The Iggy and Addy Impact Connection

Iggy, as in Hernando County’s ignominious mogul-maniac of home building construction interests, must be sitting on the edge of a cement block drooling on bib overalls at the prospects of the Florida Legislature circumventing the duties entrusted to the Dept of Community Affairs. Dressed in hip-high wading boots and prepared to wallow through nature’s wetlands waiting for the mud to dry from drought conditions and further depletion of water supplies from years of uncontrolled development, Iggy is ready to build.

Senator Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, has proposed Senate Bill 730, which would dismantle the DCA and shovel the agency’s intended oversight of growth management onto the shoulders of the Florida Department of State.

Going back to the days of Jeb, in 2003 there was also a push-to-shove strategy to establish a Dept of State and Community Partnerships, an attempt to roll the two departments into one. It was thwarted by public outcry. Die-hard Florida Republicans, and their “government gone wild-horses for untamed development” prose, have since undermined the office of DCA Secretary Thomas G. Pelham by eliminating key positions, including eight this past year.

Under the DCA, growth management concerns require a review of areas “containing… environmental or natural resources of regional or statewide importance, including, but not limited to, state or federal parks, forests, wildlife refuges, wilderness areas, aquatic preserves, major rivers and estuaries, state environmentally endangered lands”.

As stated by Secretary Pelham, without this oversight, encroachment in the Miami-Dade area would put into jeopardy restoration efforts of the Everglades. Ecosystems statewide would be permanently disrupted.

SB 730 would allow local goverments to bypass state review on changes to growth plans.

Another piece of legislative handiwork is SB 630 which would put a three year moritorium on impact fees.

If that’s not enough to ponder, consider the millions of dollars that would become taxpayer’s responsibility under SB 580/HB 227 which would put the burden of proof on local governments to substantiate proposed impact fees. We’re talking taxpayers paying court costs. We’re talking about the loss of fees that go toward providing infrastructure funding for roads, parks, libraries and fire/EMS services.

Where in Florida, or the US for that matter, is new home construction truly warranted? Nationwide, the number of vacant homes is estimated at 19 million. They remain uninhabited, available to qualified buyers, whoever they may be in this topsy-turvy economy.

The number of vacant homes in Florida hovers around 300,000 and accounts for a good 15% of the nationwide total. And yet SB 730 would pave the way for newly constructed homes.

If SB 730 should become law, Secretary of State Kurt S. Browning would hold much of the responsibilities currently handled by the DCA. The Dept of State currently consists of the Divisions of Administrative Services, Corporations, Cultural Affairs, Elections, Historical Resources, and Library and Information Services.

What’s freaky about this whole matter is that Browning was reportedly unaware of the possible changes until Bennet made public the intentions of SB 730. No wonder the department’s response was one of delayed reaction as time is required to review the affect on the assumptive operational costs and organizational requirements.

No disrepect to Secretary Browning, but as it stands, he simply isn’t qualified to oversee such an expansion of duties. There’s little doubt that without an expressed willingness to play along with scripted, unquestioned loyalty to building interests, the alternative, as suggested by Sen. Bennett, would be to disperse DCA responsiblities to other departments willing to skip along to the cheesy tunes of the panhandling Pied Pipers of T-town.

The largest of Hernando County impact fees is for schools which, at $4266, accounts for nearly half the approximate figure of $9200 depending on the fire district in which the home is built. On a $200K 30-year mortgage it amounts to less than $30 per month. Impact fees are a minor expense to the purchase price of a home.

School impact fees are already said to be insufficient to meet future needs, without which we may as well put up a sign No Kids Allowed. No more grandfathers; better yet, no grandfather clause.

Back on the homefront, not only would Iggy be pleased if any of Senate Bills 580/630/730 were to become the law of the land of sunshine but, as though in concert with the efforts of Sen. Bennett, Hernando County homebuilders’ cue ball Addy has proposed that local impact fees be decommissioned. He wanted it rush-rush, hush-hush – no procedural discussion.

If impact fees aren’t garnered from impact fees, it will be taxpayers who must pay the bills. How would lost revenues be replaced? Higher sales taxes would bring out the crybabies of businesses. What about increased homeowner property taxes? What about a state income tax? The moneys will have to be appropriated from some source. Guess who?

Boomerang Man

Good or bad, but definitely not the best of circumstances for the Hernando County School District, Superintendent Wayne “Boomerang” Alexander has come and gone and come back again from Connecticut where his second wife and children live. From north to south, he assumed the characteristics of a Slinky as he step-by-step reneged on a contract by resigning prior to fulfilling the agreement, only to renege again by pulling the resignation letter from beneath the seats of School Board members. All of this within a matter of little more than a week’s time. With just cause, the board was relieved that it wouldn’t be necessary to scramble for a replacement.