Is Harford County’s impact fee a vital source of revenue for public school construction, or an unfair tax that has stymied new home sales?
Harford County Councilman Dion Guthrie (Dist. A) says it’s the latter. Along with co-sponsor Chad Shrodes (Dist. D), Guthrie introduced legislation on September 15th to repeal the county’s impact fee.
Guthrie, who voted against imposing the fee in 2005, said in a phone interview that the impact fee was not generating the revenue that was originally anticipated and it was not stimulating the economy. Guthrie said “It’s time to get rid of it.” He said the revenue lost by repealing the impact fee could be “easily overcome” by the revenues generated from increased economic activity resulting from more homes being built.
The impact fee is a set amount charged to developers to help offset the impact of new homes on the cost of public schools. Harford’s impact fee is currently $8,269 for a single family home, $5,720 for a townhome and $1,637 for other dwellings, including mobile homes. The revenue to local government from the impact fee rises and falls with permit applications in any given year, having generated as much as $4.7 million in FY07 and dropping to a low of about $2.4 million in the fiscal year that just ended in June.
More recently, there’s been a turnaround in permit activity. Harford County Treasurer John Scotten says collections from the impact fee in the first two months of FY10 are up 72% over the same period last year, which could bring collections back up near peak levels. But he says a more conservative revenue estimate for the full year is somewhere between $3.3 million and $3.5 million.
Councilman Guthrie says the impact fee is unfair because it only taxes new home builders to pay for public schools, when families who move to Harford County also buy existing homes. And Guthrie is not shy about who is to blame for the inequity, calling the impact fee “an unfair tax that was sent to us by the delegation”.
In Maryland, local lawmakers must first have enabling legislation approved by the local delegation and passed by the Maryland General Assembly before they can impose a revenue-generating tax. When the Harford County Council first asked the Harford Delegation for authority to raise funds for school construction through a menu of taxing options, the delegation would only support the impact fee, which the council then enacted in 2005.
Guthrie said recently that the council did not get what it wanted from the delegation, which was an increase in the transfer tax, because “[State Senator] Nancy Jacobs didn’t want to send us anything that had the word ‘tax’ in it.”
Guthrie singled out Senator Jacobs, but in fact the enabling legislation for the impact fee was a House bill sponsored by the Harford Delegation, which was passed unanimously by Maryland General Assembly. (Delegate Mary-Dulany James did not vote on the measure.) Guthrie is rumored to be a potential challenger to Jacobs in 2010.
As for the possibility that enabling legislation would be passed in the upcoming session to increase the transfer tax if the impact fee was repealed, State Senator Barry Glassman told The Dagger that an increase in the transfer tax was “off the table”. Glassman is the Senate Chair of the Harford Delegation, but he said that he was speaking on his own behalf.
Closer to home, Guthrie and Shrodes will have to convince at least two other council members to support a repeal of the impact fee.
Councilman Richard Slutzky (Dist. E) told The Dagger that he opposes a repeal saying “I have opposed previous attempts to repeal the impact fee and I oppose it again, especially in these economic conditions.” Slutzky said that the reason new homes are not being built has less to do with the impact fee than with the difficulty borrowers are having in qualifying for loans. But he said the larger issue is that the impact fee is one of the few local sources of revenue dedicated to capital school construction. He said that the revenue from the impact fee currently reduces the amount of revenue the county has to raise from other sources, including the issuance of bonds, which in turn reduces the possibility that taxes would have to be raised to meet the county’s continuing debt obligations. Slutzky said he’d rather not raise any taxes but “I would rather continue the impact fee…than have to raise taxes on everybody.”
The bill to repeal the impact fee will have a hearing on October 20, 2009 at 7 p.m. in the Council Chambers at 212 S. Bond Street in Bel Air.
Congratulations, this is one of the best bills I have seen in a long time and bi partisan too boot I commend Mr. Guthrie & Mr. Shrouds for having a little vision and what politician would not support a tax cut in an election year.
Our County has issued the least amount of building permits since they started recording them and look at the amount that these money grubbing slobs what to take form someone perusing the American dream almost $9000.00 to build a house.
Mr. Slutzky give me a break this is a TAX( you are a republican?) not a fee we need to simulate our local economy and help embrace the projected growth ,but again the politicians what to pick pocket the hard working people of this county.
