Bill would add impact fee for police services

By Susanna Ray

Herald Writer

OLYMPIA — If you built a new house in Snohomish County, you’d have to help buy a motorcycle for a sheriff’s deputy.

That’s the gist of a new bill state lawmakers considered Monday.

When a new housing development is built, chances are developers had to pay for the effect the new residents would have on local schools, roads, parks and fire departments under the rules of the state’s Growth Management Act.

Now some state lawmakers want to make developers pay the cost of extra policing, too.

"I know in Snohomish County, we’re growing so fast, we’re growing out of our shoes almost every week," and local law enforcement agencies can’t keep up with the extra work of protecting all those new people, Snohomish County Sheriff Rick Bart said Monday at a public hearing on the bill.

New houses attract burglars and car thieves, and the extra people usually result in an increase in traffic accidents and domestic disturbances to which officers have to respond, Bart said.

Bart said he’s not sure how much an impact fee would bring in. But even a token helps in law enforcement.

"If I got $20,000 a year, it would be enough for me to at least buy a little bit of equipment to protect my deputies — things like bulletproof vests," he said before the hearing.

And if the impact fees were to bring in as much as $50,000, Bart told committee members he knows exactly what he’d do — buy a few motorcycles.

"I want a traffic unit that can get around a traffic jam and respond to whatever problems we have going," he said, adding that county officials have axed his request for motorcycles seven years in a row because of budget constraints.

When impact fees were first implemented, local law enforcement agencies weren’t included because they got a lot of money from the motor vehicle excise tax, an expanding source of revenue at the time, said Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish.

Dunshee is chairman of the House Local Government and Housing Committee and a sponsor of House Bill 2343 (read the full text online at www.leg.wa.gov).

That revenue was eliminated after voters passed Initiative 695 in 1999, however, and law enforcement has been fighting for funding ever since.

"It’s a way for me to get funding for things that are usually cut from my budget every year by my county council and executive, such as training, facilities and equipment," Bart said.

But some worry the impact fees would just drive up already high housing costs.

"The home purchaser is going to pay for it," not the developer, said Rep. Joyce Mulliken, R-Ephrata. "It just adds to the mortgage."

But Marc Mechling told committee members that common hypothesis was debunked by recent events in Monroe, where he’s a city councilman.

Last year the city refunded money to several developers that it had overcharged when it raised the school impact fees halfway through a development project, to the tune of about $709 per lot.

"None of the 39 property owners received this refund," Mechling said, because the developers said the returned money belonged to them since they had paid the fees. There was also no change in the list prices of the homes when the city increased the fees, he said.

Still, impact fees are already too high and only make housing less affordable, said Tom McCabe, executive vice president of the Building Industry Association of Washington.

"Plus, they’re regressive, so Bill Gates pays just what you’d pay," McCabe said, adding that law enforcement agencies should instead continue to get their funding from property taxes.

If the bill passes, developers wouldn’t pay a flat fee; it would vary from place to place, based on a pro-rata share of the new development’s impact in the community. It would be up to each city or county to figure out the cost of its criminal justice program and then figure out the new development’s share.

The bill wouldn’t mandate that the fees be charged — just give cities and counties the option.

Only 50 of the 270 cities in Washington included in the Growth Management Act levy impact fees, said Dave Williams with the Association of Washington Cities.

In Snohomish County, 12 cities charge developer fees: Arlington and Mukilteo charge for parks and schools; Gold Bar and Bothell for roads, parks and schools; Everett for roads; Marysville and Snohomish County for parks, schools and roads; Mill Creek for parks; Monroe for schools; and Stanwood for fire departments, parks, roads and schools.

You can call Herald Writer Susanna Ray at 360-586-3803

or send e-mail to ray@heraldnet.com.

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