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Kershaw County staff readies impact-fee study; council discusses using fees for solid waste and recreation
Summary
Council members received an update that a consultant will present an impact-fee study at the next meeting. Discussion centered on using fees to fund solid-waste facility expansion and recreation projects; an approximate statutory estimate of about $2,300 per new house was cited.
Kershaw County staff told County Council on June 10 they will host consultant Matt Noonkeister at the next meeting to present a statutorily required impact-fee study; council members discussed applying the fees to solid-waste and recreation capital projects.
County administrator Danny Templer briefed the council: "He will be here to do a presentation. He's been our consultant. He's also worked with city of Camden on their impact fee," Templer said, summarizing the consultant’s prior work and the study timeline.
Council discussion focused on where any collected impact fees could lawfully be spent. Templer and multiple council members said impact fees must pay for expansion tied to growth — not to replace existing assets — and identified recreation and solid waste as candidate uses because those services could be tied to an increase in homes. "Solid waste to me from an operational standpoint is where we get pushed the most…we are just handling so much residential…added houses," Templer said.
A council member summarized the per-unit estimate that staff and consultant work had referenced: "It would I mean, just for one, with solid waste...2,300 approximately per home." The figure was discussed as an example and will be refined by the consultant’s formal report.
Finance committee members said staff has identified capital projects in recreation and solid waste that could be included in the capital-improvements program used to calculate fees. The committee also described internal budget changes: after a recent millage adjustment some general-fund shifts reduced pressure on certain operational budgets and allowed the committee to restore funding for positions and software the committee had previously cut.
Why it matters: impact fees, if enacted, provide a locally controlled revenue source to pay for new infrastructure and services that growth causes. Council members and staff said any fee amount will be governed by state statute and by the capital-improvements plan the county adopts.
Next steps: Noonkeister will present the full study at the next meeting; council members signaled they will consider the consultant report and possible ordinance language at a future meeting. Council members also discussed asking the county school district to run a parallel study if the district wished to seek higher school-related fees.
Limits: The $2,300 figure cited during the discussion was an approximate example referenced by council; final fee amounts will come from the consultant’s statutory study and the county’s adopted CIP.
