Fire board approves fee increase

The Anderson Fire Protection District board approved a resolution last week to increase fees charged to new housing or commercial construction at a special board meeting Sept. 21.

The district's planned fee increases include the impact fees and fire marshal inspection and permit fees that have not changed since their inception in 2002, according to the Impact Fee Update Study presented at the meeting by Mark Teague, consultant from Pacific Municipal Consultants.

The impact fee is a one-time-only fee charged to the developer with the issuance of a building permit, according to Teague's study.

"We have not accumulated enough money to do anything," Nichols said on Sept. 22.

The district has plans for a new fire station at $1,600,000, fire engine at $250,000 and a ladder truck at $550,000. All funds collected from the impact fee go into a capital improvement fund to pay for those improvements, Nichols said.

Even with $165,554 collected in fees from 2002 to 2010, Nichols said the amount collected could be twice that figure had the district's impact fee been raised yearly to account for what Teague called inflation, construction costs, and the need for capital improvements.

The district currently charges five cents per square foot for commercial and industrial buildings and $356.27 per residential unit.

The district's current fee level is well below other fire fighting agencies, Nichols has said.

By comparison, the Cottonwood Fire Protection District recently raised its impact fee for new residential construction to $1,152.

At the meeting, the board approved a new impact fee of $918.15 per residential unit and 73 cents per square foot for commercial/industrial buildings. The board also approved raising its fees for fire marshal inspections and permit fees. The hourly fee for the services was raised from $60 per hour to $72.11.

All changes to fees must first be approved by both the City of Anderson and Board of Supervisors, but the district's resolution should pass easily according to Teague.

"As long as the fee is rational, I've not seen a city or county say ‘no,'" Teague said at the meeting.

The Vineyards residential development will not be subject to the impact fee resolution, as it contains a specific plan for fire protection.