Williamson County Commission Approves Impact Fee for School Construction

FRANKLIN, TN — With the pace of growth and the need for new schools exceeding the capability of the usual funding sources, the Williamson County Commission voted Monday to move forward with impact fees on new home construction in the county.

The commission voted 22-2 to charges residential impact fees, which will be phased in beginning in March and fully implemented by September. Williamson County Schools Superintendent Mike Looney predicts that the school system will need $500 million for capital projects over the next decade; the impact fees are expected to generate $180 million over the next six years.

The fee will be paid by the builder on submission of a construction permit and ranges from $1,687 for homes less than 1,800 square feet within the Franklin Special School District to $13,566 for homes larger than 3,400 square feet outside of FSSD. The special school district already has an impact fee, thus the lower fee schedule for those homes. All of the money generated by the county's impact fee will go to fund construction for Williamson County Schools only.

The real estate and builders trade associations both pushed back against the fee, arguing that growth paid for itself, a notion disputed by county commissioners who said property taxes had to be raised this year to balance the county's budget.

In addition, the builders and real estate agents asked the county commission to wait on an opinion from the state attorney-general on the legality of the fee and, in a joint statement, threatened to sue.

“We take this matter very seriously,” it read. “If the impact fee is approved, we can assure you our groups will be exploring all available legal options to challenge it in the courts.”

County Commissioner Matt Milligan called the statement and the threat unhelpful.

“You come to us with a threat of litigation, not solutions,” he said, according to the Franklin Home Page. “You come to us wanting to delay in the 11th hour in a process that has been going on for almost a year. If you’d offered me a solution, I would be happy to tell everybody, ‘woah here, let’s balance this versus a solution that has been given.’ But you didn’t do that … this has been well planned and well thought out.

“When we vote for this, this group is going to have a decision to make. And most likely they are going to file suit, file for an injunction and they are gong to ask for all these funds to be placed in an escrow account, and at the end of all these dilations and all these obfuscations and cloudy readings of a law, when a court finally rules in our favor, then, we are going to the business of building schools and serving our kids . . . I would ask you, help us do the right thing for our kids.”

Here's the fee schedule, which will be charged at a half-rate from March 1, before the full fees are charged in September.

Outside FSSD:

• 1,799 square feet or less: $3,711
• 1,800 to 2,199 square feet: $6,551
• 2,200 to 2,599 square feet: $8,778
• 2,600 to 2,999 square feet: $10,639
• 3,000 to 3,399 square feet: $12,182
• 3,400 square feet or more: $13,566

Inside FSSD:

• 1,799 square feet or less: $1,687
• 1,800 to 2,199 square feet: $2,820
• 2,200 to 2,599 square feet: $3,688
• 2,600 to 2,999 square feet: $4,411
• 3,000 to 3,399 square feet: $4,989
• 3,400 square feet or more: $5,520

The fee will not be charged on senior housing, remodeling, construction of additional buildings that do not add bedrooms, government projects and projects from non-profits such as Habitat for Humanity.