How about the Council let the public know how much of there tax dollars goes towards Agriculture preservation to support millionaire farmers and pay them for land that a Billy goat would not want to live on.
Good point, Harford county, but Guthrie doesn’t want to cut taxes, he wants to make people pay more taxes because this one isn’t working.
His idea is that this only affects new people buying homes, when the transfer tax increase will affect everyone.
I think it’s great to get rid of these transfer taxes, but only if there is a cut in spending equal to the amount of lost revenue.
Dion’s in bed with the developers. What else is new? Of course he supports a new tax. He has proposed tax hikes galore before. And a rumored candidate? He would have voted for Gov. O’Malley’s sales tax hike that is a direct tax on everyone that especially hurts the working poor. Shame on Dion for asking for more taxes.
What Guthrie doesn’t realize is how badly Cecil County wants an Impact Fee, and Cecil County makes up a good chunk of the district that he needs to win to beat Jacobs.
Guthrie is not a good man.
The Impact Fee was, along with other taxes/fees requested by the County Council as enabling legislation from the Harford County Delegation during the 2004 session. The delegation only gave the ok to the Impact Fee. The County Council approved the fee. Now members of the council claim it isn’t enough, they need more. As a member of the present delegation, I for one, do not support a new tax or an increase in any present taxes, such as the transfer tax.
The Impact Fee applies only to new construction, which encourages the purchase of existing houses. Isn’t this in keeping with the principles of Smart Growth? So, why would they want to get rid of it unless… hmmm, developers build new houses… this makes new homes more expensive… elections are also expensive… oh, I give up. I really don’t know.
impact fee is needed. money generated is directed to school construction and other designated uses. the money is not used within the operating budget and new infrastructure needs to be paid by those who demand it. the fact that there are less permits being used is directly related to the state of the economy, housing and financing.
Permits to build new houses are down for many reasons- the new impact fee is not a new tax only a different tax. I think that the county budget needs to be decreased and the tax payers need to call and share that message with the council before it it is written. The council will listen and act if people tell them what they want/need and if you don’t tell the council or the executive you will be out voiced by the vocal minority. What that means is that the property tax, the impact fees, permit fees, court costs, trash removal fees, and h20/sewer fees will increase. As a taxpayer I am urging you all to call and share your ideas on where to cut budget items. If you choose to be silent now, please do not complain later.
Harford County did not simply decide to implement a new tax when the Impact Fee was requested. Instead, it had to first receive the power to tax from the State of Maryland through enabling legislation. As a general rule the county’s state senators and delegates, acting on a request from the county council and county executive, introduce legislation granting the county council, or the county’s citizens, the power to implement a new tax. The enabling legislation sets forth the type of tax the county can impose and may place limitations on the application, scope or nature of that tax. In the case of a tax to cover the costs of development, the legislation generally says what type of development may be taxed and how those taxes are to be spent. Previously, every heavily populated county in the state, except Harford and Baltimore, had received the power to tax new residential development to RECOVER the COSTS engendered by development. Not surprisingly, each of these counties had acted on this legislation and implemented a tax structure to recover at least a portion of those costs. In a previous legislative session, Cecil County won the right to place an EXCISE tax on all new residential development on the ballot for approval by its voters.
What Types of Taxes Are Used To Recover the Costs of Development?
Three basic types of taxes or fees have been developed over the past 25 years to RECOVER the COSTS of DEVELOPMENT. They are “developer exactions”, “impact fees” and “excise taxes”.
Developer exactions (or fee-in-lieu) require the developer to pay the costs of the infrastructure that relates directly to its project. While this approach is used to a limited extent in Harford County, it does not solve the cost recovery problem because these exactions are usually set so low that they do not recover the true cost of the infrastructure they are used to build.
Impact fees were an attempt to allocate the costs of this infrastructure over a number of projects. Essentially, the county determines the infrastructure costs related to each new unit of development and sets the tax at that amount. The tax is collected at the time the development plan is approved or the building permit is issued. The costs incurred by the developer are rolled into the price of the home and are of course, ultimately borne by the purchaser.
In Maryland, at least nine counties, including Anne Arundel, Montgomery, Carroll and Frederick County in addition to Harford, currently use impact fees.
