Agenda - 02-26-2001-c4 - Laserfiche WebLink

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D. PUBLIC SCHOOL IMPACT FEES Effective July 1, 1993, the Board of County Commissioners established a system of impact fees to help fund a portion of the school capital needs created by growth in the county. Since that date, an impact fee has been collected for each new housing unit constructed or installed in the county, including single-family homes, multi family housing units, apartments, and mobile homes. Fees collected in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School District are deposited in a special account and used exclusively for the construction of new school facilities in that district. The same is true for fees collected in the Orange County School District. The impact fee supplements funds provided by the County from sales tax and property tax revenues for school capital projects. The public school impact fee collected is now $750.00 for each new residential unit located in the Orange County School District and $3,000 for each new residential unit located in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School District. The Board of County Commissioners recently employed a consultant to evaluate the potential far a public school impact fee rate structure that could legitimately be the basis for a less regressive fee structure based on charging a different fee amount for different housing types. Also, the Orange County Board of Education has recently requested that the Orange County Board of Commissioners increase the amount of the fee for new residential dwelling units located in the Orange County School District. The 2001 Technical Report prepared by the consultant concluded that there was a legitimate basis for charging one fee for single family homes and a lower fee for all other residential dwelling units. The Report reflects new demographic data concerning the number of students per household and recommendations of the School Facilities Construction Standards Work Group, and calculates MAXIMUM fees that could be charged as follows: Maximum for Maximum for all other single-family residenial homes units Orange County School District $5,375 $2,538 Chapel Hill-Carrboro School District $7,374 $3,304 The Board of Commissioners will consider whether or not to change public school impact fees following the February 26, 2001 public hearing. THE MAXIMUM LEGALLY PERMISSIBLE FEES CALCULATED IN THE REPORT OF THE CONSULTANT ARE NOT A PROPOSAL TO CHARGE THOSE FEES. Any change in the present fees will be determined by the Board of Commissioners following public comment at the public hearing and otherwise. In no event will public school impact fees be changed to an amount or amounts that exceed the maximums determined by the 2001 Technical Report. ~~