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The choice is very clear. You can either raise taxes or charge the new folks what they are costing the community. It is expensive to grow.
I wish the Wake County commissioner's were this smart.
Impact fees are the right thing to do.
Raleigh has been subsidizing development for far too long.

If we grow a little slower then that is GOOD for us.
This would never happen under the old Benton, Fetzer, Coble regime.

I truly believe that anything that raises the cost of housing has a negative effect on our society. Roads and schools are things that EVERYONE benefits from, therefore everyone should pay for them. Increasing impact fees doesn't stop development and it doesn't punish the developer. It increases the cost of housing for consumers. If you want to keep the economy moving don't punish builders/developers that are part of the supply/demand chain.

The homebuilder's approach on this is informative. They never argue that they already pay the cost incurred by municipalities for their growth, I assume because they know they do not. Instead, they argue that the market can't bear the incremental cost increase. They essentially wish to externalize the incremental cost of development.

I've never heard of a homebuilder association lobbying for fewer parks or greenways or other measures that would cut the city budget. The amenities are one of the big reasons their houses sell well.

Of course the homebuilder associations pack these meetings with members that resist any fee increase. There is no one but the council to represent the other side, which is everyone in Raleigh that owns a home and pays property tax.

It should be noted that the fees are nominal when compared to the market price of a house in Raleigh. A 2500 sqft home incurs a fee of about $2500, up from $1200. What will a builder add for another $1300? Not much. This is a tiny fraction of the cost of a house in Raleigh.

If there is an issue with affordable housing, then perhaps there should be an exemption based upon selling price.

Having read in this AM N&O, Raleigh is once again about to shoot itself in the foot. Impact Fees should supplement the transportion fees and open space fees, NOT increase the cost to taxpayers. The so called in place eystem, will cost Raleigh tax payers more money.As a retired General Contractor who has built in several states and have payed impact fees, strongly supports the raising impact fees on Developers and builders. It is time for them to pay their fair share. Raleigh should NOT match any funds collected from the Impact Fees. The city council and Mayor need to get it right

New dwellings should pay a proportionate share of the cost of providing the increase in governmental services.

We're already paying more than our fair share. Why should the rest of us pay for yours too?

The challenge is will the Meeker administration offer any relief to the citizens or just divert additional funds into other council pet projects?

Wake County Commissioners are you listening?