Your Taxpayers’ Association, does not, as some say, oppose all taxes and those that levy them. We realize that it takes tax money for local governments to provide safety, transportation, health and reasonable quality of life items desired by our residents. We endorse reasonable user fees where they can be appropriately collected to provide services in excess of what can be logically financed by Ad Valorem and other taxes. We approve reasonable Impact Fees to prevent the cost of population growth from being absorbed by current residents. We also agree with the concept of Concurrency, where fees are collected in advance for infrastructure items like schools and roads that require long lead times and are needed when the growth arrives.

However, reasonable and appropriate are adjectives we have not had the opportunity to use lately when it comes to financing our County’s governments and schools. Nowhere is this more evident than in the draft of the new Impact Fee schedule being considered for implementation this fall. We have a Taxpayers’ Association Board member on the Committee reviewing this draft and have previously withheld comment. However, press coverage and open meetings presenting the draft’s specifics now allow our public discussion. Also, this Committee has little control over the resulting fees, which makes it imperative that our Commissioners and School Board hear from the electorate in a timely manner.

The general methodology for figuring Impact Fees requires that the amount of infrastructure needed to support levels of service (LOS) adopted by the County Commission and School Board be computed. These LOS are in terms such as lane miles of roads, square feet of public buildings, student stations, etc. figured on a per person basis. After the amount of infrastructure needed per home or business is figured, the cost of the most current similar projects are escalated for expected inflation and used in the fee calculations. Obviously this is a very involved process that incorporates offsets such as other taxes that will be paid by the new residents. A consultant provides the appropriate equations and makes his calculations based on data supplied by various government/school officials, and there is the rub. The consultant can advise on the legality and appropriateness of a given calculation, but he is at the mercy of two basic pieces of information when it comes to the bottom line dollars – the approved level of service and the current cost of providing it. In simple terms, any inefficiencies and excesses are reflected and perpetuated in the figures that result.

So if Impact Fees are, at least to some degree, a reflection of the efficiency of the local government entities, how does Martin County stack up?

There are 67 counties in Florida and only 38 collect any Impact Fees on new homes and businesses. These range from $1,000 on a single-family home in Baker and Bradford counties to the current highest, $24,388 in Collier. The average impact fee is just over $8,000 and only 10 counties charge over $10,000. Martin County is currently 9 th at $11,499 having last raised the County’s fees in 2005. School Fees were separately raised to $4,555 in Sept. 2006.

There are currently eight categories of Impact Fees in Martin County. Most other counties do not charge in many categories. Below is the proposed fee for an average single-family home, current fee, how many counties charge that fee and their average, and where we rank Statewide, if the Commission and School Board adopt the proposed fees:

Roads:$9,651 upfrom $2,891(36 County avg.$3,625) highest in the State.

Public Buildings:$1,185 up from $436 (14 County avg. $488) highest in the State.

Law Enforcement:DOWN to $386 from $459 – Congratulations to the Sheriff!!

Emergency Services:$586 up from $357 (30 County avg. $315) second highest

Parks and Recreation: $3,052 up from $2,345 (28 County avg. $588) second highest

Libraries:$499 up from $456 (15 County avg. $213) second highest

Schools:$8,720 up from $4,555 (31 County avg. $4,230) second highest

Arts: $210 A new category Martin will be the only county with such a fee

TOTAL: $24,289, PLUS a 1.5% County handling fee. Making us Florida’s highest

Enough said!