Manatee County sets plans to raise impact fees by 50% in motion

Manatee County is raising impact fees levied on new development to keep up with the rising price of infrastructure associated with rapid population growth.

County commissioners voted Tuesday to move forward with a public hearing process necessary to increase impact fees by 50% during the next four years, at a rate of 12.5% per year, to offset the price of hundreds of millions of dollars needed to support future development. A 12.5% increase is the maximum allowed per year under Florida statute, officials said.

The Manatee-Sarasota Building Industry Association has opposed the effort since last year, and in September sent an 11-point critique of a study prepared by a firm on behalf of Manatee County.

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In the face of criticism, county officials voted in November to start the process by collecting 100% of the current impact fee, as opposed to 90%.

Commissioners were also concerned new state laws could prohibit the county from increasing impact fees a second time within four years. So on Thursday, the board rescinded that decision to instead pursue the 50% increase.

Director of Development Services Nicole Knapp said staff and consultants believe they can legally defend any challenge to the impact fee increase levied against the county.

"It's a matter of opinion between one consultant and another," Knapp said.

Commissioner George Kruse, who has been a critic of the slow speed at which the effort has progressed while in the hands of county staff, said the county lost the potential for over a million dollars in impact fees over the past couple of months.

"If we would have moved on this last summer we would have been collecting the new impact fees in December and January," Kruse said. "We collected ($9.99 million ) in impact fees in that window. Even at the 12.5% increase, that means we left $1.25 million on the table these past two months just by not moving this and delaying this. I don't think we can wait too much longer."

Commissioners voted 6 to 0 in favor of moving forward with the impact fee increase. Commissioner James Satcher was absent during the vote, despite attending the meeting.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Manatee County sets plans to raise impact fees by 50% in motion