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Fairness and equity should be the ultimate authority of government policy and action. Impact fees are neither fair nor equitable because they penalize one industry sector in order to relieve responsibility on others. In addition they have a disproportionate influence on new construction and are too often used to mask revenue deficiencies that have little or no relation to the project in question.
Impact fees increase the costs of homes and commercial properties and hinder economic growth by providing disincentives for owners to develop land. Finally because they are not a source of significant income for the locality, impact fees do not represent the broad-based solution to resource enhancement that is necessary to finance the true costs of public services.
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