Excise taxes are another method of recovering the costs associated with development. Essentially, excise taxes are publicly approved by referendum vote. These taxes are imposed on the activity of development instead of an attempt to allocate the costs of development over a number of new units.
It is clear from this brief review of current laws that there are a number of methods Harford County could be using to recover the costs of new development. If NEW development (houses) are responsible for COSTS, then those home buyers should be the ones PAYING for its IMPACT. It does not make sense to eliminate the Impact Fee. Somehow the COSTS must be paid.
I bet the Council members expect a windfall from the money they expect to make off all of those NJ folks coming to APG. I wonder how many of them will scrap plans to build new houses when they find out about all the fees involved.
The school board and the Harford County Education Association have both announced plans to oppose the repeal of the impact fee. But a Tea Party Rally may be in the works to support the repeal. http://groups.google.com/group/HarfordTaxRevolt/browse_thread/thread/fe910d55ec562c38
Repealing these taxes is only part the solution. It should be evident that the property tax payers can’t sustain any new taxes-regardless of the form to address our financial needs. We should be looking for opportunities to attract revenue from outside of Harford County.
The Impact fee is to be used only for new construction, land purchases or new additions to existing schools in Harford County. The money goes into a general fund, and in the last fiscal year, about $2mil. dollars was generated from the impact fees. The cost per school, is close to $70 mil. and about 4 were built in the last couple of years. I did not study the new math in school, but those numbers seem a little off. The state is to re-imburse the county for money spent to build schools, but the state is also in financial stress, now and is not anticipating paying its debts, soon.
The Impact fee is part of a larger problem with the county’s financial issues. As a property tax payer, I am ‘impacted’ by the continuing rising costs, fees , taxes, bills, for my property. I am not alone in this struggle.
We need to adapt to the declining economy. If that means no more new schools right now, so be it. The schools in Harf. county get over one/half of the county budget. The county exec is going to have to draw a line in the sand and say enough, this is all there is and the school system will deal with it.
On Tues. 10/20/09, a TEA Party Rally will be held at the council chambers parking lot starting at 6:00pm and then at 7:00pm, citizens can enter the chambers to share concerns with the council about the impact fees, the budget and the need for reduction of property taxes and fees. Please attend to find out for yourself what can be done, how it is being done and if you approve of the ways your money is being handled by the administration of the county. No votes will be taken about the impact fees on the 20th, but the citizen input from taxpayers, both businesses, contractors, the school administration, and home owners should be enlightening. Our government is by the people, for the people and of the people. Please let your views be known to the council.
2 million goes a LONG way towards funding materials needed to operate a school, including especially things that may be included in construction costs such as microscopes for science classes, computers, projectors and smart boards, and a myriad of other technologies that are included in the cost of new school construction. Why you would support a measure to take these things away from the schools in the district you hope to represent is beyond me.
I must comment here.
You think this is Patrick McGrady, the Maryland State Delegate candidate. This is his mother writing. Patrick writes on here under “Patrick McGrady” and his mother writes under “Pat McGrady”.
Also, the money raised with the impact fee is only used for capital costs – no microscopes.
I am pretty sure that physical materials that are included within the classroom (other than textbooks) are considered capitol costs. These are things that are physical objects that facilitate instruction that are not generally ordered in a yearly operating budget. Even if I am wrong… the materials on which the equipment work ARE most certainly capitally funded (such as microscope carts, lab benches, mobile carts), and I would argue deal with the same idea: why take that source of funding away from an already strapped school system. Our tax money does go to a good place most of the time (contrary to popular belief on Dagger), this is certainly one of those cases. It is a shame that so many argue so blindly against taxes, to the point that they will damage the fabric of society that they claim to love.
