Tell our County Commissioners:
AN UNFAIR IMPACT FEE
is making it impossible to afford
a home in San Miguel County.
San Miguel County’s Housing Affordability Crisis – How It Started
In July 2022, San Miguel County Commissioners levied an impact fee on all new homes and renovations that include additional square footage for residential properties.
What Are Impact Fees?
Local governments such as the county commission in San Miguel County levy impact fees as a common tool to offset the cost of providing services to newly constructed buildings or houses. The government charges the property owners a fee which is designed to cover the provision of taxpayer-funded utilities such as water, sanitation, roads, schools, and more. TAR has always been a proponent of sustainable workforce housing.
When these impact fees are based on sound economic data and those whom will be affected are included in their development, they can be a balanced method to enable the construction of needed housing for our middle class while ensuring that taxpayers aren’t responsible for the majority of the cost.
However, this is NOT what happened with the impact fees in San Miguel County...
An Unreasonable Impact Fee Was Enacted – Without Citizen Input
Property owners were not directly notified of any implementation of these fees. This impact fee is making it impossible for residents to live in San Miguel County due to the negative effect on local property values. While it’s understandable for the county to levy these fees to pay for services, this outrageous fee schedule is not based on any real-world or economic data – and we are paying the price.
The Consequences For Our Community
We’re already seeing the painful effects of these fees across the county: New workforce housing construction has halted, making it difficult for our middle class to find affordable homes. Homeowners are finding themselves priced out of neighborhoods they have called home for years, and our public employees — our police and teachers — are struggling to afford to live in San Miguel County.
The impact these fees have had on housing affordability has caused a ripple effect, hurting our service and hospitality industries, small businesses, and workers that fuel our local economy.
Sensible Solutions We Can Agree On
- Amend the existing impact fees that will lead to more reasonable, data-based costs.
- County commissioners should solicit input from residents in order to enact more reasonable, reality-based fees.
Learn How We Can
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD TO REPEAL THIS IMPACT FEE
The Colorado Supreme Court Says:
“The rate of fees imposed on users must bear some reasonable relationship to the cost of services provided. The fee can’t possibly relate to the actual impact of new or remodeled homes based on the exponentially increasing rates, absurd jumps between brackets, and overall excessive charges.”
(source: Barber v. Ritter, 196 P. 3d 238)