An Ordinance By The Pasco County Board Of County Commissioners Amending The Pasco County Land Development Code; Providing For Amendments To Section 1302.3, School Impact Fees, To Make Such Section Consistent With The 2024 School Impact Fee Study And To Adopt Such Study; To Increase The Amount Of School Impact Fees; Providing For Additional Amendments As Necessary To Ensure Internal Consistency; Providing For Applicability, Repealer, Severability, Inclusion Into The Land Development Code, Modification And An Effective Date.
What the county recorded
Staff recommendation
Approve
No disposition in the minutes
The approved minutes do not say what became of this item. That is a gap in the record, not a decision. It is the normal state for 24% of items. Most of those are regular business and board reports that the minutes do not dispose of in writing. This archive never infers an outcome from the fact that someone called a vote.
The source document
The county’s agenda for Board of County Commissioners, Aug 21, 2024
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
The county’s minutes for Board of County Commissioners, Aug 21, 2024
The published PDF, as served by the county. This item is one entry in it.
This case, across meetings
PEG-24-0396 in full →PEG-24-0396 was taken up 3 times between Jul 25, 2024 and Aug 21, 2024 — this is appearance 3.
- Jul 25, 2024PlanningPC15▶Approved
- Aug 6, 2024BoardP54▶No action
- Aug 21, 2024BoardP58▶No disposition in the minutesthis item
What was said
Machine transcription of 19m of recording, with speaker names inferred from voice matching. 91% of 80 lines carry a name. It shows what was said, not what was decided, and both the words and the names can be wrong.
Okay. I'll work. Uh now I get to apologize again to you. Uh I apologize that we put that in front of your item. Sure. So now we get to call you back up on uh we're gonna go for item P fifty eight.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Uh Nictorios Pitos, Planning Development, Economic Growth. Item P58 is PEG 240396. It is an ordinance by the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners. Amending the Pasco County Land Development Code, providing for amendments to section 1302.3 school impact fee to make such section consistent with the 2024 school impact fee study and to adopt such study to increase the amount of school impact fee, providing for additional amendments as necessary to ensure internal consistency, providing for applicability,
repeal, or severability, inclusion into the land development code, modification, and an effective date. This comes to you with the recommendation of adoption of the proposed ordinance by roll call vote, and Mr. Rayette is here to speak to the item.
And we have proof of publication of the hearing of this matter in the Tampa Bay Times July 10th and July 28, 2024.
Okay.
All right.
Rig Gadd, Deputy Superintendent of Schools, [address removed]. Before before I jump into impact fee, if I could I'd like to go back to the previous moment and make a quick comment. One of the people that's on your staff that has always been He doesn't know it, but a mentor to me and uh an incredibly helpful person. sharp on the details a and patient with me, especially when I was younger in my career was David Goldstein. And
I wanna thank him for being a partner with us on a lot of projects.
Uh relative to the impact fee, I'd like to make a couple comments. I know this is the second reading. I also know that Tom Weibert was here this morning to talk about impact fee relative to kind of the big picture. Um the district school board is not ignorant about the total amount of impact fee, not just our impact fee, your impact fee. We have one impact fee, and that's an impact fee to build houses. And as David will tell you, uh the district school board.
