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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Paying for Growth: VA Developers Seek End to Local "Proffers"

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Thursday, February 14, 2008   

Fairfax County, VA - Who should pay for the cost of new housing development: builders or property owners? The House of Delegates is now considering legislation passed by the Senate this week, that would replace negotiated payments between local governments and developers with a system of impact fees and exemptions, to pay for infrastructure items such as schools and roads.

Builders are backing the bill (SB 768), saying it would help hold down new home prices and help them control their business costs. However, opponents argue the change could lead to higher property taxes, and are asking the House to delay action until the bill's true financial impact is known. Stewart Schwartz, with the Washington, D.C.-based Coalition for Smarter Growth, thinks putting off the decision for now is a good idea.

"They should reject this bill this year, and establish a thorough study of the fiscal costs of growth and the best way to pay for the cost of growth."

Schwartz does not believe the current system has been a major drain on developers.

"In fast-growing Loudon County, in Northern Virginia, only three to five percent of the total capital infrastructure costs for roads, schools and other services are being paid for by new development under the existing system."

The bill's detractors believe it will shift too much of the burden to existing property owners, with the possible result of making housing less affordable. They also say the new law would make so-called "smart growth" and "green" redevelopment much more difficult.



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