Issues watch: Impact fees

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. – Nov. 8, 2006 – Commissioners in Manatee County have voted to increase impact fees, despite critics’ concerns about the effect the added costs could have on affordable housing and local businesses.

Beginning on Feb. 17, the impact fee on a three-bedroom dwelling will rise to $9,005 from $5,461; and developers of shopping centers and other commercial structures will pay $12,000 to $19,700 per 1,000 square feet.

The new payment schedule will boost countywide collections to $230 million between 2007 and 2011 from $53 million between 2001 and 2005. While buyers of affordable units pay the same fees charged in 2004 -- with the county subsidizing the remainder -- Manatee County Commission Chairman Joe McClash says buyers of workforce housing units can expect their monthly mortgage payments to rise by about $30.

Source: Bradenton Herald (FL) (11/08/06) Azzara, Nicholas

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