Development impact fees: Modeling future growth and economic development in a south Carolina community

Abstract

User fees are an attractive alternative to general taxes, especially property taxes, insofar as they are stable and appropriate. The development impact fee is sometimes used in growing communities, and can relieve the service cost burden of new development to existing residents in the short term. Their proper use demands forecasting development trends, population growth and economic conditions. The city of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina - a suburb of Charleston - has used simple models to assess impact fees for the past seven years. This paper will describe the models used to determine impact fees and also describe a more filly developed revenue model used to predict future growth of impact fees as one category of local revenue.