ProudDemocrat, the money from the impact fee is not legally allowed to go to educational materials according to what I read. It is supposed to go to construction only. Impact fees are a broken system, they are a non renewable resource. There are only so many lots available in Harford County unless we start building on the Susquehanna or in york county. Alot of people are bypassing Harford County as a possible place to build a new house. There are hundreds of houses right outside of our boundaries that could have been potential Harford Countians. I have 2 little girls that attend elementary school in Harford County. Our family is planning to build a house on our family farm that has been in the family for decades. They already attend the school that they will from our new home. What are we Impacting?? My father owns a lot on the farm as well, if he wanted to build a house on his own lot he will be required to pay an $8000 fee to build on his own land. There are many situations that people don’t realize when promoting the impact fee. My husband is a self employed contractor that has also been hit by the impact fee. His last houses he built for families were in Baltimore Co, and York Co. The impact fee is hurting many small businesses like his but also like the small HVAC companies, electricans, and landscapers. A new construction home is a better income producer than say putting in a new faucet or a new HVAC vent. This money goes right back into the local economy and would help boost it. Look at the rise in sales of homes this year with the $8000 tax credit for home buyers and tell me $8000 doesn’t mean anything. I think that the major problem people worry about is if this tax is abolished then they will be required to pay more taxes. There has to be a middle ground, new construction is being required to pay for the overbuilding in Harford County from the 1980’s through a couple years ago. It was a building frenzy, large builders bought up enormous sections of ground and created large neighborhoods. Those large builders should be required to set up funds for improving schools, roadways and county structure. That’s what they do in many other states. I think there can be a way to repeal the impact fee but not increase taxes. It was done before the impact fee was charged and it can be done again. Please listen to the regular person that this will effect and then make you decision with facts not fiction.
Please consider the intent of those wanting to repeal the “impact fee”. They want to replace it with other fees/taxes to generate more revenue/taxes from you. This fact has been expressed on many public occasions by the sponsor of the legislation. Last time was at the Joppa Community Council were the idea of the repeal got a major negative reaction.
Delegate Dan Riley, I can assure you that I have no intention of an idea to replace the impact fees with taxes/fees like you state. Unfortunently biases like these are what cause an positive change to become a negative one. The impact fee has existed only for 4 years in harford county. Everyone must do what they are able to in a time of poor monetary times, tighten their belts. This should trickle down from the highest level of government to the individual. Impact fees are an out-of-date concept that will expire as soon as new land is unavailable, and in harford county where large tracks of land are going into land preservation programs this will come. What kind of tax will be initiated then? Its better to fix a broken system now then to wait until the funds have dried up. Harford County has only realized a small amount of the proceeds that they intended to collect with the impact fee. Other counties/states have had lawsuits initiated on them in reguards to the impact fee and lost!! That meant some fees had to be returned to the payors. The impact fee was a popular concept in the 80’s but how many other ideas have been improved upon since then. Our county is still in an economic crisis and spending needs to reflect that. It is still too much of “counting the chickens before they hatch”. Even with out the impact fee new revenue is introduced to the county through property taxes. Those are an ongoing fee as opposed to this one time “tax”. Wouldn’t it be better to insure that you will have an constant income as opposed to scaring new Harford County residents away? Harford County has existed for many years without the impact fee and could do so without reckless spending and a checks and balances system. New growth= local wages being paid and people having work which trickles back into the economy through income taxes and more money to put into the local economy. There are many people that are sitting on lots waiting to see how this plays out including myself who could definently use this @ $9000 in better ways. For me this would include making my new home handicap accessible for myself. I won’t be spending the $500,000 it was stated at some point in the aegis that the average house would cost instead my home will be @ $110,000, so that $9000 is a big deal to me. In the coming years there also will be an influx of people when the full BRAC relocation occurs and they will be moving somewhere. Our local economy could use the money but if we don’t play on an even playing field then they will chose elsewhere. Growth must occur to fund government activities, infrastructure, and schools in general. It doesn’t take long for an area to become known as “un-friendly” towards prospective homebuyers. This occured right over our northern border in Southeastern PA. Other counties/states also have programs to offset the impact fee for low income prospective home builders, Harford County doesn’t offer these. What about Habitiat for Humanity? Are they required to pay the impact fee as well? That is an agency that is trying to help families in need but we are able to add $9000 to their tab. There are too many he said/she said sides to this equation, the story needs to be straightened out entirely and hopefully it will in the Oct 20 meeting. Why else would a side that is completely unaffected by the impact fee repeal be so against it unless they where fed faulty information. The bill that was introduced by Mr. Shrodes and Mr. Guthrie was to “repeal the impact fee” not to increase taxes on everyone else. I urge anyone to on both sides of this decision to get as much “correct” information on this topic and then base your decision on that information not what you have been told through the grapevine.
