Webinar: Hillsborough County Forges Ahead to Consider Doubling Fees

Description

Thank you to Elise Batsel, Jessica Icerman, Jacob Cremer and Kevin Reali at Stearns Weaver Miller for putting together this information for the industry and our membership. 

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY UPDATES

While COVID-19 has halted land use meetings in Hillsborough County until at least June, discussions on raising impact and mobility fees stay on schedule. On April 15, 2020, the Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners voted to press forward consideration of these fees during a previously-scheduled budget workshop on April 28, 2020. At that workshop, the Board will consider increased fees for water/wastewater, AGRF, mobility, and parks.   Given the wide impacts of COVID-19, some commissioners hesitated to increase fees for monthly payers while the emergency is affecting residents. The County's budget is also expected to decrease due to the COVID-19 emergency. After noting those funding limitations, a number of commissioners suggested that development fees could be used to help cover deficiencies.   The coming workshop will shed more light on what those proposed fees could be, but based on recent studies, the following chart summarizes the potential for fees that are more than doubled:   



These increases would follow the approved school impact fee increase taking effect in June. The chart does not capture the additional costs to future homeowners in the form of proportionate share mitigation agreements due to school concurrency seat shortfalls in various areas of the county, most notably in south Hillsborough County. Unfortunately, the additional school impact fee funding will not remedy the shortage of seats in the near future.   With the coming workshop proceeding as scheduled in spite of COVID-19 challenges, developers and landowners need to stay engaged in these issues. There are still opportunities for landowners, developers, and homebuilders to engage with commissioners and staff on these issues. 

WEBINAR INFORMATION

Land Development attorneys from Stearns Weaver Miller will discuss the practical and legal challenges presented in a virtual land use public hearing and the best practices to proceed in these virtual times.
 
If you have specific questions that you would like for them to try to address during the webinar, please email them directly by Tuesday, April 21 at 12 pm.

For details on this webinar, please click here.