I am for a *modest* tax increase. Or tax rate increase. Or whatever that thing is, that people refer to when they talk about a 25% increase in Sumter County. I feel 25%, for whatever it is, is too much to jack it up all at once. On the other hand, the County needs to have enough of a cushion every year that they can afford an emergency situation (flooding, tornadoes, sink holes, bridge decay, etc) without worrying about going into the red. If they're already in the red, they need to get out of it. And that means the revenue stream has to increase.
And so I'm also in favor of a modest impact fee increase. Not 150%. More like 80%. It's currently around $900/unit. Make it $1500/unit. That's only $600 more per unit than currently, it can EASILY be absorbed by the developer, OR passed on to new homeowners, without anyone feeling a pinch.
If you spread out the increased revenue needs among both property owners -and- developers via impact fees for new construction, everyone tosses in a few quid, and no one feels like they're shouldering the entire burden for everyone else.
You could -also- have a residential tenant tax, since they don't own property and aren't building new construction, and in that way you can reduce the burden of taxes on the landlord (who has to pay for all the units), while still requiring him to toss in a few quid of his own. A residential tenant tax might be as little as $2/month extra for income-restricted properties, and as much as $20/month extra for luxury apartments.
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