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ounty Commissioners Vote To Lower Impact Fee
Posted on December 25, 2008
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Through the years, many Dixie County residents voiced their concerns about the $3,500 impact fee to the county commissioners. During that time, their efforts to persuade the commissioners to make the fee more affordable were met with opposition. As a result of the community’s patience and persistence, the county commissioners finally decided to make it affordable for everyone, regardless of income. According to Gene Higginbotham, one of the three commissioners who voted in favor of lowering the impact fee, Marvin Hunt originally proposed lowering the fee from $3,500 to $1,500. After discussing the issue at length, the commissioners decided to lower the fee to $1.00 per square foot with a $1,000 minimum and $3,500 as the maximum amount. Mark Hatch and Ronnie Edmonds also voted in favor of the proposal. Troy Johnson opposed lowering the impact fee while Chairman Hunt could only vote if the proposal were tied. For additional information about the new impact fee, contact the building department at 498-1236. |
Why did Troy oppose the lowering of the fee?
I would guess because of the lost revenue the county will incur. About $200,000 dollars. Currently mainly people moving into the county have to pay the fee. Therefore, the taxes on our local people do not have to be raised for the extra money. Now your taxes WILL have to go up because the county is already operating in the red and we just lost $200,000. So….Troy and Marvin are the only ones that have any sense at all. By the way…alot of the little league improvements that were not long ago completed were paid out if the impact fee funds and not your tax dollars. Also the 911 system upgrade to the county was also paid with impact fee money and not local tax payer money. Think about it people….How many of you residents have had to pay any impact fee money. Also look at how low your taxes are. Get ready for the increase though. We have three idiots in office….
Since 2003 the impact fee in Dixie County has done more flips than a pancake maker at a church breakfast! I am one of the new residents that paid the $3500 impact fee for an 840 sq ft. mobile home even though there are only 2 retirees and 1 car in my household. We don’t have children in school, we are law abiding so we don’t burden the law enforcement system, and we only run an itty bitty compact car on the roadways. However,when I paid the fee I understood that it was needed. Now I read where the fee is being lowered because there were no housing starts in Nov. and the realtors are complaining that their customers can’t “scrape together” the $3500 needed for the fee. When municipal governments start pandering to realtors and developers you have the beginnings of the nightmare that is South Florida. It is an unlivable mess down there and I should know because I lived among the concrete for 40 years.Newer residents should have to suck up and pay the price for living in this beautiful place. The impact fee can be rolled into any mortgage. I resent having the property taxes raised for all because realtors are complaining about sales and having an input about lowering the impact fee for a few. We are in a recession people! There are no housing starts in Dixie County because people can’t sell the houses they have to move here. In closing, isn’t it proper protocol to open these matters to public discussion during one or 2 County Commission meetings? It seems like in the space of 15 minutes the 2 new commissioners have succeeded in screwing around with our tax base and making a few realtors turn cartwheels. Sounds like a circus to me!