Lorrie,
Repeal of the “impact fee” is stage one. If the repeal is successful, then stage two gets set in motion. Other tax proposals will be introduced, such as an increase in the transfer tax by 33%. This is what one of the sponsors has openly claimed.
Delegate Dan Riley, I understand that it has been spoken that their might have to be other ways to raise the loss in funds but those would actually have to be voted on. The bill only is in reguards to repealing the impact fee. The other bills are only proposals and only that. In reality anything is possible but the current council that I have spoken with do not promote raising any types of taxes/fees in this type economy. To play devils advocate though even with an increase of the transfer tax it would be more fair to the citizens of Harford County on the basis that it would be a sliding scale based on the selling price of the house as opposed to a flat fee. That said a person with a higher sales price would pay a higher transfer fee than a person with a lower sales price. And that transfer fee is usually split between buyer and seller. Any bills must go through the legislative branch and follow the correct paths so deciding to make the decision to fight the repeal of the impact fee because there might be more taxes is basing their decision on too many maybes. I don’t want to see anymore taxes period and I am confident that our law makers can find a way to do it. They see the struggles that we all are facing and will face and try to pass fair legislation. Sometimes it works out and sometimes not so much. The impact fee bill was originally passed with too many unknown variables. It’s great to look at the best case scenerio but it’s just not reality. Our government represents us an apparently they have recieved enough negative feedback about the impact fee that they decided to make a change. Another thing that is scaring alot of people is that they are under the belief that if the impact fee ends that money to the schools will end. That is not a true statement. The schools receive funding from many sources, quite obviously the amount make with the impact fees did not even come close to funding the new Bel Air High School for example at a price tag of 80 million. The impact fee is not legally allowed to be used for fixing the current overcrowding problems in the words straight off of the Harford County Websites it states “Impact Fees relate only to capital facility expenses benefiting new development and are not to be used to address existing deficiencies and/or operating expenses”. The majority of the existing single family lots are in the northern harford county region which has been operating at well under capacity and will probably never have the need for more schools. Is it fair for those land owners to pay for something that they will never benefit from? Also in the Agricultural Preservation Program there is a program known as “Child Lots” which allows the owners of a farm to pull lots off for their children and themselves. This is kind of a boost to promote families to stay on the family farm and continue the rich farming heritage of Harford County. What about those children or even the owners themselves? People that have saved all their lives to build their dream home are finding themselves having to wait a couple years to save up the extra money to pay the impact fee when getting a building permit. This has probably meant the end of some families dream combined with the real estate market falling.
Who should pay for an increase in the size of a school due to growth? The new growth or the existing home owners? It is a proven fact that in areas where there is a higher transfer tax, then it is existing home prices that fall, because there is less demand for existing homes compared to new construction. Whereas when the cost is done as an impact fee, it is the new construction prices that goes up and the existing homes are more competitive and therefore sell better. So who would suffer the most from this proposal? The older communities such as those found in Delegate Dan Riley’s district. Delegate Riley is looking out for his constituents, whereas those proposing to repeal the impact fee and replace it with a transfer tax are looking out for the home builders and new communities.
I can say without question that I am not looking out for any large home builder or new communities. My concern is for my family and for other families in the same situation. In reality no one should have to pay, they didn’t have to pay an increase 5 years ago so why now. The only reason that there would have to be an increase in taxes is if an appropriate budget is not conformed to by the school board. For a school system that is supposed to be hurting so much there certainly in no loss in what is my opinion excessive spending. What high schools really need astro-turf at an price tag of over 1 million? North Harford has one and the other schools are lining up. A transfer tax increase is not in the best interest of anyone and I was certainly not saying that I was in favor of it, I was simply playing devils advocate. Chad Shrodes is the representative of our area and he is looking out for our interest in the Northern part of the county. The majority of the people that are in the market for building a house in this area are not associated with a large builder and are having to pay this fee from their own pockets, not written into a loan. These include farm families whose families have been in the county for decades possibly centuries. These people represent the heart and soul in this county, a dying breed. I don’t agree with any additional taxation or fees but the impact fee needs to be repealed. As far as the transfer tax goes why would there be a decrease in existing home demand when there is a higher transfer tax? People are going to purchase what is in their price range and the type of house that they desire. House prices in the area have doubled or close to since 1999. I think that is wonderful but it has put Harford County out of range pricewise for many families that grew up here but are unable to buy a home here.Why not remove an unnecessary fee that could help more families realize their dreams.
