$25,000.00 Impact Fees

This afternoon at a 2007 Hernando County Summit Growth Management Committee meeting, I heard some preliminary figures for updating the impact fees next year to approximately $25,000.00 for residential homes. The county is using the rational that costs are escalating for infrastructure so this number is not unreasonable when discussing impact fee increases. Our committee is made up of contractors, developers, lay persons, the agriculture interest, SWIFTMUD, the city of Brooksville, the county planning department, and Chamber of Commerce members and everyone had a different point of view. To me, this will ultimately eliminate any chance for the first-time home buyer, by pricing them out of the market. Are we going to import labor to perform service industry jobs like plumbers, hamburger flippers, etc. in Hernando County? Yes, costs have risen dramatically but the suggestion to raise impacts fees by approximately 250% in very hard to fathom.