One thing you learn in the military is that almost nothing ever
goes according to plan. Emergencies rarely go by the book;
therefore, one must recognize them and use your knowledge and
training, but above all, your common sense, to overcome the
problem. Ask council member Ray Friend who heroically fought to
save the U.S.S. Enterprise during a horrific accident in January
1969. When the ship is in danger, you do what you have to do to
survive.
One thing you learn in the military is that almost nothing ever goes according to plan. Emergencies rarely go by the book; therefore, one must recognize them and use your knowledge and training, but above all, your common sense, to overcome the problem. Ask Councilman Ray Friend who heroically fought to save the U.S.S. Enterprise during a horrific accident in January 1969. When the ship is in danger, you do what you have to do to survive.
So why does the government keep bogging down in emergencies? That question applies, equally, to the federal response to the Deepwater Horizon spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico and the Council of Governments’ (COG) delaying a reduction in traffic impact fees during a local economic crisis.
Is this an emergency? Only a few days ago, Hollister Mayor Victor Gomez was using the B-word, bankruptcy, at the city budget hearings; meanwhile, the county is eating into its reserves at an alarming rate just to stay afloat. The county never forgets to say they get only 11 cents back on the tax dollar – that is, they get it if they can find a tax dollar to divide these days.
I’m sure that some believe the local politicians are crying wolf, but they are not. There are about 1,585 counties in the U.S. with a population of 25,000 or more. The Associated Press publishes the AP Economic Stress Index for this group. The index measures the impact of the recession and recovery by integrating three economic indicators: unemployment, foreclosures and bankruptcy rates. More information on the index can be found at http://hosted.ap.org/specials/interactives/_national/stress_index/ .
The May 2010 index just released has San Benito County as the tenth most economically stressed county in the entire nation. Our stress index was 23.12. The index for Arlington County, VA, the 17th least stressed, was 5.06. Among the 20 most stressed counties, 13 were in California. That means it makes little sense to count on the sate to bail us out; they are barely treading water themselves. We can’t count on the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) either. According to the federal website, all the money they have put into the county is forecasted to create less than five new jobs.
Keep that in mind as you consider some of the facts that surfaced during the COG meeting.
Our traffic impact fees for a new single-family dwelling are $23,853. They are somewhat lower for multi-family dwellings, but in many cases, the multi-family projects are being built with Redevelopment Agency (RDA) funds, and the RDA pay those fees. In that case we are just transferring money from one pocket to another.
Add in the other impact fees – public safety, sewer, schools, etc. – and you can get to $70,000 per home. Those fees did not drop appreciably when the housing market collapsed. A $70,000 fee used to be 12.5 percent of a $560,000 home, is now 20 percent of a $350,000 home. However, the cost of improving roads or putting up traffic lights has not dropped on the traffic cost studies. Every value in the nation has crashed except the cost of government operations, how can that be?
I was surprised that the proposed Santana Ranch project had not been had not been added to the fee forecast, it would drop the cost of fees. On the other hand, two expensive dream roads – a widened and rerouted Rte 25 and a four-lane Union Road had been included. They drove the fees through the roof. It indicates that the program is ignored until there is a crisis.
Not all environmental impacts are equal. The unemployed would gladly trade a few minutes at a traffic light in exchange for a reliable paycheck and lower sewer fees. Homes that are never constructed pay nothing towards the $100 million wastewater plant that has 15-years-worth of build-out capacity that nobody wants right now. The city has had to lend money to some commercial operations so they can “pay” their sewer impact fees. If the businesses can’t afford it, how can the homebuyers?
Do we need some impact fees? Yes, we do, but to make people pay huge lump sums in advance or even when they occupy the home is senseless. Some of the traffic projects will not be built for 20 or 30 years, maybe never. The fees should be collected over time.
We must have sufficient rooftops to be able to support a survival level of retail. We will not be an Outlet Center – no one is proposing that. However, as it stands, we cannot support ourselves; opponents have not offered a single workable alternative. It’s essential that we plan well, but at this time, putting people to work has to be the priority when the only negative environmental impact is more peak time traffic – as long as it’s still safe. Increased traffic is a pain, but it does not attack an endangered species or lock up more land. With proper time-shifting, it makes maximum use of the roads we already have. Road repair? A single loaded truck is a lot tougher on the roads than thousands of cars and businesses don’t pay traffic impact fees.
Just imagine what a personal Environmental Impact Report would look like for a responsible family provider out of work – depression, stress, more use of public services and more expense to the taxpayers, fewer contributions to Medicare and Social Security, loss of self-esteem, perhaps loss of housing, poorer nutrition, possible relocation. Worse, perhaps they will be living in an illegal garage, have problems with domestic violence and substance abuse. There are few things worse for a responsible adult than being out of work.
This is an emergency and the local governments and agencies should start acting like it before we’re all in the water.