never comes back in for a cost of living index because we're trying to keep our fees down. And every time that we do come back in for an impact fee, I always call David and he'll tell you that. And I say, David, do y'all have any impact fee coming up in the county? 'Cause I don't want to get in your way 'cause I know they're important to you. And in fact, probably six months ago, maybe seven months ago, I called Mr. Carvalho and I told him the same thing. I said, What do you guys get going on? 'Cause we don't want to get in your way. We know
That those are important, that they're kind of the lifeblood for your system. So we have tried to keep our impact fee down by not doing cost of living indexes, which might have been a mistake because Um then the state came along and put into law that you can only raise impact fee every four years. So we kind of got hammered in that legislation. But we're very, very sensitive to the fact that Young people want to buy homes. And so we try to keep our impacts as low as we
can. But we also know that young people want good schools for their kids. And so that in buying that home, they're looking for good schools and schools that aren't crowded and schools that have professional teachers. The public in Pasco County has recognized that as well. They came out and supported The latest penny was for fifteen years Uh they've also they've done this three times now, twice for ten, one for fifteen. Um they've also supported us in our efforts to raise teacher
salaries. So we feel like the public in general is happy with their public school system. and that they want to see us continue to build good schools and deal with overcrowding. Um We didn't put on the agenda the impact fee study because we gave it to you last time, but if anybody needs it, we have extra copies here that we can distribute. That said I think all of you recognize we have school board members here, Cynthia Armstrong, Megan Harding, an X
one who I guess just can't stay away, Alan Altman.
He was here for your resolution.
And um of course my team, which you all know, Betsy Kuhn, Chris Williams. And so as a team, we're willing to answer any additional questions you might have for us. Thank you very much. Okay.
Any questions from the
board? Nope, just that you missed Al Hernandez over there. Oh, Al Hernandez.
He wasn't here at the last one, so he came to this one. So
Um I I would just say that um it's a pleasure when uh a county commission and a school school district gets along so well and it benefits um our citizens greatly and I think it shows in the quality of life that we're offering here in Pasco County and the quality of our schools. And you know, we're not insensitive to the cost that Everything we Um has a ripple effect. But we, you know, we have these responsibilities. And if you were
to go to Flor how Florida counties compare and look to see where we are in the rankings of what it costs for you to live here in Pasco County, you would see we are just doing tremendously against our peers. So we're still a very affordable, well-reported. Run. system here and I'm I'm really proud of all the work we do together. And this is important, I'll be supporting it.
Mr. Weightman, thank you, Chair. For overall big picture discussion. uh kind of a bit of a difference of opinion on affordability in Pasco County today. Our impact fee today is thirty thousand four hundred and forty dollars.
On the highest zone, A, B, and C. And when we add this over the next four years, it will compound over $34,000 and the other impact fees that this board is looking at coming down the line. gonna be approaching probably the forty thousand dollar mark, which is more money than some folks make a year. And I'm concerned with our fee structure that it's going to a road away the opportunity of home ownership for folks. And um as much as it it's
important to balance what our schools need and the needs of of everyone else. I just want to put it put into perspective that Our impact fee are are starting to be pretty heavy and going up and going up and going up and spoke with Mr. Karbala about this, about taking a look at the zones and and just different ways of restructuring, and I think we need to have a workshop or whatever the process is sooner than later. as prices keep going up, whether people can afford a home or split up some property and have another family
homestead. We we think a lot of all the new folks coming in, but there's a lot of folks in Pasco County who who are are here and looking to upgrade what what they're currently doing. And so as much as I appreciate the study of the school system um in the work that they do, uh instead of phasing in four thousand dollars over a period of time. I've kind of landed on a two thousand dollar immediate impact To try to hold hold something down. I I wish
in the i for our staff and the timing of this, schools to me are a bit more important than our parks. and we just approved a thirty five hundred dollar impact fee for our parks. I'd have much rather seen the school impact fee come forward and weighed that heavier than parks. And so as we go through this budget cycle, uh we talk about the the the potential the the parks tax, won't we have to restructure that and maybe find a way to back down that parks impact fee and offset that some way and give more to the schools? We're just gonna,
you know, in short order the impact fee's gonna get pretty pretty darn heavy. And uh I'm just Mm. concerned. concerned about that. So
Well the talk on some of that, the uh impact fee that
More and more people are moving into Florida, moving into Pasco County, and with that uh there's a demand on schools to be get bigger and better. And there's there's been issues of start of the school this year that I've I've heard from different schools that it's gotten a little bit better but The older schools haven't uh been engineered to handle a lot of the stacking of cars. A lot of people are being delivered in cars now where they weren't before. and they're not riding buses like they used to, but the older schools
have been all over the all over the county. have been affected by l more and more car traffic. And the new schools and I talked to Ray about this last week, the new schools are being engineered to handle the stacking of cars for they have that delivery and that pickup.
primarily
responsible for making sure we do that.
