INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The Board of County Commissioners will ask the School Board to provide a record of how it has spent impact fee funds and will subsequently hold a workshop open to the public regarding the findings once the information is provided.
What turned into a lengthy discussion evoking strong opinions from Commissioners and County staff, was prompted by Charlie Wilson, founder of a new Vero Beach Chamber of Commerce and president of Impact Fee Consultants, who asked Commissioners to step in on the matter of impact fees.
More questions were raised about the Board of County Commission’s responsibility in regards to impact fees specifically collected by the Indian River County School Board.
“When the requirement of impact fees cease to be met, are you required to keep collecting them?” Wilson asked. “Can impact fees go on forever?”
Commissioner Tim Zorc asked, “Why don’t they just show us what they’ve collected, what they’ve spent it on, and what their balances are?”
According to County Administrator Joe Baird, the School Board is audited annually. Baird said the School Board’s decision to continue collecting impact fees had yet to be determined.
County Commission candidate Althea MacKenzie raised the issue of the $102 million ballot initiative to provide funding for the school board and asked what that money is being used for and whether there is any overlap between those intended uses and the permitted uses of the impact fees.