Clay County workshop: consultants outline revised impact-fee study, flag $227 million non-fee commitment

Consultants from Willdan presented a revised impact-fee study to the Clay County Board of County Commissioners on Nov. 28, 2022, describing methods to calculate six separate impact fees that would fund parks, fire and rescue, law enforcement, jails/constitutional facilities, and library/cultural facilities.

Carlos, a consultant with Willdan, said impact fees are one-time charges usually imposed at building-permit stage to fund facilities that serve new development. He described three calculation approaches used in the report — an existing-inventory approach, a planned-facilities approach, and a system-plan approach — and said the study uses a mix of those approaches depending on the category. Countywide policies and the county comprehensive plan were cited as the basis for park standards and other asset-class assumptions.

The presentation included projected development and service-population inputs (unchanged from a prior study) and a maximum-justified fee schedule. Carlos told the board that, at the maximum justified fee level, the county would still need to commit roughly $227,000,000 in non-fee funding through 2045 to cover the share of new higher-level facilities that benefit existing development and to bring existing development to the chosen standard. He described that figure as the non-fee funding requirement tied to the mix of deficiency and increased levels of service being considered.

Public commenters — including residents, builders and non-profit representatives — repeatedly asked for more documentation. Calls for greater detail focused on: (1) clearly established facility standards and explicit identification of existing deficiencies; (2) a transparent credit analysis showing how other capital funding sources (for example CIP, grants) offset fee obligations; and (3) more defensible employment (worker) assumptions used to weight service-population estimates. Several developers also sought assurances that parks already provided within master-planned developments would be credited.

Carlos responded that the study includes credits tied to the county's forward-looking CIP for most categories (and a 5-year grants look-back for library credits) and said the $227 million figure represents the combined funding needed to bring existing development to the study's targeted level of service plus planned facility upgrades. He acknowledged the employment projection is consistent with the county's mobility-fee analysis but described it as relatively optimistic and said staff and the EDC are seeking additional local data sources to refine it.

The board directed staff to continue stakeholder engagement and to return with refinements on Dec. 13, 2022. No formal vote or ordinance adoption occurred at the workshop.