Commissioners push for concurrency metrics and fiscal‑impact tools as growth accelerates
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Summary
During strategic goal‑setting, commissioners asked staff to develop measurable levels‑of‑service (roads, parks, fire, law enforcement) and a fiscal‑impact worksheet to compare one‑time and recurring revenues against service costs for major development applications.
Commissioners used the strategic portion of the retreat to press for practical decision tools to govern incoming development and prioritize capital spending.
Several commissioners asked staff to develop baseline levels of service—for roads, parks (acres per 1,000 residents), fire stations and officers per 1,000 residents—that can be used as concurrency triggers or benchmarks in the comprehensive‑plan update. Growth‑management staff (Eric) said the comp‑plan update will include those baseline LOS figures so that new applications can be assessed by their impact on county standards.
Fiscal worksheet idea: one commissioner proposed a standard worksheet for development applications that estimates the number of dwelling units, probable assessed value or average home price, one‑time impact‑fee revenue per unit, and assessed annual service costs (schools, law enforcement, fire/EMS, roads, parks, utilities) so the board can see a net fiscal impact by development type. Staff said compiling that dataset will take time but is feasible and recommended returning with a template.
Taxes and funding discussion: commissioners also discussed potential revenue tools—local option taxes, an MSTU, or prioritizing an increased road resurfacing baseline (one commissioner suggested modeling a $30 million prioritization for resurfacing in the next budget)—and cautioned that state ad valorem changes are an important outside factor.
Provenance: this strategic discussion began SEG 3137 and continued in the following hour.