards employed by that jurisdiction are as follows: Demand Unit: 0.6977 public school pupils /unit Service Standards: 129 sq.ft. of building area /pupil 1,836 sq.ft. of land area /pupil These standards were subjected to public debate and were adopted by the governing board. The 1980 Census was the basis for dwelling -unit occupancy. This source was used because it was the last official census. Anne Arundel County adjusted these figures, however, to reflect current occupancy. Specifically, the Anne Arundel students per unit estimate was based upon the 1980 census, updated to 1986, and adjusted based upon the ratio of the total size of the school -age cohort to public school enrollment; i.e., private school attendance was factored out. The school standards used were taken from State of Maryland school standards and contrasted with the actual provision within Anne Arundel County. Cost of Accommodating Development Once physical quantities are established, costs must be determined. The manner in which cost information may be obtained or expressed is an important factor in establishing standards because the objective is first to determine capital improvement cost per unit of development and then determine a proportionate share of those costs. It follows that standards, costs, and shares of costs must be in consistent units.