Anderson School District One to present impact fee study to County Council Thursday

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Results of an Impact Fee Study recently conducted by Fiscal, Economic and Planning consulting firm TischlerBise for Anderson School District One will be presented to Anderson County Council this Thursday, Dec. 9 at 6 p.m. The special called meeting is for information only, no vote will be taken.

TischlerBise President Carson Bise presented the findings of the study to the District One Board last week.

Bise said the study looked at costs and projections of school construction, land, activity buses, administrative space and credits for future payments on existing and future debt.
The study made recommendations of an impact fee maximum of $11,208 for single family construction and $7,779 for multifamily construction.

Based on Anderson County building permits dates, District One is expected to gain 981 new students in the next ten years.
Even with the recently completed building program, which included construction of two middle schools and other additions throughout the District, District One is expected to reach around 90 percent capacity by 2024-2026.

There are currently four planned capacity projects that will keep the District under 90 percent capacity. With them, Middle and High School capacity will be approaching 90 percent. Without them District One will be at 95 percent capacity in Elementary Schools, 98 percent capacity in Middle Schools and 94 percent capacity in High Schools.

Planned capacity projects include a new elementary school in the Powdersville area, an addition to Spearman Elementary, an addition to Powdersville Middle and an addition to Palmetto High.

AD1 Superintendent Robbie Binnicker said the numbers in the study are very conservative and the impact fee is not designed to have new residents shoulder the entire cost to build a new addition or school, but to have them pay “just their fair share.”

According to Bise, an impact fee is added to the permit process for contractors/developers building new housing and apartments in certain areas. The one-time payment is collected at the time building permits are issued. It can’t be used for operations, maintenance or replacement but is for growth-related infrastructure only.

The impact fee proposal for Anderson School District One must first be approved by Anderson County Council. If the county adopts it on behalf of District One, the fee will be collected from developers when obtaining a building permit for new residential construction in the school district.

County Council will hold a special called meeting this Thursday, Dec. 9 at 6 p.m. to hear the presentation and have discussion on the proposed Impact Fee.

No votes will be taken. The meeting is being held for information only.

Citizens will be allowed to comment. The meeting will be held in Council chambers at the Historic Courthouse, 101 S. Main St. in Anderson.