Still adhering to the same slow-growth agenda that led them to pass a moratorium on approval of new rezoning applications in December, the Prince William County Board of Supervisors is now proposing increasing the “proffer” fee that builders have to pay when the build in the county by 35%:
Prince William County officials yesterday proposed a 36 percent increase in the amount that developers pay the county for permission to build houses, which industry officials warned would probably drive up home prices.
County officials said they need the additional money — $51,113 for each house, up from $37,719 now — to build the roads, schools, parks, libraries and police and fire stations that are needed because of growth.
Representatives of the building industry said the proposed increase in so-called developer proffers would come at a bad time because of the slowdown in the housing market. If the higher proffer rate is approved, industry officials said, the costs would be passed along to buyers of new homes.
Either that, or builders will cut back on the number of houses that they build. And, while that may make the Supervisors and the others drinking the slow-growth Kool-Aid happy, it will only hurt people in the middle class trying to save money to buy their first new home. What makes even less sense is the fact that the Board had already raised the proffer fee by $ 10,000 in July of last year. Factoring in the July increase with this proposed hike, proffers would have risen 89% since July 2006.
Can anyone deny that increasing the costs that builders incur will result in fewer, more expensive houses ? Does anyone advocating this proposal even care ? Well, here’s what Corey Stewart has to say:
Stewart, who is running for re-election in the fall, said the board might consider implementing the proffer increases in phases. “I want to hear both sides on this,” he said. “I think our economy is very sensitive right now, and we are going to hear both sides. We are going to be very careful in what we do. I think the question is the timing or whether we can phase it in.”
He said he is sensitive about the impact raising proffers could have on the housing market. “We don’t want to do anything that will further shock or further damage our economic development efforts,” he said.
“On the other hand, I am very pleased that one effect of the turndown has been positive. It has really slowed down the rate of development in Prince William County, and that is going to give us time to catch up with building roads and schools and infrastructure.”
Yep, depressing the housing market. Good for Prince William County. Yea, you go with that.