Yeah, he's uh he's a numbers man for sure, there without a doubt. He I thought he was a forensic attorney at one time, but he told me no, he just has to be able to substantiate everything that he says in numbers.
go forward with it. So And I appreciate that. He knows the numbers very well. And um But in fact the impact fee affecting more and more people coming to Florida is calling more and more demand, not not only on schools but also our parks. So we see that across the county. And and the new people coming in. They're bringing more and more kids and We've gotta be able to handle it 'cause I can tell you what, they're not coming in here if they don't have the activities and the schools for their children to go to and good schools. uh they wouldn't
be coming here. So we've had a a good system here in Pasco County with schools and uh teach the education of these kids. And that's part of why people are coming here. So These impact fee are affecting those mainly those people that buy a new home or do these things. Those are those prices are gonna be in there. But uh that's just part of what you got to do and it's gonna happen in the future if you decide to change from one house to go to a larger home and you build it, you're gonna have to pay that impact 'cause
you're actually putting a new homestead in a a new place. So We all have to pay our part as we go. So Anyone else wanna go to the right-of-way.
Yeah, I just Ms. Yeager. I agree with um Commissioner Weightman with the you know, schools are top priority. We've gotta make sure we get our money to schools and um I agree maybe back off the parks a little bit because um we we just can't be hammered by all these fees at once. 'Cause we also have the the MSTU for paving. And it's all gonna add up. But I am all for you guys.
And our wreck and other issue on recreation. Their demand is so heavy on our uh sports complexes and all that that we had to have that impact be to be able to provide for children in the future. And let me tell you something, when you tell 'em there's no room for 'em to play on the field You got a real issue with your residents when you tell 'em that. So you gotta provide for that. It's a shame it has to be that way, but to do the right thing in the county you have to have money to do that. There's no other way to get that money, but those people coming in and bringing more students
and more uh people playing sports and things of this nature, we've gotta be able to provide that or I can tell you they expect that.
So My daughter's a soccer mom. She can tell you all about it. Oh
yeah, I'm sure.
And
we've had a lot of discussions about soccer and and other sports.
Maybe would you guys be willing to open like your outdoor basketball courts and stuff like that in the afternoon for the
Things that that I did when I was Ms. Starkey's handler that um We worked hard on joint use projects and of course the Starkey K through eight is a joint use project. Now they're tough. We're working out kinks, you know, because there are kinks about when people use it and stuff. But when you innovate, there are always, always issues that pop up that you didn't see coming. Um David Goldstein and I wrote the master plan, mostly David, for the
Starkey K through eight and we tried to think of everything we could and I don't know how many things have come up since then, David, that we
have a meeting coming up. Okay, we're fine.
That's right. So we're always open to talking to the county. And right now I think we have three or four schools. schools that the county is using Bayonet Point, Longleaf, uh Cloak. I think there's one more. Chris, do you know? Trader. where we're sharing our playgrounds and ball fields and we're certainly open to doing more of that.
I thought Star uh is Starkey one of those too? I mean we do a lot of things there with Starkey with a library and all that
it was kind of built that way.
Yeah, that's right. So that that's been good and it's been a good partnership for the county with the school board. Very much so. All right.
Mr. Chairman Mariano. Oh, I'm sorry, go ahead, Jack.
