Hardee Sets
Impact Fees

By MARC VALERO

WAUCHULA — The shortage of affordable housing in the county will continue and new housing construction may come to a standstill if high impact fees are imposed, landlords told the Hardee County Commission.

Businessmen sounded off Thursday as commissioners considered a resolution to set the residential and non-residential (excluding warehouse and industrial) impacts fees at the 75 percent level effective July 1.

Also, the proposed resolution would have increased residential and non-residential (excluding warehouse and industrial) impacts fees to the 100 percent level Jan. 1, 2008.

The commission approved a revised resolution with residential and non-residential (excluding warehouse and industrial) impacts fees to be imposed at the 50 percent level effective July 1.

Warehouse and industrial impact fees will be imposed at the 50 percent level starting Oct. 1.

The subsequent increases that were in the original resolution were deleted.

“When building some rentals, duplexes ... the problem we have, the amount that is being thrown around is about $6,000,” Larry Martel said about the impact fees. “We need affordable housing in the county, that $6,000 is a year’s rent.

The county is the one that gets the benefit, because if Florida Institute for Neurologic Rehabilitation expands or the cargo airport comes, there has to be affordable housing for the employees, he said. “They are going to go outside the county because you are going to put an impact fee on where it makes it impossible for us to build and give a quality place for them to live.

“When the rent goes too much over $600 a month it’s hard to find people who can afford it.”

“I’ve built 13 duplexes in the last three years,” said Howard Bolin. “I’m probably going to have to borrow money to pay the taxes ... if I have to put another $6,000 plus whatever the schools comes up with, it’s almost impossible to build.

People cannot pay more than $600 for rent, he said.

“Assuming that the [impact] study is correct, somebody is going to pay for this,” Commissioner Dale Johnson said. “Somebody’s gotta pay for the sheriff’s department, the roads, the schools.

“Now the state says if you don’t meet concurrency, if you can’t meet the services, then you can’t build. Then you are going to be out of business anyway.”

“The money for new growth has got to come from somewhere,” Commissioner Nick Timmerman said. “Do you want to put it on the citizens who pay ad valorem or the new growth?”

“Give us three years to go to 100 percent,” Martel suggested.

“Somehow we should be able to look at some cash-flow scenarios that show where the proper level to implement these fees are so that we can have growth,” and meet the concurrency requirements, Bill Lambert said. There has got to be some compromise here.

“I understand the need for the county government to have the revenue,” he said. “But, I also understand the need for a healthy private sector, especially in this little economy that is doing some form of transition from traditional agricultural economy to something else.

“If we don’t transition from ag we’re going to do nothing with this, but maintain the status quo in Hardee County.”

Sen. Alexander asked recently what the county has done to help itself, such as impact fees and a 5 cent gas tax, Commissioner Minor Bryant said. “Before they help us, we have to help ourselves, but I cannot imagine us doing 100 percent of this.”

A study will start soon to determine the recommended levels for school impact fees. With the school impact fees unknown at this time, commissioners discussed implementation of the county impact fees at the 50 percent level.

“Why is it that we have to start at 50 percent, why can’t we start at 25 percent like Highlands County and work our way up,” Tim Wells said.
Bryant said the administrative costs would make it impractical to implement at 25 percent level.

“We are going to make everybody a little unhappy,” he said.