Polk impact fees could skyrocket past state law maximums because of extraordinary growth

Polk County took the first state-mandated steps to raise impact fees on new development by more than state law usually allows.

State law dictates that impact fees can only be increased every four years in Florida and cannot rise more than 50% over four years. In order to raise them more, a city or county must first perform an "extraordinary circumstances study." Polk County approved such a study on Aug. 20.

The next step would be a second workshop for increasing six of its impact fees on new construction by more than 50% over four years.

That will coincide with the regularly scheduled County Commission meeting on Tuesday. While the state statute is clear about normal increases, and makes exceptions for “extraordinary circumstances,” it does not spell out what those are. It does require two workshops, a public hearing and a two-thirds vote before passage.

The third step in the process would be a public hearing, which the commissioners are expected to set for Sept. 17. in the Polk County Commission Boardroom at the County Administration Building in Bartow.

For and against 

For now, some commissioners are onboard with raising all of the impact fees by more than the state maximum, including Chairman Bill Braswell and Commissioner Rick Wilson.

Others have mixed opinions on which fees to rise, such as Commissioner Neil Combee. Or in the case of Commissioner George Lindsey, he wants to stick with the current phased-in 50% rise per Florida statute over four years.

A business partner with a major Polk County housing developer, Lindsey said after the work session on Friday that “impact fees are a necessary evil. The calculation should be fair and equitable and not used as a punitive growth management tool.

“I would support phasing in the fees proposed as provided in state law.” he said.

Lindsey added raising them well over 50% could be necessary eventually but not for now.

In a presentation at the agenda review, county staff recommended the increase to six of the seven impact fees the county charges per home or commercial project.

Transportation is the seventh impact fee but it was already raised a few years ago.

Combee said he would like the transportation fee possibly revised again after studying the impact truck traffic has on county roads. He said one truck can consume an entire turn lane, for example, and adding or extending turn lanes is expensive. He also said the weight of trucks placed more wear and tear on roads, especially around the county’s warehouses and logistics centers.

He also said that $1,800 for parks and recreation was too high of a fee to place on new home buyers, who pay impact fees when developers pass along the fees in the price of the home. Instead, developers of planned developments should set aside more active recreation, such as pools or playgrounds, and not get away with calling retention ponds a recreational use.

Overall, county staff recommended increases in excess of the state maximum in parks and recreation, libraries, fire rescue, EMS, law enforcement, corrections and education.

Population boom

The recommendation comes after an impact fee study was conducted. The last such study was completed in 2019. A supplement to the study described population growth as the extraordinary circumstances.

“With a population of over 800,000, Polk County ranks 9th out of 67 Florida counties in terms of population,” the supplemental report said. “The county has been experiencing significant growth over the past four years and continues to experience significant growth.

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The U.S. Census Bureau reported, “Polk County ranked 7th in the nation in terms of population added in 2021 and 5th in 2022 and 2023.

“Growth projections provided by the University of Florida's Bureau of Business and Economic Research suggest approximately 300,000 additional residents through 2050.

“In terms of annual growth rate, the County ranks 10th out of 67 counties with an average projected growth rate of 1.21 percent per year through 2050,” the report said.

Assistant County Manager Todd Bond added cost increases also played a role in the authors recommending an extraordinary-circumstances increase. He added that a consensus of the commissioners who were presented with the impact study gave the go ahead to hold the required hearings for the increase outside of the usual state law.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Polk County moves to increase impact fees by more than state allows