The Need for Impact Fees Associated with Housing Developments in Pageland:
Thank you for allowing me this time to speak to the council on a pressing issue that, in my mind, is of the utmost importance to discuss in a public forum. But, before I take up the subject, I would like to make two small comments.
Looking around at this meeting room, I wonder why the council has meetings at a time when the majority of the county’s citizens cannot attend. I had heard that it was because night meetings had very little participation. I told
you that the morning meetings are not spilling over with participants. It is way past the time for the council to come out of the dark and allow greater access to their meetings.
Again, I wanted to prepare myself regarding possible actions by the council on the subject I will be speaking about. Naturally, I went to the council website to download the minutes for previous meetings. Continuing a disturbing trend, I found that the council still does not post minutes of their meetings. In light of our living in 2023, I can download almost any information I need, but still not being able to do that for the county council does not speak well for transparency in our county government.
My appearance before the council today is to bring to light the current uncontrolled overdevelopment in the Pageland area of our county. As we speak, high-density housing is being planned, built, and sold, which will overwhelm the current ability of local and county governments to provide the necessary services required by the influx of new residents. Just one development alone will serve as an example of the fiscal demand it will place on the taxpayers of Chesterfield County unless actions by the council are taken now.
As we speak, a high-density development of 700 single-family homes is the subject of debate in the town of Pageland. Finally realizing the impact that this type of development will have on the town, the council there has started the process of implementing an “impact fee” for each unit. This fee, which will be used for capital improvement of the town infrastructure, is allowed under state law to lessen the financial strain that such a large amount of new housing would place on the existing taxpayers. The council must take this same approach for the same reason: protection of the county taxpayers from steep increases in tax rates.
Using the 700 single-family home development in Pageland, let us examine what will most likely occur. Since these homes are being marketed as starter homes for young families, one thing is for sure: young couples have children. In South Carolina, the average family has two children. Two children per family, multiplied by 700 households, means the county would have 1400 children needing schools to attend. This would be an increase of 21% of the current enrollment in the county school system, which is currently 6772 students. With an average class size of 14 children (current county ratio of students to teacher), this means 100 classrooms would have to be found for those children to attend. How is the county going to pay for this? The only answer is that the county must impose an impact fee on the sale of new houses in the county to cover the cost of expanding schools that will be needed in the future, thereby having the people who will use these facilities finance them.
Currently, the Chesterfield County school system has 16 schools. Using the total number of students now means that each school, on average, has a capacity of 424 students. Using those numbers, an enrollment of 1400 students, and maintaining the same ratios as of today, the county would need to build 3 new schools. This is only for the 700 high-density housing units. What this will cost is a question of genuine concern to all of us.
I have researched the cost of building new schools in South Carolina. Trying to find a price of a school that is being built or just completed in the state that would meet the needs I have laid out for you has proven futile. I refer to a Charleston area school costing over $75 million for about 1400 students. Since the Chesterfield County education system favors smaller schools, and since the cost of living is less in our county, I would say it would be fair to cut that price in half for the construction that would be needed. For argument’s sake, let us say it would cost $35 million in new facilities to educate the projected enrollment increase from the housing development we are speaking about. Where is this money coming from?
Before 2016, a local government could not impose an impact fee to fund new school construction. In 2016, that changed, and that provision was repealed, and it became legal to impose impact fees. These fees may be used for:
“public education facilities for grades K-12 including, but not limited to, schools, offices, classrooms, parking areas, playgrounds, libraries, cafeterias, gymnasiums, health and music rooms, computer and science laboratories, and other facilities considered necessary for the proper public education for the state’s children.”
The need for impact fees on new housing is crystal clear, but how much should that fee be? If we could completely fund that $35 million capital expenditure project for those 1400 children, the fee should be $50,000 per housing unit. That would cover the anticipated cost of needed construction, but once again, only for the anticipated students this development would bring to the county.
Until now, the Chesterfield School District has used the bonding method for school construction and facility upgrades. This is all good for the current enrollment and slight fluctuations in the school system enrollment. But, this should not be the approach taken for constructing schools in what amounts to an invasion of students. It must not be considered justified to saddle the current residents with bond obligations stretched over decades. This is not fair and is not right.
Up north, I have seen the price these developments impose on an unsuspecting public. The lure of increased local business, maybe a new company or two moving in, or the dream of increased property tax revenue that can be spent by local government starts the Palov dog response in those who hear it. All but a very few of them ever come true. Further, no one presenting these pot-of-gold promises discusses the true cost such developments have on the current residents or the price they will have to pay.
In conclusion, one day, the real estate speculators, real estate lawyers, and realtors will pack up their bags and leave Chesterfield County. They will leave with larger portfolios and bulging wallets. Please, though, do not let them leave the citizens of Chesterfield County with the bill for their profits.