Lorrie,
The impact fee is the only option that is allowed to be written into the mortgage of the house because it is paid by the builder up front and is part of the home cost. The excise and transfer taxes can not be added to a mortgage because they are part of closing.
Changing from an impact fee to a transfer tax or excise tax takes the premium off of a new home, so when someone is looking to purchase a home in Harford County, the cost difference between a new and existing house isn’t as great, so they would go with the new home rather than a house currently held by a taxpayer and homeowner in Harford County.
I agree that if the County thinks they are hurting for money, get rid of the impact fee and instead of replacing it, change the amount of the current excise tax that goes toward land preservation, and instead divert that toward school construction. Of course the farmers in Chad Schrode’s district are against that…
It’s always one special interest or another that is dominating the debate.
But there are quite a few people that will not be able to have their impact fees written into the mortgage. People that are building their own houses or acting as their own general contractor. These options have become popular for those people that are trying to build their houses economically. I am in that group. In order to even build a house on my family farm I will have to write a check of my own money to pay the over $10,000 it is required so that I can even get a building permit. That might not be a lot of money to some but that is 10% of the total price of my house. The Agricultural Preservation is having trouble keeping up with the needed money to put farms into Ag Preserve as it is so they are doing the responsible thing and waiting on those farms they would like to add. They are spending like everyone else has to in these times.I can reasonably guess that most people in this area have had to cut some type of spending. Unlike other agencies that have their hands in our wallets and pocketbooks when they want something. There is always going to be different opinions from the different special agencies based on their individual goals but I am speaking as your everyday person, mom, and in the future new home owner. If you are not in the position that I am in then perhaps a someone you know or love will be in the position one day. I don’t think anyone could say bills could be introduced if the impact fee is repealed but we have shown in numerous times that we are a county that can fight unfair budgets and we could easily do it again. I personally think that some BRAC influx would be a good thing for this county but we could scare them away with an up front tax and their tax dollars will do elsewhere. I think it would be much better to be able to count on a consistant yearly income from property taxes and income taxes then on the construction industry as a source of income. Everyone that is or knows someone in the construction industry knows it is either feast or famine and we have already had our feast for the near future. The impact fee since it was introduced has not even made a dent in any spending that school system was planning that it would. I remain confident that even without the impact fee the school system will remain as great for our children/grandchildren as it ever was. I firmly believe that we can repeal the impact fee and we can still keep everything the same. If it’s not turned into a big game of who gets hurt by this then everyone should be on the same page because then everybody profits and none are hurt. All you have to do to scare someone into action is say “New Taxes”. Tell Mr.Shrodes that you don’t mind the impact fee repeal but you don’t want new taxes/fees. He doesn’t want them either and is more than willing to listen to any suggestions or questions.
You say that it would be better to rely on the annual property and income taxes to create a sustainable budget for the county to operate on. That is exactly how it should be done. What the impact fee is designed to do, is to pay for the initial building of the new school seat that the new house is going to fill. So it’s only handling that initial build out, then the continuing funding of the operational costs of that seat are paid out of the property and income taxes.
But what you are advocating, by getting rid of the impact fee, is to put that burden of building a new school to pay for new construction, on the cost of existing home owners and taxpayers in Harford County to save dollars for those building new houses, such as yourself. Why should I have to pay, out of the funds that should go toward my child’s education, for an impact being caused by someone else? That’s not fair to me, because the school seat that my children occupy was already paid for.
Here is an example. My house will occupy the Norrisville school district in which my children already attend school. There are alot of lots available in this area. Even if all those lots were built on the Norrisville area would NEVER require a new school. Is it fair for people in Norrisville, North Harford Dublin etc to pay for a new school in Bel Air or Abingdon. Of course not. I have been a Harford County resident since the day I was born and will hopefully be until the day that I die. What I am saying is if new construction is scared off by the impact fee there will be no additional taxes, additions to schools & programs etc. The taxes from the NEW residents would assist towards paying for the NEW schools. You already pay your tax dollars that go where the government decides that they go. If you are not being asked for additional tax dollars or fees why should it matter if the impact fee is abolished. Most Harford County residents weren’t required to pay an impact fee so why so should anyone else. Let the big builders and developers have to pay a set-up fee to help establish the neighborhood & school system like they do in other states. Its time that we left the little family that wants to build a home for their family alone. Abolish the “dream tax”. Last year the impact fee brought in @ 2 million dollars, 80 million + was spent on Bel Air High. Who do you think paid the rest? The impact fee is just a pacifer to make you think someone else is paying when in reality it is still you.
