Turns out I was right and maybe the Kingman Daily Miner was reading my mind because in today's edition there is an article about it. The article was informative, but the following was the most interesting...
"The permit process went quite smoothly and efficiently," Pittman said.
The Panda Restaurant Group paid $32,381.91 to the city in fees, including what is commonly referred to as impact fees.
"The attractiveness of the city outweighed" the fees, Pittman said.
The company recognized the new growth in the area, Pittman said. Kingman has the core density they are looking for, he added.
"Even without future growth, we can be successful there," Pittman said, "but we're excited about future growth."
(emphasis mine)
First of all this wasn't shared to say development or 'impact' fees are a good or bad thing. I included it because as of right now the 'impact' fees are a revenue source for the city and it appears that business interests... successful business interests... are willing to pay those fees.
It has been said at recent city council meetings that these 'impact' fees are killing the economy in Kingman. I don't wholeheartedly agree.
There are 'impact' fees imposed on new commercial AND residential projects and the these fees are collected up front.
I'm finding out that our 'impact' fees are reasonable as compared to other communities in Arizona. Keep in mind that in Kingman the city does not collect property tax dollars on either commercial or residential property... and beyond state allocated funds, the only other normal revenue streams are sales tax dollars and these darned 'impact' fees.
I know that the local builders association was making an effort to delay the payment of 'impact' fees until the close of escrow or at the time the certification of occupancy was issued to help defer the added risk on the builder, as of right now I am not sure how that resolution is going. However it does go, we all know that in the end the end user is the one that actually pays the cost of those fees.
If I am first in line at Panda Express, some of the revenue they collect from my beef and broccoli order (however microscopic it may be) will go towards the development fee that Panda Express paid. Likewise, I know that the next time I buy a home in Kingman that I'll be paying back the builder for the residential development fees.
We've had recent discussions about living in an area of Kingman where an 'improvement district' is formed because the residents in that area want some kind of improvement (sidewalks and gutters, water lines, sewer lines, etc.), and together they all agree to pay back the cost of those improvements to the city. Usually in the form of an assessment that could be in the thousands of dollars. This has to be done because in the past there seemed to have been times when things like sidewalks and sewer lines were not required as part of the permitting, or if there were requirements -- they were waived for whatever reason.
Some folks in those improvement district do not realize that they may have a difficult time selling their home, if they had to for some reason, unless the assessment amount is paid off. Now it can be paid off from the proceeds at the close of escrow... but in our current market there is no guarantee that enough proceeds are collected so that the seller doesn't have to come out of pocket and pay the assessment themselves.
This is where I believe the 'impact' fees could benefit home buyers in the long run. First off, I'll bet that if the person that pulls the permit to build a residential property or commercial property and pays the 'impact' fee and once the property is finished in the construction stage it probably isn't likely that the a property owner at any time in the future will ever be in a situation where an improvement district would even need to be called for. Also, the cost of improving today will no doubt be less expensive than it would be sometime in the future. It also offers more uniformity in the overall area.
If you do drive through some side streets in Kingman you may find some streets with curbs and gutters but on the next block you won't find curbs and gutters. Some streets are paved, while one particular street is not. I've even seen some streets that are half paved (one lane is paved while the lane going the other direction is not). Homes are connected to sewer on this block, but not the next. The list goes on.
The development or 'impact' fees will prevent that from happening in the new growth areas.
We may not like paying the fees. The fees may have come as some kind of culture shock when they went into effect. We may all decide to work together to adjust the fees. But at this point I believe that these fees will provide needed benefits to the growth of the city.
And the new money, the new investment coming into the city appears to be willing to pay those fees.
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