Authored by: Walter on Tuesday, October 25 2005 @ 11:42 PM EDT

I am not certain if I follow your point. Are you for this or against this?

Surely, as you state, the tax is not that great. But what are the implications? What type of construction does this open the door to? In other words, are we to see a whole new type of housing industry crop up in Richmond?

I believe that the problem is multifaceted. The tax is still something the taxpayer must pay in addition to all other taxes, so equating it to a half can of cola is missing the point. With all other "taxes and fees" it rapidly becomes the cost of a six pack of cola and a turkey supper complete with desert. If the fee was all the tax payer was contributing, I'd commend you, but I cannot.

What mechanism is in place to make certain that multi-unit condo neighborhoods don't infest the land. I don't know enough about ALL of the IMPACT FEE proposal, but it seems that there might be a potential for massive multi-unit constructions to pay one low price for an impact fee.

If the aforementioned is the case, does that mean that the construction industry now sees Richmond as a prime target to build?

Educate me, please. I really don't know who or what to think about this. I don't know how much of this is off base and how much is genuine concern. But in educating me, please don't equate it to a half can of soda... because if I am paying the same impact fee for my half can that someone is paying for an entire case, that would be very disturbing indeed.

Thanks, and I look forward to being educated in the matter.

From Walter (Wally)

Authored by: filkee on Wednesday, November 02 2005 @ 08:51 PM EST

Hi Wally,

Here are a few points on the Impact Fee ordinance and please feel
free to ask me specific questions since I helped write it.

- We already have an impact fee in place to cover capital costs (like
physical expansion to accommodate more kids as more houses are
built). Most of our ordinances are reworked every five years or so to
make sure they're currrent and in many ways, this is just a
housekeeping move. We are adding a new fee for the fire department
that ammounts to a few hundred dollars per house.

- The curent ordinance depends on # of bedrooms to determine the
fee for a house. Many have dodged this by not including closets in
rooms that are intended to be bedrooms. The flat fee for houses
closes that loophole. There are different fees for condos/apts and
mobile homes. All the numbers are based on research done in VT. The
current ordinance is based on a New Jersey formula.

- Under the new ordinance, all existing homes are exempt. Under the
current ordinance, if you add a bedroom, you pay a fee. Now, only
new homes pay for additional capacity.

- In the upcoming special election, a NO vote will mean that the new
ordinance will be adopted. A YES vote will mean that our old
ordinance will remain in effect. Either way, there WILL be an impact
fee. The real question is how you want it administered.

- I'm thinking most off your concerns about vast swaths of condos are
more aptly addressed in the town zoning, but we can talk about that
to when the battery isn't nearly dead on my computer.

---
Erik Filkorn

Authored by: Bryan on Wednesday, November 02 2005 @ 11:22 PM EST

Thanks Erik,

I think that helped clarify the comments in the two posts prior. It actually helped clarify what I thought to be the case.

-Bryan

Authored by: sbower on Thursday, November 03 2005 @ 12:41 PM EST

I wasn't speaking for or against the proposed update to the current impact fee schedule (which is a minor update - see filkee's comments). But some have distributed what I consider to be misleading figures on the cost of the impact fees, because they assume the owner will pay off the fees through a 30-year mortgage, without taking into account the mortgage deduction and inflation. Looking at the daily cost is, I think, a better guage of the impact on the mortgage holder.
-- Steve

Authored by: Anonymous on Monday, December 05 2005 @ 11:57 PM EST

Bottom line: it's about the same as half a soda per day, or subscribing to home delivery of the Free Press - but less than that as the years go by.


well duh why not split the cost amoung ALL the taxpayers?
did you pay a IMPACT fee when you moved to Richmond?Or now that I moved here LETS SHUT THE DOOR and try to keep others out.