La Vergne's impact fees on new homes may nearly double
The La Vergne Board of Mayor & Aldermen expect to approve an impact fee during a 7 p.m. Dec. 3 meeting at City Hall
Scott Broden- La Vergne Alderman-elect Dennis Waldron, a former mayor, may be swing vote on impact fees
- Alderman Steve Noe favors impact fees being at $6,680 per new house
- Noe suggested the increased impact fees can help minimize any long-term property tax hike
- La Vergne also looks to increase impact fees on apartments, commercial buildings, schools, churches
LA VERGNE — The city's impact fees will nearly double per new home to $2,533 if officials agree soon.
The majority of the La Vergne Board of Mayor & Aldermen recently backed the increase of the existing 22-year $1,307 per new home impact fee in the first of two required votes. Outgoing Alderman Calvin Jones recommended the $2,533 impact fee in a 3-2 vote, which is less than the $6,680 impact fee supported by recently re-elected Alderman Steve Noe.
"We do not need to put the burden on people who want to live here," said Jones, who lost his seat to Alderman-elect Dennis Waldron. Waldron, a former La Vergne mayor, will join a board set to vote on the impact fee during a 7 p.m. Dec. 3 meeting.
Like Jones, Vice Mayor Melisa Brown and Alderman Graeme Coates backed the $2,533 fee, as well as fee increases for other developments, to help their growing city pay for improvement projects for streets, parks, police and firefighting services. Noe and Mayor Jason Cole, who supports raising the impact fee to $3,718 per new home, opposed.
The La Vergne board joins other local governments in seeking new revenues from development in fast-growing Rutherford County and Middle Tennessee. The Murfreesboro City Council, for example, is considering the adoption of impact fees for the first time, but elected officials there also are leery that a consultant-recommended impact fee of $6,276 per new home is too high.
Smyrna's impact fee per new home is $2,708. Rutherford County also charges $1,500 development tax per new dwelling.
Brown said she worried about a high impact fee that makes homes unaffordable.
"Families are going to be paying that impact fee," Brown said. "It’s a substantial amount of money."
Waldron may be swing vote on impact fees
The recent majority vote funds 100% of the consultant recommended impact fees on equipment for police and firefighters. The fees supported by the majority would be at 30% of the consultant-recommended increase for improvements for parks and roads. The plan Noe favored funds 100% of the consultant-recommended impact fees for parks, roads, and police and firefighter equipment.
Waldron could be the swing vote after he's sworn in to serve as an alderman before the start of the Dec. 3 meeting.
“I could be the odd monkey in the basket," said Waldron, adding that he expected the majority of the board to back a higher impact fee than $2,533 per home. "It might have been a little bit too low."
Waldron and others have suggested the city should examine the impact fees annually and consider smaller increases instead of waiting 22 years for larger ones and causing "sticker shock."
Noe contends people will accept paying a $6,680 impact fee to live in a quality home in La Vergne, especially on the southwest side of Interstate 24.
"The housing market is hot," Noe said. "People will come."
Noe: Impact fees help property tax rates
Noe suggested the $6,680 impact fee will help La Vergne in the long term minimize any possible property tax hike. The city has avoided a property tax hike for nine consecutive years.
La Vergne officials in 2011 more than doubled the state certified property tax rate for the city to $1 per $100 of assessed value after government revenues had dropped during a recession.
Since then, the La Vergne property tax rate has dropped three times and is currently at 71 cents per $100 of assessed value. The owner of a home appraised at $250,000 pays an annual city property tax bill of nearly $444.
Noe also said a higher impact fee will not deter growth where property is available in a city that is landlocked otherwise. La Vergne's boundaries are limited for growth because the city is surrounded by adjacent Davidson and Williamson counties, Smyrna and Percy Priest Lake.
The property taxes are a key part of paying for recurring costs for city employees. Waldron said he'd like to see the city work on a five-year plan to hire 44 more needed police officers and increase the pay of all the employees.
Proposed impact fee
The following shows the recently backed increases to impact fees by a recent La Vergne Board of Mayor & Aldermen in a 3-2 vote:
- Single family detached home: $2,533
- Multi-family dwelling (apartment, town home): $1,937
- Mobile home Park pad: $1,773
- Retail commercial per 1,000 square feet: $2,554
- Office or institutional per 1,000 square feet: $2,006
- Hospital per 1,000 square feet: $1,495
- Nursing home per 1,000 square feet: $1,000
- Place of worship per 1,000 square feet: $1,047
- Day care center per 1,000 square feet: $1,578
- School per 1,000 square feet: $734
- Industrial per 1,000 square feet: $775
- Warehouse per 1,000 square feet: $386
- Mini-warehouse per 1,000 square feet: $342
Reach reporter Scott Broden at sbroden@dnj.com or 615-278-5158. Follow him on Twitter @ScottBroden.