Quote:
Originally Posted by MIskra
I am going to respectfully correct you. You are wrong. In the January 12th Commissioner Meeting, which I attended, the commissioners said that it is against the law for the county to disproportionally target a single business, or category of businesses, and impose impact fee increases on just them. As much as many of us would like to impose the increased fee only on The Villages Developer, their proposed increase would impact ALL new construction (they are proposing an increase of 150%). That includes new commercial, industrial, manufacturing, medical, and housing (retirement and non-retirement homes). There is a legitimate concern that this significant increase will stagnate the county's economy. There was an assumption by taxpayers in the last election that simply was not true. I applaud the commissioners who voted to put this on hold so that they can do their due diligence research. In the long term, it will be impossible to shift the tax burden away from residential property owners if anti-business fees keep businesses from investing here.
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Thank you for your comment and clarification given at the meeting. Unfortunately I do not agree with their assessment. Florida law allows the County to impose a less fee specifically for Retirement or age restricted communities. It is not mandatory so all they would be doing is eliminating the special category and associated reduction and charge the full amount that non retirement/age restricted pay for the impact fees. Otherwise don't increase the fees for just one group, but eliminate that special category completely, it was optional to add it in the first place.
Just my opinion.