Thank you. Um The people that are moving in here are coming in for a quality of life. The people are expecting to keep things up to pi up to pace. The people already living here. Don't want to be paying the bill for those people that are coming coming in. Right. Uh I've been a proponent of the impact fee.
really basically you've got to keep the schools going. You've got to keep them where they can put their infrastructure in place because that is the bottom line. And when you s so the schools are going and I'm happy to m to know that we've made so many improvements on co-location. Commissioner Starkey you and I talked about that for twenty years now. And it's getting better and better. We've got to keep it going that way as well. And Commissioner Oakley you bring up a good point. These new schools, they've also got to be able to take their traffic better because right now with the extra travel. travelers that are going into the schools it's backing up traffic on on major roadways all over the place. Right. So that's gotta that's gotta be addressed
as well. But uh you know when when the The Tampa Bay Builders Association steps up to say they can support a phasing in of it. of it, that's a good thing. Um if you want to take a look at the parks and maybe bring Bring it back to phase it in a little bit too. We could we could relook at that, but we've got to keep the fees going on both ends. Kids need the place to play. When you've got two kids that are actively going out there in in playing in sports, the tire they are when they get home, the better they sleep, the better they do in school, the better they perform across the board, and that's been proven everywhere. Uh
so quality of life is important. Impact fees are gonna make development pay for itself, and that's where it should fall, not the citizens that are living here right now.
Okay.
Well I just wanted to agree with you um on on how important it is and Lisa you haven't got those phone calls yet, but they're coming. for the parents whose kids want to play in sports and they can't because there's no fields. And we we've gotten that. Um there's no Little League fields, there's no football fields, there's no and now we have other sports coming. We've got lacrosse, cricket's coming. So um Girls
flag football
Olympic sport. We we are we are decades behind in building our new parks, sadly. Um but that you know that's what happened when we had the crash. uh in the early two thousands. Just so uh per capita total property tax levies for Pasco County. Now this is twenty two twenty three. The statewide average is two thousand. Pasco County is at one thousand one hundred and sixty-five. We're the eleventh largest county, I would say maybe soon to be tenth largest county. Um and we are forty
second. Um So we are way down the list on how mu what we do on the school district um levies Again, we are the 11th largest county in the state. Statewide average is 784. Pasco County is at four hundred and thirty-four. Dollars, where that's forty-fifth in the state. And the last one that I I think um always can be uh very interesting is um let's see I just took a picture of it so let me take let
me go there. Um And that is uh The oh I di I hid the title, but it's It's the amount of taxes we charge per, I think it's $1,000 of income. The state average is $33. And Pasco County is forty-fifth at twenty-three dollars and forty-four cents. So We're still fiscally conservative here. Um and I and I I get what you're saying.
It's Because I've I have kids who wanna buy a home. It's harder and harder to buy a home, but if you're living here And you're in a home. You're get you're getting pretty good bang for your buck. Though I know things are getting harder and harder, inflation's killing everybody, but We just have to have schools and um I would make the motion to approve the school board impact fee. Public hearing.
Oh public hearing. Okay. All right. Uh It is a public hearing. I'd like to ask if there's anyone here that wishes to speak to this item.
We have no one signed up.
Anyone in the audience? Anybody on WebEx?
Uh no sir.
Okay. Having no one, then entertain a motion.
I I do want to say we did get a letter uh from the Tampa Bay Builders Association in support of the um school board's initiative and they appreciate that they have phased this in um over four years to um to help. And so with that I make the motion to approve.
Okay. I have a motion. And I'm gonna second the motion with let's just a little Okay. I've got
a second.
Just as you take a look in the room there's nobody here opposing this because the people gonna pay it aren't here. And I will tell you in all my years.
They wonder how we get our things paid for. And they look at our fees. How's that going? How's it going? And again with Tampa Bay Builders Association saying they're okay with this, they're graduated with the phase in, uh it tells you that they know we gotta pay for it. And if there's one one lady years ago told me she had just moved from Hillsborough up to Pasco. And the reason she moved, she's she knew that we had impact fee in place and we have schools well built for our kids as they were growing up.
Right. Okay. I got a uh motion and a second. Is this roll call? Yes sir.
District 2, Commissioner Weightman. A respectful nay. District three, Commissioner Starkey.
Aye.
District four, Commissioner Yeager.
Aye.
District five, Commissioner Mariano. Aye. District one, Chairman Oakley. Aye.
Motion passed four to one. Okay. Yeah move on to uh P59.