[LM1]

I own a piece of property down there... It's in a "sensitive" preservation type area so I expected some hoop-jumping in order to put a cabin on it, but the "impact fees" in that county are absolutely horrendous (five figures for a simple single family dwelling).

I sort of figured that the reason the impact fee I was quoted was so high had to do with my location (it's on an island) but no, it turns out that they expect EVERYONE who builds a house to pay this abomination?

Unbelievable. Talk about a short-sighted group of morons... They probably thought that the housing growth would continue ad-infinitum and that everyone would gleefully pay this.

Expect to see the infrastructure of this county to atrophy as developers go elsewhere and the tax base doesn't rise in consort with other places.

What a friggin joke.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by LM1

I own a piece of property down there... It's in a "sensitive" preservation type area so I expected some hoop-jumping in order to put a cabin on it, but the "impact fees" in that county are absolutely horrendous (five figures for a simple single family dwelling).

I sort of figured that the reason the impact fee I was quoted was so high had to do with my location (it's on an island) but no, it turns out that they expect EVERYONE who builds a house to pay this abomination?

Unbelievable. Talk about a short-sighted group of morons... They probably thought that the housing growth would continue ad-infinitum and that everyone would gleefully pay this.

Expect to see the infrastructure of this county to atrophy as developers go elsewhere and the tax base doesn't rise in consort with other places.


What a friggin joke.

It's a one time fee and developers are used to them and just pass the on. They are common. Is this something that was added since you bought the property? County commission studies impact fees

[LM1]

They effectively doubled them while I was in the process of purchasing it.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by LM1

They effectively doubled them while I was in the process of purchasing it.

Did you read the link in my post? When did you buy the property?

[LM1]

I purchased it on an owner-held CFD in 2007.
I see in that link they didn't quite double them (as I was told) but raised them by 50%.
Kinda frustrating, when a man who intends to build a seasonal home with his own two hands- not even located on the FL mainland peninsula, making use of no roads or services- has to pay a magical $10,000 "fee" for the right to do so.

I can understand them on larger scale developments that bring people into the county that tax the services (roads, water, sewer, police, fire), but a guy building a seasonal cabin on an island? Give me a break.
On the issue of paying for police and fire, given that arsonists have already struck that portion of the island once and burned everyones cabins down, seeing as the islands have effectively no fire or police services, I'd say we ought to be due for a damn rebate.

[FSU_Alum]

It wasn't done to keep the housing going, but to put a stop on development. My family lives up there, and most people do NOT want mass development. The good folks of Citrus actually shot down a new and bigger airport proposal for many of the same issues. Last year, there was a lot of debate about whether or not to allow a Target; I'm not sure how that debate ended, though.

They like it nice and quiet. The people on my parents' street are very happy because more than half of the street is filled with wooded lots and will, most likely, remain so.

I think my parents' house was built in 94, and they paid 69,900 for it in 99. Nice, solid house, mature trees on a large lot, etc.

(An aside: at the height of the housing madness, it was valued at about 180K. They were offered 150K cash in 06 for it. Turned it down. Didn't do any of that HELOC crap, either. They just laughed at how ridiculous the real estate market had become.)

[mainship]

Originally Posted by LM1

Unbelievable. Talk about a short-sighted group of morons...

I agree, now that they are planning to cut them back to what they were a few years ago. As a long time resident my tax bill has skyrocketed due to the influx of too many people wanting exactly what they had where they came from.

[Bobbyjim]

I live in Citrus County. I think the impact fees are around $15,000.00 for a house. Also the impact fees are very high for a business.
That's OK with me, the county has changed very little over the years and if another new resturant or mall isn't built I could care less.
I hope it true about more people leaving then moving to Fl.

[randian]

Impact fees aren't about the environment, they're about money. They're an end run around legislative and constitutional limits on property taxation.

[daniellefort]

Yes there's been a big debate going on about the impact fees not to mention the newly approved $25,000 septic system they now require for any new homes built.