Planning commission rejects Anderson School District One impact fee on new homes
The Anderson County Planning Commission rejected an impact fee Tuesday night that would have added around $11,000 to the cost of new Powdersville-area homes.
After hours of discussion, five planning commission members voted no and three voted yes.
It would have been one of the costliest impact fees in the state and dramatically have increased the price of new housing but could have been a solution to the rapidly-growing School District One's need for new schools.
An impact fee is an extra cost for new homes, apartments and other new construction. The builder pays and will pass it along to home buyers or renters.
More on the fee: Powdersville homes could get more expensive as Anderson District One looks at impact fee
This fee would have been Anderson County's first impact fee, with a maximum of $11,208 for single family homes and $7,779 for multifamily units, according to a presentation from Carson Bice, who presented the plan at Anderson School District One's board meeting on Nov. 30.
Bise led the study and is the president of TischlerBise, a fiscal and planning consulting firm.
Why Anderson County School District One wanted the fee
Powdersville is the fastest growing area in Anderson County and the schools feel that pressure.
Anderson District One has around 10,245 students and 14 schools, but only Concrete Primary School is currently over-capacity, Binnicker said.
The school board of trustees wanted to use the funds to relieve current home owners' taxes and help with future building projects.
District 1 is not the first place in the Upstate to propose impact fees. Easley, where the Upstate's first impact fee started being collected in January, is one of the costliest in the state at $3,340 per new single-family home.
Sarah Sheridan is the community reporter in Anderson. She'd appreciate your help telling important stories; reach her at ssheridan@gannett.com or on twitter @saralinasher.
This article originally appeared on Anderson Independent Mail: Planning commission rejects Anderson School District One impact fee