To the Editor:
State politicians should keep their noses out of local governments’ decisions regarding impact fees. I have resided in Virginia Beach for years and local lobbyist representing developers have coerced state politicians to not approve impact fees.
This has resulted in the city building new housing developments, without money upfront to build schools, roads, as well as a fund to insure that the development has proper draining. The developers are afraid their product will be priced too high and sales will be slow. Impact fees like the bonds on all of The Villages homes are necessary to insure that taxpayers are not seeing constant increases in their costs through increased assessments or ever climbing tax rates, to play catch up on needed infrastructure.
Impact fees on businesses should only apply if there is new construction involved that could effect the infrastructure needs, such as traffic lights and new roads.
Dick Jones
Village of Pennecamp