Sorry but this should be pointed out…Saying a new school in Norrisville would NEVER be needed would be akin to my parents saying that a new school in Jarrettsville would never be needed…ever heard of North Bend Elementary?
Norrisville is primarily land under Agricultural Preservation. That means there are no lots available to be sold on them for home construction. There are child lots available but not many lots that can ever be developed. Jarrettsville is a much larger hub of homes than Norrisville. When North Bend was built it was to ease the massive influx of construction that was left unchecked by the prior administration. But in reality the new construction is just “the straw that broke the camels back”. New construction is being made to pay for the mistakes of the last generation of construction. Smart building in Harford County is the answer not putting a flat tax on everybody even if they do not affect the overcrowding situation. There also is no credits to help lower income families realize their dreams to build a house like many other area that have the impact fee. That’s kind of like weeding out who can “afford” to live in Harford County. Even if the impact fee was valid many of the areas that require the impact fee to ease overcrowding are under building moratoriums. So many people are areas that are not affected by overcrowding are being asked to pay the impact fees to improve schools in another area. Would you pay for something only another area could use and you couldn’t? I believe that you would believe it is a little unfair.
My husband and I recently had a home built in Aberdeen. We were not aware of an impact fee when we purchased the property. We were charged the $8269.00 fee. Does this mean we will be reimbursed for the impact fee already paid? When we researched the impact fee we were told it went toward the school system, that is great however we do not have any school age children nor plan to have any (I’m over 50).
What I have been impacted by is my neighbor who has numerous code violations that have been overlooked for many years. I have contacted the appropriate personnel but the process is very slow.
I believe Aberdeen has impacted me and not the other way around.
I believe that your situation echos the situation of many in Harford County. I don’t know the specifics on your situation but I encourage you to come to the community meeting next week and speak. You represent another faction in the county that will not see the benefit from the impact fee.
Impact fee should stay the way it is. the economic times we are in dictate that if new infrastructure such as roads, sewer and schools should be paid by those needing them. You can avoid the impact fee by purchasing an existing property and sprawl is reduced and less county services are needed.
new to aberdeen,
taxpayers pay for new schools and as a homeowner in this county you need to pay your fair share. the fact that you don’t directly benefit from it doesn’t really matter. the county is charged with providing education and as such the taxpayers are on the hook for this service.
yes I am aware that I need to pay my fair share of taxes. Coming from NJ I can assure you I know all about paying taxes.
welcome to the free state.
This tax is unfair.
People should pay the costs that they incur. That’s why there are water/sewer hookup fees on the order of $20,000 in Harford County.
The schools are not used by every individual. The current Harford County impact tax is unfair. Let’s hope the council doesn’t wuss out.
sweet clyde
you can make the argument that ANY tax imposed is “unfair”, but taxpayers are on the hook for the services needed, the fact that you don’t use schools is completely irrelevant. You may never go to jail, but we sure need one for society to function, the same goes for fire, police, sewer, water, planning, zoning, parks and recreation, courts..etc…you get the point.
Cisco first of all the impact fee funds are just for school construction, property aquistion and I think modernatization projects like HVAC. Roads, sewer etc is the developers responsibility and is built into the cost of the new home. My issue is the fact that we do not need any more new schools the politicians and board of ed need to have the balls to redistrict. According to 09/2008 numbers from the BOE combined the Elementary Schools are at 93% capactiy, Middle are at 83% capacity and the High Schools are at 87% capacity and that includes Harford Tech which was at 113% and should be expanded since it offers programs not available at the other High Schools.
I guess all those who think the impact fee is the way to go are also alright with approximately 10,000 new homes to be built in Harford County to pay for the new Bel Air HS.
Well I’m glad we get it because I don’t think Cisco and delegate Dan Riley do.
Welcome to Maryland, I think?
