Anne Arundel should back down from its proposed developer fee increase and phase it in over several years, according to the recommendations of an appointed committee.
“We have a high degree of confidence that the numbers will accurately reflect the cost of building in the county,” said former County Executive Robert Neall, who was chairman of the committee commissioned by the County Council to look at ways to increase impact fees.
The committee presented its report this week when a bill to increase impact fees ? money a developer pays toward roads, schools and public safety for residents of new construction ? was withdrawn due to stern opposition from the council.
The council formed the committee after concerns over faulty data being used to create the now-withdrawn proposal. The committee used an 11th revision of the data the administration had used for its proposal, then recommended Anne Arundel charge 80 percent of those figures to be phased in between 2009 and 2014.
Neall said the 20 percent reduction is needed, because the data assumes that there is no capacity on roads and schools, which he said is not true.
And instead of charging more for multiple bedrooms, the committee recommended using square footage as the basis to calculate fees.
The proposal has mixed reviews.
“I think 80 percent is still high,” said Eric DeVito, president of the Maryland Home Builders Association. “As for the phase in, with the conditions in the market, we could adjust.”
