The price of doing business in Anne Arundel County might get a little higher for developers.
Impact fees collected from developers pay for only a small fraction of new roads and schools in the county, County Executive John R. Leopold told The Examiner.
“Developers are not paying the costs they should be paying,” he said, adding he would propose legislation to increase the fees.
Leopold would not reveal how much, or which fees, could increase.
Consultant James Nicholas presented figures to the Planning Advisory Board showing road and school construction costs have increased 150 percent since the last review of the fees in 2000.
Impact fees help offset the costs new houses and businesses have on roads and schools.
In 2000, the road impact fee covered 31 percent of costs; now it covers just 12 percent, Nicholas said. For schools, the fee covered 53 percent of costs in 2000; only 29 percent in 2007. “The yield is going down, and the current dollars are not keeping up,” Nicholas said.
Public safety and water and sewer utilities were not included in the study.
The advisory board is expected to make a recommendation later this month.
Montgomery County this month raised its impact fees to meet 90 percent of construction costs.
By the numbers
Roads
» Fee per single-family house: $969
» Impact cost for that house: $7,869
» State road impact fee: $2,210
Schools
» Fee per single-family house: $3,810
» Impact cost for that house: $13,187
» State school impact fee: $7,462
