BOISE, Idaho — Ada County Commissioners are toying with the idea of implementing impact fees to developers across the county.
The good news for current homeowners, these impact fees would not affect you. They would, however, affect the cost of new developments, providing that new homeowners pay for the public services they will need at that new development.
Impact fees are fees imposed by local government on new development in order to help pay for costs of providing public services; things like additional law enforcement and fire services.
This is not something Ada County has ever done in the past, but Ada County Commissioner Diana Lachiando believes it is necessary to keep up with needs due to growth in the county.
"Some of those needs are coming from new development and so, to the extent possible we need to find a balance in terms of ensuring that development can pay and bear some of those costs, instead of property taxes on existing homeowners," said Lachiondo.
While Ada County has not ever assessed impact fees to new developments, there are other entities within the county that do. The Ada County Highway District and the City of Boise both collect impact fees to help with the costs of growth.
While no numbers have been set yet, the Ada County Commissioners have set aside money to hire a consultant to help set these impact fees, and if all goes according to plan, Lachiondo said that consultant would begin on October 1st.
