Senate Tax Writers Reject Bill To Extend Impact Fee Authority

For the second straight year, Senate tax writers have rejected House-passed legislation to extend authority to impose impact fees to local governments outside Ada County.

The Local Government and Taxation Committee voted 6-2 on Friday against the bill that was again being pushed by the contractors and local government.

Critics questioned the failure of the extension to include school districts, which are hard-pressed financially to pay for new schools to accommodate student growth.

And they expressed concern that impact fees would only force up the value of homes, making it more difficult for middle- and lowincome families to afford them.

It is the sixth time in the past two years that attempts to find some mechanism to pay for the costs of Idaho’s dramatic population growth have failed in the Legislature.