Council approves impact fee increase

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SYCAMORE - Developers will pay the Sycamore school and park districts more in impact fees after the city council's decision Monday to raise them. The council acted on a suggestion to increase the fees by 11 percent, which came from the Ad Hoc Committee on Growth Management, created to discuss solutions for an $8.5 million deficit the school district could face in 10 years if findings from an NIU study prove accurate. The committee has been meeting since the spring and includes representatives from local governing bodies and community organizations. It asked the council to increase the fees developers pay the school and park districts to offset costs of expanding services for new residents. Impact fees are determined by a formula that considers the assumed value of land the homes are built on, the number of people likely to live in the homes and other factors. The increase was made to better match the fees to increases in land value. Under the new fee schedule, the developer of a three-bedroom house would pay a fee of about $3,269, up from $2,947. Developers will pay the park district about $1,015 for a three-bedroom house, up from $913. The council last increased the school district impact fees late in 2004 and the park district fees in February. Ken Andersen, vice president of the DeKalb County Building and Development Association, urged the council to table the discussion about impact fee increases until the council could better study the effects of such increases. He said increases will raise the cost of land and make housing less affordable for low-income families.