Quote:
Originally Posted by DIver0258
The legislation signed by the governor does limit impact fee annual increases but allows counties when meeting certain criteria to raise impact fees above the limits of the law.
To invoke cost prohibitive requirements of developers with the actions quoted is non productive and childlike. Such actions will create a legal nightmare for the county. Once precedents are set, (sidewalks, setbacks, roads, etc...) this will be have to be applied forward to all development in the county.
New tax revenue resulting from 2500+ new homes built by The Villages will be a huge revenue stream for Sumter County. Not to mention the additional tax revenue from the commercial development that supports the growth. These revenue streams will continue to provide funds for the county coffers annually at an ever increasing amount. A 50 million investment in road infrastructure will create a huge return in years to come.
A common sense perspective was to negotiate the impact fee deal offered by The Villages and move forward. Since our commission decided that was not in their constituants best interest, they now must work with in the new law to make any progress on impact fees.
It is better to work for the best interests of all parties involved, keeping focus on the issue at hand, lowering property taxes.
Hopefully our commission has learned from this experience and will be able to proceed better equipped to address similar situations in the future.
When decisions are made from a personal agenda instead of a professional agenda the end result falls far short of the mark.
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Where I come from, a town government doesn't "negotiate" bond fees with developers. The town has a specific structure and schedule of fees, and if you want to develop in that town, you pay those fees. If you're not willing to pay them, you develop somewhere else.
This problem exists because the county and the developer share some of the same people, and there is a conflict of interest creating the opportunity for negotiating, where none should exist.
The County is at an advantage. The Developer already owns the property - so they're stuck with it, whether everything they want is approved or rejected. They are paying taxes on it either way. They can either pay the fees, or they can not build, and still pay taxes on unused land. That is how it SHOULD be. But that's not how it is, down here. Instead, everyone is playing politics, because the state is set up to accommodate politics.