Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, said he will move forward with a bill that would create fees on new homes and apartments to pay for school construction, but he also will try to find common ground with opponents of the legislation. He did say he was still planning to move ahead with the bill Because the bill applies exclusively to the Beaufort County School District, it needs only the approval of the county's legislative delegation to make it to Gov. Mark Sanford's desk.
"What I'm hearing from my voters is they want impact fees to be an option," said Rep. Shannon Erickson, R-Beaufort, one of the five members of the delegation in the S.C. House of Representatives. Rep. Richard Chalk, R-Hilton Head, has said he would prefer a bill that charges school fees on new homes over 10 to 15 years as an assessment on a property tax bill. Such an approach would eliminate the fee from increasing home prices and tax assessments on new homes.
Given the above information I gathered from our local paper (I was not present at this meeting), a long term assessment proposal rather than a one time impact fee per new construction is a softer and kinder plan, especially given that the average american stays in a home only a few years. that way, not the original buyer is burdened with the entire impact fee of building new schools, which from a long term view is a value added to a community. New and good schools attract young working families and the good cycle begins. We will see what happens.
Respectfully submitted,
SUSAN OCHSNER
http:www.yourhiltonheadagent.com
(843) 816-6388
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