When the Carpentersville Village Board voted to sharply increase developer impact fees, officials in nearby West Dundee experienced a flash of deja vu.
Last year, West Dundee trustees took similar action, boosting their village’s builder fees.
Officials in both towns say they decided to raise the fees paid by home builders to help cushion the blow of new residential growth in the already overcrowded schools of Carpentersville-based Unit District 300.
“We felt a sense of responsibility to assure that our school district will not suffer from the burden of new development,” said Scott Hartman, an administrative assistant for West Dundee.
Impact fees–the bane of builders and a boost for cash-strapped school districts–can help sweeten the bitter pill of unrelenting residential growth.
District 300 officials say the higher builder fees will not eliminate the need for voters to pass a proposed $85 million construction bond issue on the April ballot, but they welcome the Village Board action with open arms.
“We are quite pleased. This puts Carpentersville in the top group for donations to schools,” said District 300 Deputy Supt. Fred Goering. “Using the new formula almost doubles the amount we will receive.”
Carpentersville Village Manager Kevin O’Donnell said the amended impact-fee ordinance was adopted at the district’s request. It will benefit both the local school and park districts.
School officials say the higher fees are warranted by rising land values and higher costs to educate the youngsters of families who will move into the new homes.
An impact fee is based on the value of a builder’s land. Carpentersville previously had valued land at $75,000 an acre. Under the new fee schedule, land is valued at $105,000 a acre.
The practical effect of that change is much greater because it is only part of a complicated mathematical formula that determines the actual fee.
Under the new fee structure, a developer of a three-bedroom, single-family home will have to pay the school district $2,277, up from $971.
O’Donnell said the higher fees were in line with those in nearby communities, but Trustee Ed Regalado said that trustees should table the matter until receiving further information from neighboring towns.
“I do not see why we can’t wait for another two weeks to vote on this so I can see what the fees being charged by other areas are,” Regalado said. “I’d like to know where this positions us with the surrounding communities.”
