In Support of Builder Impact Fees for Public Schools in Durham County, NC

To:  Durham County Legislative Delegation

IN SUPPORT OF BUILDER IMPACT FEES FOR SCHOOLS IN DURHAM COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

WHEREAS, schools in Durham County, North Carolina, are becoming increasingly overcrowded due to new home construction, and

WHEREAS, it is an unfair burden to taxpayers, especially those on fixed incomes, in Durham County to face an increased property tax rate to provide new facilities because of new development, and

WHEREAS, increasing the property tax rate in Durham County will make the county less competitive in attracting new jobs and could hurt the local economy, and

WHEREAS, Durham County is attempting to collect impact fees on new development to pay for public schools to keep pace with growth, and

WHEREAS, the courts of the State of North Carolina have currently ruled that such collection is illegal without legislative authority, and

WHEREAS, the City of Durham already has authorization to collect impact fees for roads, parks and open space but not for schools, and

WHEREAS, impact fees for schools are collected in other North Carolina counties (including Orange, Chatham and Cabarrus), and

WHEREAS, impact fees for schools collected in Durham in 2004 did not reduce housing production in the past year -- rather, the number of housing starts went up; therefore NOW BE IT RESOLVED that we, the undersigned residents of Durham County, support Durham County’s collection of impact fees for public schools, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that we endorse Durham County’s request for legislative authority, and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that we urge the members of the Durham County legislative delegation to do everything necessary to get the N.C. General Assembly to enact legislation that will give Durham County the authority to assess impact fees on new home construction in order to provide school capital funds to keep pace with growth.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The In Support of Builder Impact Fees for Public Schools in Durham County, NC Petition to Durham County Legislative Delegation was created by and written by Melissa Rooney (from Diana Palmer's original petition) (mmr121570@yahoo.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.