The Baltimore County Council has passed my legislation requiring developers to pay impact fees for new residential construction. It is the first time Baltimore County has authorized an impact fee.
Under the bill, impact fee revenue must be spent locally within the Baltimore County Public School district where it is collected. For example, revenue from a development built in Perry Hall or White Marsh must be spent in the northeast.
Under our current system, taxpayers subsidize the cost of new development. This legislation shifts the responsibility onto those who are creating the strain on public schools.
This was a very difficult bill to develop, and I would like to thank all those who worked on its passage.
The legislation passed as part of the county’s budget process. I opposed separate legislation that increased the county income tax rate, as well as an increase in the hotel tax and the $3.50-per-line cell phone tax rate, instead applying the 8 percent rate charged to landline services only on voice communication.