Higher impact fee gains support

By Teresa Lane
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

PORT ST. LUCIE — The cost of building a new home or apartment in Port St. Lucie is about to rise $2,081 after city council members Monday unanimously endorsed the higher fee to lure the prestigious Burnham Institute and biomedical research to Port St. Lucie.
With little discussion, the council gave preliminary support to the landmark proposal, which raises existing impact fees of about $11,700 to $13,780 to provide money for a 175,000-square-foot research lab earmarked for Burnham, which also is considering Orlando for its Florida campus.

With impact fees of only $6,500 as recently as 18 months ago, one contractor said Monday that the added $2,081 in public building fees would hamper the city's construction industry and place affordable homes further from the reach of a typical wage earner.

"Property taxes have gone up, and there is a lot more money coming into the city," said Dagoberto Castillo of LuJoVa Homes, which builds about 35 homes each year in Port St. Lucie. "Most of it is coming out of the builders' pockets. Sales are going down, and interest rates are up."

The higher public-building impact fee on new homes and multifamily units could raise $70 million during the next 10 years for the city to build a lab that it could lease to Burnham. That's close to the $80 million Burnham reportedly wants from the city.

Legal and financial consultants who suggested the higher fee could be used for economic development said they're not aware of other cities or counties in Florida or nationwide that have implemented a similar fee for that purpose, but insisted it's justifiable to help move Port St. Lucie from a bedroom community to a research hub with higher-wage jobs and a higher standard of living.

If council members adopt the higher fee on final reading June 26, they will delay enforcement and collection until an agreement with Burnham is in place. Although officials seemed confident of their chances of luring the company a few months ago, a last-minute, no-holds-barred pitch from Orlando has them feeling less certain as the summer — and a decision — drag on.
Home builder Don Santos, a former president of the Treasure Coast Builders Association, said 80 percent of the organization's board members support higher impact fees to lure Burnham but would like builders of nonresidential buildings, such as offices and stores, to pay the higher fee, too.

Robert Chandler IV of Fishkind & Associates, an economic consulting firm that recommended the development fee, said nonresidential buildings were not included because they already are considered components of economic development.

Chandler said residents will benefit directly from such high-tech tenants as Burnham in Port St. Lucie because such a move "changes the landscape" and provides better jobs, shorter commutes and a higher quality of life.

"We have endorsed this impact fee, which is really unusual for us," Santos said of the builders organization. "We'd just like everyone to pay, because right now the residential home builders are hurting. Adding additional fees is a concern of ours, especially now."