Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Hailey to implement development impact fees

Ordinance to take effect June 20

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By JON DUVAL
Express Staff Writer

As the population of Hailey continues to expand, the City Council has taken steps to ensure that its levels of service remain constant.

On Monday, May 21, the City Council conducted the third reading of its new Development Impact Fee Ordinance, making it legal for the city to begin collecting the fees on June 20. The ordinance permits the city to charge fees to new developments in order to handle the increased demands on its services.

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The action follows a council decision on April 9 to adopt a capital improvement plan into the city's comprehensive plan, also necessary for assessing impact fees.

Those funds, projected by economic consultant Paul Tischler to be approximately $3 million over the next five years, will be used to maintain the county's current level of police and fire services, parks and transportation as population grows.

Tischler said during the April meeting that impact fees will pay approximately 98 percent of the improvements that will be required as the city grows.

Under state law, the council will have to review both the impact-fee ordinance and the capital improvement plan every five years.

In addition, the city must be able to account for every cent of impact fees received so that there is no doubt where the money is going.