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Not Fruit...Pecans !!!
Or I suppose you could put the ''nut'' of your choice here.....I believe the $300 per home you are referring to is from the Kohler/Painter development next to Pickerington Ponds. The $300 is supposed to go to the schools. This will add ~340 homes & $102,000 for the new school we will need. Elementaries are $11.5 M a pop !!! It doesn't even cover the cost for two additional teachers salaries & benefits for a calendar year !! Other areas - New Albany, Granville, Dublin - do this much better than Pickerington - if we didn't know everything it would be an opportunity to make a positive change !!!
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Peanuts is more appropriate !!!
Sorry about the last title - it's obviously PEANUTS from developers !!!
Too bad they are getting away with it !!
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Developers Fees vs. ?“Gift's) #1
Dear Anonymous and Ms. Reade,
Grab a couple of Excedrin caplets, because the following news will surely give you a headache or two.
Anonymous was referring to ?“fees?” that the developer must (or sometimes doesn?’t ?– explained further down) pay to construct residential construction in the City of Pickerington. Below is a 2001 listing of these fees:
Park & Recreation Fee - $400/lot
Tree Fee - $400/lot (Urban Forestry Fee)
Planning Review Fee - $110/lot
Building Permit Fee - $700/lot
Water Tap Fee - $2,688/lot
Sewer Tap Fee - $2,688/lot
Meter Fee - $190/lot
As methods of inducement for Annexation of a parcel into the City of Pickerington waiving some ?– or all ?– of these fees (in full or to some degree) has become ?“common practice?” with City appointed and elected officials to the developers that ?“ask?”. Mr./Ms. Anonymous is referring to just the Park Fee. Now Sir/Madame, do you think the Park Fee will keep up with and provide consistent revenue as the 5,000 additional residential units come on board? Remember more users require more service, which costs more. The schools examples come to mind over and over and over again.
Also, you should be aware that in the case of at least one of the current annexations, Dominion has requested that many of the fees (Park, Tree, Inspection,...) be waved outright < that?’s a polite way of saying zero > to annex the just about to begin construction Spring Creek planned development into the City. The developer will pay close to zip, yet the need for services will still exist.
The Dominion annexation is part of the ?“Emergency?” annexations on 10/25 of last year, just before annexation reform was slated to take effect.
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Developers Fees vs ''Gifts'' #2
- Continued from #1
Waiving or reducing these fees could be described in a number of ways; gifts, enticements, inducements, etc. One of the City?’s common practices is to contractually indicate ?“pre-arranged?” zoning with the pre-annexation agreements. In the case of the Kohler / Painter (Homewood) annexation the developer ?“agreed?” to gift back to the PLSD $300.00 per home x 340 homes = $102,000.00. Homewood will pay the other ?“fees?” ?– EXCEPT buried in the ?“deal?” the City will grant a waiver of $100,000.00 for Homewood in tap fees to construct a lift station --- because sewage doesn?’t flow up hill (without assistance). This lift station will give the developer the ability to build the higher density on the Kohler / Painter Farms and also allow for the additional homes planned for in the southern part of Preston Trails. Simply put, the ?“deal?” allows for more houses on both sides of Diley Road. Homewood would have had to pay for a lift station, yet the City gifted back to Homewood the costs to get the added homes --- and those home?’s property taxes and income taxes. The users (current & future) of the utility system are the ones ?“absorbing?” the costs related to the utilities. As you point out Ms. Reade, we?’ll all absorb the costs for the load into the schools. One way to look at the Homewood ?“deal?” is that it cost the developer two thousand bucks....... of course that?’s not the way they see it or City Officials ?“presented it?”. The Kohler / Painter annexations occurred mid last year by ?“Emergency?” at the insistence of the developer.
So the Initiative petitions that City Officials refuse to let see the light of day ?– or voter opportunity as well as the lawsuit 2002CV00040 are exactly to the point.
Back to the original INCOME TAX issue, how many years of Business Income tax (using 2001 figures) will it take to get Anonymous?’s Park Fee of $1,200,000.00 in hand? How many years of Business Income Tax (using 2001 figures) will it take to get Ms. Reades?’s ?“generous?” Homewood waiving of sewer fees or School ?“matching gift?” in hand? Of course that answer is different if you use Residential Income tax figures.
In short, the direction we are headed is bedrooms everywhere because that?’s where the City gets the most tax dollars (Income or Property) and that?’s what buries our schools.
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