City Council Approves Raising Impact Fees

City Council took steps today to fulfill their October mandate. In a 7-1 vote this afternoon the Council approved raising impact fees on new construction. Philip Isley was the dissenting vote. Even after this increase Raleigh’s fees will remain cheaper than many of its surrounding communities. The increase comes as a blow to the NC Association of Realtors who in many counties have spent large amounts of money lobbying against similar increases. Most recently $7.50 per no vote in Orange County against transfer taxes.

The N&O said even Mary Ann Baldwin talked about the voters support of this measure:

“This has been debated, quite frankly, long enough,” Councilwoman Mary-Ann Baldwin said earlier. “If you look at the results of the election, among the people who voted this was a key issue.”

JZ05/20 03:38 PM

Call me a communist, a stifler of growth....but I have to praise the council for finally getting a backbone about this issue.

Like last year’s drought or today’s gas prices, we can no longer ignore the costs associated with increasingly limited resources.

Let’s hope this is an incremental shift, bearable by all, toward a more sustainable future.

David05/20 04:17 PM

Communist stifler of growth: I love you.

gemorris05/20 04:28 PM

Are these fees enough to actually pay for the services needed by people moving to Raleigh? Somehow I doubt it, but would love to be proven wrong.

ChiefJoJo05/20 08:17 PM

^ No. The amount of the fee is limited by the state. I think it is about half the true impact as determined by a third party, in Raleigh’s case, Duncan & Assoc (2006). So it may not pay for all our needs, but every little bit helps to take the burden off existing taxpayers.

gemorris05/20 11:39 PM

Good to know, so for Raleigh to raise them higher (which I am all for) we would need to talk to our state legislature representatives?

Just wondering who needs the pressure next.

RaleighRob05/21 07:49 AM

Glad to see even Baldwin came around!

DownToEarth05/22 09:30 AM

If everyone of you believe that somehow, fees help pay for growth, you are mistaken. By law, the city can only charge so much. The state has nothing to do with the amount.

Plus, the revenue generated by fees can’t even pay for a new bridge or new road---maybe a new park.

Finally, the city has to reimburse developers for improvements made at the time the development takes place, and must receive a credit for those improvements (by law to avoid double taxation) after the fees have been paid and accounted for.

Nowhere on this board do I hear anyone saying anything about all the spending that’s been going on---beyond the basics---in the city for the last eight years.

JZ05/22 09:50 AM

Tell me, then, how do we finance road construction and the extension of water, sewer and other utilities to the additional development? How do we finance the continual maintenance of this new infrastructure, let alone the existing aging infrastructure?

Also, help me understand how other communities have managed to incrementally increase their impact fees successfully leaving Raleigh with one of the lowest rates going? Why would any community place such a contentious burden on their private sector?

Is it that there laws in place here that are not in place in other communities that neutralize the value of impact fees?

Not an angry challenge....would like more detail and understanding....

Ken Metzger05/22 10:22 AM

So the fees can help pay for parks and schools. That sounds great to me. It seems to make sense that the city would reimburse for any improvements made by a developer. That is what the fees are for, and maybe it will encourage developers to make more improvements. Why is it that the fees cannot be used for roads if the developer does not improve on existing roads that will now need improvement due to higher traffic?

Sure, the city has spent a lot of money on projects like Fayetteville Street and redevoping blighted areas of the city. (I was and am strongly opposed to the convention center, but that was from the hotel tax) With a higher transfer tax, maybe all projects like that will not have to be done away with. Even if the transfer tax cannot be used for roads, schools, or bridges, if the money is used for anything in the city budget then the money will be diverted and spread around as necessary.

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David Tuesday, May 20, 2008