Impact Fee Raid Impacts Existing Neighborhoods!‏

Many thanks to the PLAN subscribers who are taking time to contact legislators about the state budget plan that surfaced this week. That plan includes a $210 million hit to cities' impact fee funds -- a hit that ultimately will hit residents of established neighborhoods. The Legislature should not balance its budget by forcing local governments to raise taxes. It's clear -- if cities can't charge developers impact fees to make growth pay for itself, cities will either freeze growth or be forced to spread the costs of growth to all city residents.

Phoenix created its impact fee program in 1988 to pay the costs of new infrastructure development in our rapidly growing city. The philosophy is simple: the costs of new roads, water and wastewater systems and other infrastructure should not be borne by residents of established areas; rather, new growth should “pay for itself.” Phoenix’s impact fee program charges the costs of new infrastructure development directly to builders, with credits and offsets available on a case-by-case basis. Impact fees are NOT a tax -- by law the fees are actually a form of land use regulation that must meet strict constitutional requirements in order to be valid. As a result, the money that cities collect in impact fees is dedicated only to building the infrastructure that has been planned for the area they're collected in.

Phoenix is a great community because of engaged residents like you -- your calls and e-mails to legislators make all the difference! Keep up the great work.

Source: P.L.A.N.