Impact Fee Increases in Lee County and Cape Coral Indicated by Studies

Lee County, Cape Coral Consider Impact Fee Increases

Two recent studies find Lee County and Cape Coral should raise road impact fees despite a near shutdown in new construction, which generates those fees.

A study this month from consultant Duncan and Associates suggests raising the road impact fee for single-family homes to $8,352 from $3,347, or about 150 percent. The same firm, in a study released in August, suggested the county raise its residential road impact fees to $9,634 from $4,976, or 7 percent.

The studies also call for increases in road impact fees levied against new commercial construction. The consultants would have the county raise road impact fees for non-residential property by 7 percent across the board with the exception of shopping centers, which would be lowered 26 percent. The fees could go up 23 percent for combined county and state impact fees — something the county rarely levies against new construction.

IMPACT FEE RECOMMENDATIONS

An independent study funded by the county recommends increasing most road impact
fees and lowering the school fee. According to the report:

PROPOSED IMPACT FEES

• School Impact Fee Update Study (477 KB)
  Direct to Public Hearing (BCC) Sept 9, 9:30 a.m.**
  Local Planning Agency (LPA) Sept 22, 8:30 a.m.**
  Affordable Housing Committee (AHC) Sept. 22, 2:00 p.m.*
  BCC Public Hearing Sept 23, 5:05 p.m.**
  

• Road Impact Fee Update (1.73 MB)
  Direct to Public Hearing (BCC) Sept. 9, 9:30 a.m.**
  Executive Regulatory Oversight Committee (EROC) Sept 10, 2:00 p.m.*
  Land Development Code Advisory Committee (LDCAC) Sept 12, 8:00 a.m.*
  Local Planning Agency (LPA) Sept 22, 8:30 a.m.**
  Affordable Housing Committee (AHC) Sept 22, 2:00 p.m.*
  BCC Public Hearing Sept 23, 5:05 p.m.**
  Second BCC Public Hearing (optional) Oct 14, 5:05 p.m.**

  *1^st FL Conference Room, 1500 Monroe Street (Community Development Bldg.)
  ** County Commission Chambers

In Cape Coral, where impact fees are a fraction of the county’s, the group is suggesting raising fees between 80 and 200 percent depending on the type of property.

Assuming no impact fee changes, the county’s transportation department projects $9 million in impact fee revenue, the same as 2007-08 but down from more than $71 million in 2006-07. The city has seen a similarly sharp decrease in its road impact fees, which went from $7.9 million a year ago to a projection of $723,000 in 2009.

The declines mirror a drop in building permits. Two years ago, Cape Coral processed an average of 642 single-family home permits. That’s down to 11 this month. The county was down to 37 permits this month, compared with more than 1,000 single-family home permits per month several years ago.

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Stephen A. Cunningham; MAI, CCIM

Managing Director

Professional Affiliations/Community Activities: MAI Member of The Appraisal Institute, CCIM Designee of the CCIM Institute, Member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, Florida State Certified General Real Estate Appraiser #RZ300, Florida Licensed Broker.