Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold is proposing substantial increases in the fees developers pay to build in the county.
Leopold?s draft legislation was unveiled during Thursday night?s Planning Advisory Board meeting, which held a public hearing on the bill.
Developers pay impact fees when they build new houses or office buildings. The money is used to pay for road and school improvements, as well as new police officers and firefighters.
The proposed fees would have developers paying five times more to build a three-bedroom house, six times more to build a 100,000 square-foot office building and seven times more to build a hotel in the county.
The current impact fee for a new house is $4,069 regardless of size or type. The new fees would increase with the house?s size:
– $3,571 for a one-bedroom house
– $12,683 for a two-bedroom house
– $20,651 for a four-bedroom house
– $39,942 for a house that five or more bedrooms.
Leopold called for higher impact fees, citing an independent report that showed a significant disparity between the current impact fee and the cost of building new roads and schools.
According to the report, the county was only reaping 12 to 25 percent of the costs of construction from its fees.
The proposed legislation would also allow the use of the construction cost index (CCI) for inflation increases. The county would use the higher of either the CCI or the consumer price index, the current standard.
Only four people testified before the Planning Advisory Board, and were unanimous in their support for the proposed legislation.
Officials from the Home Builders Association of Maryland saw the proposed figures for the first time Thursday, and said the new fees could dramatically hurt development in the county.
The board will deliberate the new fees on Jan. 14. The bill will eventually reach the County Council, which will have final say over the fees.
