York County doubles Clover School District impact fees. The district wanted more
Impact fees are going up in the Clover School District. They’re just not going up as high as the district wants, again.
York County Council voted 6-1 on Monday to double the existing fees to $8,000 per home, $3,952 per apartment and $5,236 per mobile home. The district had requested fees at more than $15,000 per home.
Impact fees are charges on new construction. Revenue is used to offset growth costs. With school impact fees, charges on residential construction are used to pay for new schools or large capital cost costs.
None of the council members seemed thrilled with the compromise on Monday, offered by Councilman William “Bump” Roddey to bring several months of heated public debate to a close.
Some Council members supported higher fees. Others offered concerns that a district-wide fee would charge Clover residents who will never attend Lake Wylie schools under construction.
Councilman Andy Litten, who represents most of the school district, didn’t agree with the $8,000 compromise but voted for it to avoid losing any increase.
“I really wish that we had listed to the whole community, which was about 90% supportive of (higher fees) the whole entire time,” Litten said.
Roddey pointed to a tricky variable in the Clover district, where the east side is more affluent and experiencing new home growth beyond what the western side sees.
More on the Clover schools impact fees
Proponents of higher fees have pressed the county on why the Fort Mill School District has twice gotten fees at the amounts it requested, while the Clover district has now twice taken a discount.
“Clover is not Fort Mill,” Roddey said. “I’m sorry to say it. Lake Wylie may be closer to being like Fort Mill. But the township of Clover and the farther side of Clover is not Fort Mill.”
The decision on Monday does increase fees across the Clover school district.
Council had previously agreed to raise fees to the more than $15,000 amount, but only charge it within an urban services boundary used to steer development. The school district had concerns with that approach, where some new homes would be charged in the same neighborhoods that others wouldn’t.
For more details on the decision, view the York County Council debate here.
