Homes in Lake Wylie and Clover will cost more in January. Schools will benefit.
New homes in Clover and Lake Wylie now will cost more, though not as much more as the Clover School District wanted.
York County Council finalized new development impact fees on Tuesday night. The fees apply to all new residential construction within the school district. Fee revenue will help the district pay ongoing growth costs, like new schools.
The school district spent two years working on the new fee proposal. A study required by state law found the district could charge up to $15,035 per new home, $7,430 per new apartment $9,842 per new mobile home.
On Tuesday night county council approved $4,000 per home. Apartments or townhomes will cost $1,976 more. The mobile home fee is $2,618.
The new fees will begin Jan. 15, 2021. They will be charged when builders get permits for the new construction. Builders then can roll additional costs into the final price of new homes, townhomes or apartments.
“As a growing district, our job is to be ready for the students and families who are moving to our area,” said school district superintendent Sheila Quinn. “We want to be able to provide the quality facilities and programs our community has come to expect.”
On Aug. 25 council moved a special called meeting to the McCelvey Center in York to accommodate as many people as wanted to offer input at a public hearing. Sides debated the new fees for almost four hours. Area builders argued the higher fees, or in some cases any fees, would drive construction out of the area. District parents and others argued fees are needed to keep up with residential growth.
In numerous public meetings the past two years, including that public hearing, district officials referenced a study that forecasts 4,300 new homes coming to the district. Quinn told council at the Aug. 25 hearing that study came before word of a possible subdivision of 2,500 homes.
The district now has more than 8,600 students. That figure is about half that of Rock Hill or Fort Mill, but more than neighboring York.
Hesitation by council members to make the fees higher came from the varied demographics across the school district. Lake Wylie is a high-growth area with more expensive homes that may be able to absorb a $15,000 fee. Clover doesn’t have the same new subdivisions, and often lower priced homes make any standard, district-wide fee amount more impactful there.
Canopy Realtor Association releases monthly real estate data in the Charlotte and surrounding areas. The Lake Wylie area, on the borders of North Carolina and South Carolina, had an average sales price of almost $463,000 in July. That figure is up almost 22% in a year. It’s higher than the July average sales prices in Tega Cay ($410,000), Fort Mill ($400,000), York County ($339,000) and Rock Hill ($255,000).
Those statistics include all homes on the market, not just new ones for sale. U.S. Census Bureau data includes the value of all homes, regardless whether they are for sale. The most recent census data for Lake Wylie — just the South Carolina part, all in the Clover school district — puts the median home value there at $316,400. The median value in Clover is $140,700.
The school district spans an area about the size of Lake Wylie and Clover combined — but between those two areas, and about that same amount of land west of Clover. The district is about 90,000 total acres.
The amount of money the school district collects for new facilities, like the need for new facilities, depends on how many homes and apartments come. In Fort Mill, school district impact fees of more than $18,000 per home and $12,000 per apartment generated more than $1.5 million in impact fee revenue in August alone.
The Fort Mill fee, approved two years ago by the county, led to legal action from state and county homebuilder groups. Initial rulings went in favor of the district, though appeals are in consideration now.
School district officials stated during the impact fee debate in Clover that the new fees would be a way to lessen or limit the growth costs to existing district residents and businesses through bond referenda.
In 2014 a $67 million bond referendum became the down payment on almost $100 million for a middle and elementary school, aquatic center, athletic upgrades and a ninth-grade academy.
Last year the school board approved a capital plan with $198 million worth of work, that would require a bond referendum for some or all of it. The capital plan included a second high school by 2025-26, a new elementary school by 2024-25 and conversion of the ninth-grade campus back to a middle school.
“The impact fees will allow growth to pay for a portion of the costs the district will incur in the next few years as we expand,” Quinn said. “We appreciate the county council supporting us. It is a win for our local residents and businesses.”
This story was originally published September 9, 2020 at 12:06 PM.