Supervisors voted 3-2 in approving a resolution to raise the
traffic improvement fee for builders. It raises the rates from
$20,400 per residential building permit to $23,853. They are
intended to defray costs for transportation and transit
projects.
HOLLISTER
Residents taking out building permits will have to pay about $3,500 more than previously each time to help offset traffic improvements funded by San Benito County.
Supervisors voted 3-2 this week in approving a resolution to raise the traffic improvement fees for builders to “make a nexus between the fees being brought in and the cost of completion,” said Assistant County Administrative Officer Rich Inman.
It raises the rates from $20,400 per residential building permit to $23,853 – or about a 17 percent increase. The fees are intended to defray costs for transportation and transit projects.
“These impact fees are made to address the needs that are going to happen in the future,” Inman said.
The county hired San Jose-based Hexagon Transportation Consultants to study a potential increase to sustain service levels, officials said.
Supervisor Reb Monaco, one of the three to support the resolution, said the board should examine county fees every two years. The two supervisors against it Tuesday were Margie Barrios and Anthony Botelho.
“Five percent is better than 150 percent over 10 years,” Monaco said. “This board took on the task of looking at fees, and I’ve advocated for looking at fees every two years.”
Supervisor Margie Barrios said that she would have voted to approve the resolution if the area and country were in better economic times.
“If we had waited and let the community recover from these economic times, I would have been more pro at that time,” Barrios said.
Barrios said there is a level of service the county needs to provide but some of the roads that are under consideration won’t be started for a while, or even at all.
Monaco said he does realize that raising fees is not something anyone enjoys.
“We’ve done this over the years with other fees and its a bitter pill for people to swallow,” he said.
