Budget panel directs future impact-fee increase to Capital Projects fund

The Budget and Finance Committee voted to recommend that any increase in the county's residential impact fee above $1,500 be allocated to Fund 171, the county's Capital Projects fund. The committee's action set a placement for future revenue from a proposed change in the impact-fee schedule but did not approve the fee increase itself.

Committee members said they brought the revenue-allocation question to budget and finance because the draft impact-fee change did not specify how additional funds would be used. Committee Chair (name not given) and several members said the county moved impact-fee receipts out of the schools' budget in 2016 and into the general fund; that historical change prompted concern that new revenue could be absorbed into general operations unless it is earmarked.

Committee member Bubba Gregory and others described the proposed schedule change in the packet as raising the residential fee from $1,500 to $5,000, a change committee staff characterized as intended to bring the county closer to neighboring jurisdictions. Staff told the committee that neighboring counties use a range of approaches (flat fees or dollars-per-square-foot) and that several surrounding counties are also considering…