Board to hold hearing on fee increase

By: Cheryl Chumley | Inside NoVA
Published: March 06, 2008

cchumley@potomacnews.com

An almost 7 percent increase in fees for land development applications could be on the way in Prince William, if supervisors ultimately adopt a rate change proposal they put forth for public hearing Tuesday.

"[T]he county is continuing to experience a rapid decline in land development revenues," paperwork presented to the board states. "The revenues have decreased by approximately 9 percent from 2007 to 2008."

Forecasts don't look much brighter; county estimates put the total dollar loss in this coffer at $2.7 million for fiscal year 2008, which ends June 30, and at $4.2 million for fiscal year 2009.

As such, county staff has proposed a 6.85 percent fee increase for all land development reviews, inspections and applications to "provide funding to support labor cost increases associated with current staffed positions," and for "technology enhancements" that have been planned for 2009, agenda documents stated.

The rate increases will affect more than developers, one building industry leader said.

"All of the government costs they impose go right into the price of the house," said Jim Williams, executive vice president of the Northern Virginia Business Industry Association, explaining how it's the homebuyer who really pays the fees.

More indirectly, though, the fee increases would contribute to the stagnating housing market as a whole -- which some might view as a welcome break in development, until taxes start rising, he said.

"New construction and new development add to the tax base of the county," Williams said. "Without a natural increase in new construction … and without any addition to the tax base, you don't have that revenue. With commercial, it's the same. And if you have a healthy commercial [market] you can keep your residential rates lower."

Questioning the need to raise fees in this receding market at the Board of Supervisors level, meanwhile, was Wally Covington, R-Brentsville.

"Why are we keeping the same level of staffing?" he asked, after requesting the meeting item be moved from the consent agenda for more in-depth discussion.

His overall point: If development applications were on the wane, logic would dictate that so, too, could numbers of employees, without causing any noticeable drop in service.

Thomas Bruun, director of public works, told board members 30 positions had already been cut between fiscal 2007 and 2008, and the fee increases were necessary to bridge the budget gap of the past few years, when "we didn't actually increase fees."

The fee proposal impacts nearly 100 different areas of land development. Preliminary plat applications, for instance, would increase from $840 to $898; traffic impact studies, from $594 to $635; underground utility permits, from $95 to $102; and Planned Mixed Use district rezoning requests, from $7,325 to $7,827.