IN YOUR CORNER

 

The MCTA has submitted a report to the Martin County Board of

Commissioners on the detrimental consequences of  20-acre ranchette

development outside the Urban Services Area, a condensed form of which

we submitted as an article not too long ago.  We believe that this land

use pattern, although legal and consistent with the Comprehensive Plan,

will produce long-term adverse effects on Martin County and its

taxpayers.  The Commission has advised us that they are examining this

problem, and the county staff  is reviewing the options for development

patterns which would reduce the likelihood that Martin County would be

turned into 20-acre residential tracts from the Urban Services Boundary

to Lake Okeechobee.

 

One of the mechanisms encouraging 20-acre ranchette development on

Agriculture land is the County's Impact Fee and tax structure.  As you

may know, each new building pays an impact fee.  These fees are levied

based on the anticipated use of the county facilities, services and

roadways that will be used by new residents or new businesses.  A

residence on a 20-acre lot that is miles from any urban service pays the

same basic impact fee, about $4500, as a residence  inside the Urban

Services area.  Our point is that we believe the actual cost of new

public facilities required to serve rural sprawl development is much

greater than current fees for this type of development.

 

Further, impact fees address only the construction of capital

facilities.  It can be quite inexpensive to build a house on a dirt road

in western county, but it costs all of us to have that dirt road graded

on a regular basis, or paved over as many are being done currently.  Low

density rural development produces relatively high costs per capita for

services, such as fire, police protection, schools, roadways and

utilities.  These services typically are funded by operations budgets

rather than capital budgets; therefore,the money comes from service fees

and property taxes.  This inequitable situation in increased because

many rural residences pay reduced property taxes due to their qualifying

for the agricultural property exemption. We urge our County

Commissioners to revisit the impact fees and property tax structures for

20-acre ranchettes as soon as possible to level the playing field.  A

variable fee based on location might be a consideration  so that we are

not subsidizing sprawling rural development.

 

**

 

On March 5th, the Martin County School Board is scheduled to vote for

one of the the redistricting options provided by staff to deal with

overcrowding at the Hidden Oaks Middle School in Palm City.

Redistricting students has always been difficult due to the emotional

arguments presented by both students and parents who do not want to

change schools.  It is difficult for some adults to rely on logic and

reason when their children are involved.  Therefore, it is incumbent

upon the School Board members to remain analytical, and base their

decision on proven enrollment counts, trends, and fiscal prudence along

with the political, social and emotional issues.  The School Board

should not postpone this decision.  Administrators, students and parents

need as much time as possible to prepare for and adjust to the

enrollment changes.

 

Redistricting students to more evenly distribute the number of students

is a fiscally sound policy.  The School District could often save

taxpayers thousands of dollars by redrawing school boundaries rather

than expanding schools or adding portables.  By utilizing all schools to

their capacity, the need to build new schools might be postponed by

several years, allowing the district's capital fund to increase with the

2 mills annual collection.  Time is money; the real cost of a new school

is not the one-time cost of building but the long-term cost of staffing

and maintaining the building and grounds.  Efficient use of existing

schools while the tax base grows could  allow the School Board to

provide for the growing student population without increasing the tax

rate.

 

The rezoning of the district's middle schools is merely a prelude to the

redistricting planned for the entire school district in 2003.  The

School Board should set a precedent in the middle schools by voting for

the option which will provide the greatest relief from overcrowding for

the longest period of time.  As the student population grows, the size

of each school zone will shrink.  Designing new zones, which send

students to the school closest to their home, could further save  the

district in transportation and fuel costs.

 

We urge the School District to improve their communications with the

county government as well as enlist the assistance of Realtors and other

professions which deal with developers and new residents, in order to

compile a more accurate expectation of student enrollment in this

county.  We also recommend that the School District draft a procedure

that requires the review of the enrollment in individual schools and the

implementation of redistricting plans on a regular basis.  Once the

procedure is in place, School District staff would perform the review

and make school assignments when necessary, regardless of the

composition of the School Board, regardless if the redistricting falls

in an election year, and regardless if the Superintendent is appointed

or elected.  Such a procedure would mitigate politics and emotion, and

allow the decision to be based on what is best for the school system as

a whole.