Right, so I think you should be lobbying for the impact fee funds to go towards expansion of Harford Tech, for instance. That would certainly come out of the capital budget, which is where these fees go.
Dave i don’t disagree this is one of those issues that does not have a one answer solution. We complain the politicians are not getting the money from Annapolis for new schools and the state looks at the County’s enrollment figures and says you don’t need a new school redistrict and make the most of the resources you have.
There are five elementary schools in the County under 70% capacity. Roye Williams was at 54% capacity last year. In my opinion close it save the money for operating the facility or make the most of it and redistrict.
I am not for an increase in the transfer tax versus the impact fee I am responsible spending of what ever money the government takes from taxpayers. This is just an easy arguement since the revenue generated is dedicated to schools and not the general fund.
Cisco,
Well said!
The use of an impact fee is both legal and fair. It is a means to cover the costs of required infrastructure normally incurred with new (not existing) construction. It can be used for schools, water, sewage, roads, fire protection, police, etc. Doesn’t matter as long as the money is used for the specific purpose stated. Without this “fee” in place, all of the rest of us taxpayers will have to ante up to cover all of the costs of the new development. Frankly, we’re kinda tired of that too. Cisco (see 18.1.1) is absolutely correct. Also, regardless of whether one has children in school, at some point during their life they were a child and caused impact somewhere to someone. Even now, we all use the roads, strain water resources, emergency services, etc. Everything in Harford is being stressed one way or another and our inflated government is not helping. What Harford needs is for all of us to find ways to cut costs without hurting public services. Clearly, Harford needs common sense government and more transparency and accountability in every department and at every level.
A small P.S. about our County Council who are the very people who control the purse strings. Council Guthrie, one of the two councilmen who recently rushed to repeal/reduce the impact fee which certainly benefited developers and a few new homeowners is now said to be considering legislation to impose a type of rental tax. Does anyone believe that those who rent can better afford to take on the burden that would be passed down from their landlords? There are many, many rental units in Harford. I’m positive that would generate a lot of money, but then….?
The Harford County Impact Fee is only used on school construction nothing else. It does not pay to support any other types of infrastructure in the county at all. There is talk of a new impact fee being considered to cover the massive road construction that is planned in the Harford County Transportation Plan and it is not specified whether it will only be on new homes or not. There is only so many new homes that can be built in Harford County and all the ones built on APG are exempt from Impact Fees due to living on Government Property, as many areas are under building moratoriums or under preservation programs. Impact Fees can only continue to improve conditions as long as there is available land to be built on. Then the burden will fall on the existing residents.
Harford is trying to get Federal money by inferring all roads lead to BRAC. They forget the “Feds” are all the taxpayers. Many BRAC personnel will commute and transit makes more sense for them and for all of us in the future. Our politicians are still catering to the developers who want every road widened and a house or business on every corner. There is no reason for a hotel or nonmilitary housing on APG. History will most likely demonstrate that no BRAC will ever save the taxpayers a dime, especially as long as politicians and special interests run the Defense Department. The transportation plan calls for the citizens of Harford to buy an airpark. An impact fee is also mentioned in the plan as a priority. Do you think our County Council really reads these documents? But then, you only have to look up the MD Election Center campaign contributor listings to see where the money comes from and who they are paying off. Harford County residents will bear the brunt of the costs one way or another. Harford should have term limits for the County Council and campaign funding should go! That is the only way the citizens will be able to get the crooks out of this County and reduce our taxes.
I am glad someone else apparently read the 103 pages in that document. So much of the planning is ridiculous and obviously thought out by someone that has no connection to this county.
Only 2 Council members have been elected to office 2 times – Boniface and Slutzky. Term limits wouldn’t help.
Also, if you ended “campaign funding” then the only people elected to office would be those who are independently wealthy. While there are flaws in the current system, we just need to find principled people to represent us.
Sorry, Lorrie – Yes, Slutzky for two terms, but not Boniface. Also Chenowith (who passed away during her second term) and Guthrie for two terms. Most all of these Council people, especially the latter, just plain follow the guys with the deep pockets; just check out the campaign bread crumb trail. The rest of us pay and pay and pay for our voting mistakes. Other than us coughing up money to compete, there MUST be a way to get good representatives without special interests running this County. Term limits would help, even if it risked losing a good rep. Got to keep those big money guys guessing!