The developers are using our tax revenue to finance the new arrivals’ streets and sidewalks. In most states, the developer foots the entire bill and street lights, HC ramps, curbs and sidewalks and any other improvement needed for the impact on a certain area. The includes improvments to other surface streets that might be impacted.

Example: Ustick Rd. is two lanes, yet there are 15 subs at least, that are new and the street isn’t improved. The ACHD collected impact fees and didn’t do their job. That is why the developer that built on Ustick are rich. The ACHD just adds it onto your property taxes. Those supplemental and urban renewal taxes that suck off your wallet.
I am glad to read some of the posts on here.

At one point during The Cliffs debate ITD estimated the cost of the grade separated intersection necessary to facilitate the entry road at about $26 Million. For 1300 residences, that works out to about $20K per house just to get from Warm Springs to the front door! Add in the cost of water, sewer, fire, electricity, down-road highway impacts, river pollution, etc., and that project may well have impacts north of $40K per house.

The same sort of thing is happening on the west end. Avimor et al are already looking at $130 Million to fix Highway 55 as far as the intersection with Highway 44. The cost of widening 44, or other solutions, the rest of the way into Boise and other towns could exceed the Highway 55 cost. It would take more than 10,000 houses to keep the per residence impact fee of the north Eagle projects below $26K per house. And that does not account for other issues like water, EMS, etc.

Gordon, I like your style. I’ll see your $100K per house, and raise you $20K.

Guardian said: EDITOR NOTE–We did research in the past which showed one California jurisdiction had impact fees of about “$50,000 per dwelling unit.” An folks, THAT is why the developers (and buyers) came to Idaho.

Wow! That’s a bunch of bucks. But, hey, if it worked — drove them out of California and to us, let’s top ’em and put a $100,000 impact fee on houses here, and see whether they remigrate.

It is illegal, for example, for the fire department to collect impact fees because people are already being taxed for their fire district. This causes double taxation.

Also impact fees have to be used within a certain time period and area in which they must go to improvements. The schools districts tried to attach impact fees to their cause in other parts of the country, but studies have shown that when they associate impact fees with schools that school bonds never pass after that. People believe that impact fees are already paying for schools so why should they.

ACHD has a formula in which they have the county broken up into districts, five I believe, and all the new road money collected go towards the areas in the district with the higher density, which is why the Eagle mayor is always up in arms. She believes that Eagle should have new roads but without the higher density, no money is being set aside for them. The services follow growth. They build schools, roads, services where the growth is.

It is also not fair for a family from out of state with twelve kids that moves into an existing home to not pay any impact fees and another family with no kids builds a house two houses down from their current one and does pay an impact fee.

EDITOR NOTE–Snoop, no need to take a shot at the GUARDIAN. We’re just the messenger. Fire wants council to do something (legislation?) and ACHD announced the cutback in a press release.

Idaho Power announced recently they need a rate increase to upgrade infrastructure to meet new demands. Idaho Power’s connection fees should account for these upgrades so the ratepayers as whole are not paying.

Add all these Growth Impact fees on each new lot and require them to be paid via escrow when the house sells. That way we take the developer out of the finance equation and collect directly from those purchasing the house.

EDITOR NOTE–We did research in the past which showed one California jurisdiction had impact fees of about “$50,000 per dwelling unit.” An folks, THAT is why the developers (and buyers) came to Idaho.

EDITOR NOTE–Good point Joe, but it can lead to situations like Team Dave having $10 million in Christmas excess. ACHD is announcing just what you espouse, they don’t have the money, so they are not building things.