Members of the Baltimore County Council are considering charging developers for the costs associated with growth ? particularly new schools ? in one region they say is getting hit harder by new construction than anywhere else.
The tax would be limited to new homes in the Honeygo area and will likely be passed on to home buyers, officials said. Council Member Vince Gardina, D-District 5, said he is concerned with growth projections that could push Chapel Hill Elementary and Perry Hall Middle and High schools over capacity in the next decade. He is proposing developers pay as much as $10,000 per new home to help pay for new schools or renovations to existing ones.
“Right now, it?s tolerable,” said Gardina, who is sponsoring the bill. “But if we don?t do something in the short-term, we?re going to have a problem.”
Last year, 10 elementary schools and five high schools were 15 percent or more over capacity, which is supposed to halt development in that district, officials said. With almost 2,300 and 710 students respectively, Perry Hall High and Chapel Hill are close to 8 percent overcrowded.
Development fees have not been shown to slow growth in areas where housing demand is high, said Jim Cohen, a professor of urban studies and planning at the University of Maryland. The fee can be justified because people who pay them usually benefit the most from the new roads, schools improvements and added public facilities like libraries and community centers, he said.
But developers often fight the fee, arguing most counties open their comprehensive development plans to public input.
In Baltimore County, the tax would be paid before a building permit is issued and certain types of homes would be exempt, such as senior and assisted living homes, housing for the disabled, public housing or minor subdivisions.
PROPOSED IMPACT TAX
Single-family detached: $10,000
Town house: $10,000
All other residential: $5,000
*Taxes and fees are paid per dwelling unit
