Frederick County Council postpones vote on impact fee proposal
Dec. 8—The Frederick County Council will revisit a proposal to refund some housing developers a portion of their public schools impact fee — money paid to support public schools as population increases.
The public schools impact fee, which applies to every housing development in the county, ranges this year between roughly $7,000 and more than $17,000 per unit, depending on the size and type of housing unit, according to county documents.
It's normally up to the developer to decide whether they or the homeowner should be responsible for paying, county officials said.
Part of the reason the fee exists is to fund additional public school land as population increases. In 2021, developers had to pay between roughly $270 and $620 for land as part of the fee.
In a handful of cases, a large developer is required to donate a portion of the land they buy to the county's Board of Education for construction of a school facility. Under the proposal from County Councilman Jerry Donald (D), the county would refund such developers the land portion of their impact fee.
The council was scheduled to vote on the proposal Tuesday, but plans changed after members voted to adopt an amendment from Councilwoman Jessica Fitzwater (D).
Fitzwater's amendment would ensure certain properties that are under agreement with the Frederick County Affordable Housing Land Trust, a Habitat for Humanity of Frederick County program and the county's only land trust, would be exempt from paying their development impact fee — which includes the fee paid to support public school growth.
The Frederick County Affordable Housing Council on Tuesday expressed support for the amendment.
"Rather than pass these fees on to the new home buyers who are of low to modest incomes and are often stretching every dollar and resource to purchase their home, Habitat has decided to absorb these fees," Mark Long, chair of the Affordable Housing Council, said in a letter to members of the council. "This places an undue burden on Habitat, a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and reduces their ability to help provide more affordable homes for purchase to more home buyers."
Another amendment the council approved Tuesday would only allow refunds for certain impact fees paid after the proposal becomes law. A previous version of the proposal would have permitted refunds for impact fees paid by July 1, 2019 or later.
The council plans to hear public input on the amendments at its workshop next Tuesday, and members will vote on the entire proposal at a later legislative meeting.
Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter: @jckhogan
