Board of County Commissioners votes to increase school-impact fees

ORANGE COUNTY  While West Orange-area development is booming, the Orange County Board of County Commissioners voted Tuesday to raise the school-impact fees for residential construction.

Impact fees are collected from developers and builders by the county, and the revenue is used to fund public facilities nearby. School-impact fees will go toward funding and maintaining current and future schools.

In 2011, the BCC adopted new school-impact fees of $6,525 for single-family homes and $3,921 for multi-family units. The fees will be introduced in two phases, with the first beginning Oct. 1 and the second on Jan. 1, 2017. In the first phase, the fees for single-family homes will increase by $1,130. The second phase will increase them by another $1,129.

According to county documents, once completely phased in, fees will total $8,784 for single-family homes — a nearly 35% increase — and $5,919 for multi-family units, a nearly 51% increase.

Contact Danielle Hendrix at [email protected].