Agenda - 05-26-1992 - Laserfiche WebLink

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' residential purposes, lots are reduced in size and clustered, creating sufficient land for the school site. The developer thus ' maintains the permitted density and receives a credit against the payment of impact fees equal to the appraised value of the land. ' Another example is the situation where a large residential development is proposed, and water and sewer lines must be extended to the site. In the process of extending the lines to serve his /her project, the developer also extends service by a proposed school ' site. Since the school board will not have to bear this expense, the developer receives a credit for impact fees equal to the cost of extending water and sewer service to the school site. ' CONCLUSION ' The rationale behind any system of impact fees is basic - those households or users generating the need for new facilities pay their proportionate share of the cost of the facilities. In the case of school impact fees, this report has shown that even if the ' maximum amount of impact fees were levied, the revenue derived from this source would not be enough to pay for the total cost of needed school improvements. Furthermore, the report has identified options which provide for lower schedules of impact fees. These lower ' schedules are based on funding a projected $5.0 million shortfall identified by the School Bond Committee (see Page 19). If these funds are not raised through impact fees, the alternatives are ' limited. Needed school improvements must be put off until later when their cost will be higher or existing home owners must bear a greater share of the cost through higher tax rates for debt service payments. Related to the need for school capital needs is the expense of operating new school facilities. Many people think that growth pays ' for itself; e.g., tax revenues received from new home construction pays for the cost of educating our children as well as other services. Shown on Table 34 are general fiscal impacts of four recent subdivisions on the operating budgets of the County and the Chapel Hill - Carrboro School Board. For each subdivision, there is a deficit balance in terms of taking in enough revenue to finance ' services to the development. In Appendix C, a fiscal analysis for the Mel Oaks Subdivision is provided to illustrate that education is the largest per capita expense for the County. While the County has a balanced budget each year, it must provide the level of education that its citizens demand. This can only be accomplished through increases in the tax rate, since ' revenues from other sources do not appear to be forthcoming. As growth occurs, it creates demands for facilities and services. While a system of impact fees cannot address deficits in operating budgets, it can insure that the some of cost of needed capital facilities can be borne directly by those individuals and families creating the demand. 1 Page - 23