- April 18, 2024
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The Flagler County Board of County Commissioners will consider adopting impact fees for the unincorporated areas of the county roughly at 2 p.m. on Sept. 14 following their 1 p.m. workshop. The workshop will address educational facilities impact fees that the School Board is seeking. The following week at 10 a.m. Sept. 20, the board will consider formally adopting the impact fee amendments proposed by the School Board.
“The important thing for residents to understand is that impact fees are for new development and new home construction,” Flagler County Administrator Heidi Petito said. “If you are doing something like putting a new deck on your home, there won’t be an impact fee. They are really to cover new development.”
Impact fees are one-time charges on new construction to help pay for additional public services needed because of growth. The concept behind impact fees is that while development can bring many benefits, it also affects infrastructure needs. In order to accommodate this growth in demand for facilities, additional capital investment is required.
Flagler County contracted consultant Tindale Oliver to conduct an Impact Fee Study – as required by Florida Statutes. The study focused on the impact of that growth within the unincorporated area of the county on transportation, parks and recreational facilities, law enforcement, public buildings, library facilities, and fire rescue and emergency medical services.
For all types of impact fees, there must be a demonstrated need for the particular impact fee, and the proposed rates must be based on the anticipated impacts from the new growth as described in the studies.
Staff is recommending that the board consider adopting fees at a lower rate than what Tindale Oliver established for parks and recreational facilities – an impact fee that already exists – and for transportation facilities, which exists but was suspended in 2012. Any increases to these to fees will be phased in incrementally.
“We are leaning towards full implementation of the Impact Fee Study for library facilities, law enforcement, and fire rescue and EMS,” said Growth Management Director Adam Mengel. “We will probably eliminate the public buildings impact fee that was recommended in the study. Ultimately, this is all the decision of the Board of County Commissioners.”
Impact fees have to be used to offset the costs of new growth, and specifically must be spent on the facility or service for the respective fee type. For example, money collected from Fire Rescue and Emergency Medical Services impact fees must be used to cover capital projects related to those services, and cannot be used to replace operational funds. Likewise, Parks and Recreation impact fees must be used for parks facilities.
“While the fees are to be paid to accommodate new growth, in some respects all residents benefit from the expansion of public facilities,” Petito said. “Impact fees are a way to help pay for additional government services that development will require rather than putting growth-related costs on the backs of current taxpayers.”
Flagler County has posted a “Frequently Asked Questions” on its website for those seeking additional information: https://www.flaglercounty.gov/departments/growth-management/flagler-county-impact-fees-faqs.
