Laserfiche WebLink
Honorable Pete Hoffmann <br />Chair and Presiding officer <br />and Members of the County Council <br />COUNTY COUNCIL <br />Page <br />September 9, 2 <br />Development of county facilities has not kept up to serve the fast - growing areas of the <br />island. There are many reasons. For example, if the roof of an old gym leaks, and is <br />going to rot the floor, fixing the roof is going to be a budget priority, But a series of <br />decisions like this tends to reinforce investment in existing facilities that serve the older <br />population pattern, rather than spending money where the population has moved. Impact <br />fees must be spent on facilities that increase capacity, such as new parks or new roads, <br />and must be spent, at least generally, to benefit the regions where the fees are collected, <br />so this will tend to follow the growth in population. <br />4. Impact fees tend to make new developments pay for the new infrastructure. <br />Impact fees are charged to new development, which is creating the need for new parks, <br />roads, and other county facilities. In that respect, it may seem fairer to charge those <br />buying into those developments for ne w f acilities. <br />5. Impact fees will generate substantial funds from areas where zoning conditions <br />don't require developers to provide improvements. <br />At least 0% the new homes In the island are being built In the subdivisions created from <br />the 1950's to 1970's like Hawaiian paradise Park and Hawaiian Ocean View Estates. In <br />some years, 60-70% of nevi homes may be built on lots subdivided before 1980. In these <br />areas no zoning conditions require developers to provide parrs or other improvements. <br />Impact fees will generate major revenues which can be used to build facilities for these <br />areas, especially parrs. (This is the flip side of one of the "Cons" discussed below—that <br />individual lot owners will have to pay impact fees.) <br />Cons <br />I. Impact fees may increase costs to home buyers. <br />Obviously, someone pays the impact fee. It is not so obvious who ultimately bears the <br />cost, when a developer builds hornes, even though the developer actually pays the fees <br />when getting the building permits, it is not clear whether the developer bears the cost in <br />the end, accepting a lower profit. It is possible that the developer passes the cost on to <br />the home buyer, or that the developer will offer less when buying land on which to build <br />project. If you think of the homebuilding process as involving three main players: l <br />