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Hernando Today

Impact fee reduction will help local families

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By Jeff West

Guest columnist

Published: November 7, 2009

On Tuesday, Nov. 10, the Board of County Commissioners will consider temporarily reducing the impact tax back to 2001 levels. If passed, this action will cut the tax from $9,300 to around $4,700 for a single family home. This impact tax was being collected at a time when material costs were at all-time highs. The costs of infrastructure have drastically declined. If approved, it would represent the largest tax cut for real property in Hernando County's history.

Contrary to popular belief, and what the anti-growth crowd would have you believe, impact taxes are not charged to the builder. They are charged by the county to the homeowner. It is collected by the builder.

Naysayers will argue this tax cut will just "line the builders' pockets" and "out of area contractors will benefit." That is simply not true. In fact, every single builder contacted by the HBA has agreed to reduce the sales prices of their homes dollar for dollar with any impact tax reduction, so as to pass on any savings to the homeowner. Also, every builder has agreed to use local sub-contractors, material men and laborers. Reducing the impact tax allows potential homebuyers the option of building again. Without this choice, homebuyers are forced to buy foreclosures and therefore we are just helping to bail out irresponsible banks by liquidating their assets. Wouldn't you rather help out people who live and work in our own community than some asset manager for a bank that is receiving TARP funds?

It is not about profits…it is about jobs.

If the county's job base was predominantly manufacturing, the HBA would be calling for a reduction in manufacturing taxes, much in the same way we are calling for this tax reduction for homeowners.

This tax reduction will help a multitude of people in our community, from the tractor operator to carpet installer, from the framer to the waitress who serves them breakfast at the local restaurant.

I cannot tell you how many people and families I come across who are suffering because of this economic downturn. Do you have any idea what it is like worrying about where your next paycheck is coming from? Have you ever been put in a situation where you don't know where your next meal is coming from? Unfortunately many people in this county do. They are your neighbors. You see them at the grocery store. You may even go to church with them.

We owe it to our members, and our community to ask for this reduction in an effort to put people back to work

We may never know how many homes were built because of this tax reduction and there is probably no way to quantify the effect of this tax cut on this community in dollars and cents. The only true way to measure the success of the initiative will be the collective sigh of relief of the many families who need help.

Jeff West is president of the Hernando Builders Association.

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