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Ordinance committee opens discussion on school impact studies and parish‑wide impact fees
Summary
The Livingston Parish Ordinance Committee discussed creating a pre‑planning "school impact study" like existing drainage and traffic studies, explored whether a fee would follow, and recommended forming a multi‑stakeholder advisory process and legal review before pursuing any fee or funding mechanism.
A council member told the Livingston Parish Ordinance Committee Friday that developers should submit a school impact study during preplanning—similar to drainage and traffic studies—so the parish and the school system can estimate how new housing would affect school capacity and capital needs.
The council member said the study would be submitted with development packets and would be used during planning review. "You gotta get a school impact study done just along with your drainage impact study and along with your traffic impact study," he said. He emphasized he did not intend to impose a permanent tax on longtime residents and said attorneys were needed to explain how any collected funds would be handled.
School and parish education officials attending the meeting stressed this is an exploratory phase. "We're here to work collaboratively and to provide data," Jody Purvis, superintendent of Livingston Parish Public Schools, said. Purvis warned the group that any mechanism must consider effects on current residents and the long‑term funding picture so growth is not inadvertently restricted.
Bob Seals, identified as a Live Oak District school board member, described impact studies and impact fees used in other parishes and states and urged a broad review of stakeholders that would be affected by development. "We're looking at all the entities that are impacted when we have a sizable development come in," Seals said, noting fire districts, drainage districts and schools all may have claims on developer impacts.
Members of the committee and residents recommended the parish form an advisory group or committee that includes school officials, fire chiefs, drainage districts and parish planning staff to develop any study methodology and fee structure. One resident urged a parish‑wide traffic study, which he estimated could cost about $5,000,000, to provide the technical foundation for any impact fee.
Committee members agreed to seek legal guidance and to ask the council chairman and administration to form a multi‑stakeholder advisory group to investigate methodology, legal constraints, distribution rules, and geographic boundaries for any fee mechanism. No ordinance or fee was adopted; the item was left in the discovery and drafting stage pending attorney input and further committee work.
