Preliminary Park Impact Fee Update-Part 3
August 29th,2012
Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Ye!
Announcing a meeting by GGEACA Board (Golden Gate Estates Area Civic Association)to be held 6:30pm, Thursday, September 6th at Fire-station #71. Everyone is welcome. The discussion of park impact fees will be discussed so therefore I shall bring you an update as of today.
Well, let's put it this way, I am still confused. I will try my best to explain why but try not go into serious detail. That will be discussed more in depth next Wednesday so we can all sit down together and figure this all out.
As of now, I have written three blogs. You are more than welcome to go back and reference them and then come back to read today's update. Here they are:
Park Impact Fee Requests:
http://www.naplesnews.com/blogs/my-thoughts-exactly-annette-kniola/2012/jun/16/parks/
Preliminary Park Impact Fee Update:
http://www.naplesnews.com/blogs/my-thoughts-exactly-annette-kniola/2012/jul/05/park/
Preliminary Park Impact Fee Update-Part 2:
http://www.naplesnews.com/blogs/my-thoughts-exactly-annette-kniola/2012/aug/08/park/
Hard to believe it keeps going and going and going. But I plan to keep going and going and going. Call me the Energizer Bunny!
Anyway, the whole park impact fee ordeal began with very simple questions (below) that were sent to our county administration staff. Those simple question have turned into too many to post. But here is the basics on the topic of our park impact fees, especially because it pertains to District #5 and the $23 million we brought in since 1997.
Questions:
As far as Regional and Community Park Impact fees that are collected in Collier County, do you keep them in separate accounts by district?
Does the Regional Impact Fees spread out county wide and Community Park Impact Fees stay within the district it was collected? If so, can I have the breakdown of District 5 collected over the years?
Steve Carnell has since responded and explained Regional and Community impact fee funds do not require to be separated. The only separation the county has done thus far is keeping these park impact fee funds into two separate accounts. These accounts are called Unincorporated Area (Fund 346) and Incorporated Area (Fund 345). Basically these two funds have both the Regional and Community Impact fees commingled.
Though I continue to request that these funds must be broken down further, especially the Community Park Impact Fees per district, Steve wrote they are not.
I have a problem with that. I have tried so much to convince him with ordinances that I read, and the park study that was adopted within those ordinances, in which it defines that these fees should be further separated to benefit each district in which they were collected.
Example in that P+R Ordinance: Not only does each fund require all collections, revenues and so forth, but also reads each of the foregoing impact fee trust funds shall be further separated or divided based upon benefit districts. But yes, what districts do they speak of? It is not defined anywhere. A bit of a gray area? But then again, that's where our County Attorney needs to step in, or better yet, and outside source to define what these ordinances and districts truly mean. Or simply put, what is the law of the land.
Steve feels it means unincorporated/incorporated districts, where I feel it is the 5 districts. Where is this defined? I told him the impact fees collected from any districts are to be broken down further. Either way, it should not matter.
Why? Because also in that P+R Ordinance is an adopted study by our Commissioners. An adopted study that is to be used and to abided by all county staff. That study is the Collier County Parks and Recreation Impact Fee Study.
It reads this:
Collier County provides parks services and recreation facilities to all Collier County residents and visitors. However, regional parks are larger and typically have more facilities targeting residents throughout Collier County. On the other hand, community parks are smaller in size and typically draw visitors from the unincorporated County, as municipalities in Collier County have similar types of community and neighborhood parks targeting residents within their immediate geographic area. To ensure that new growth is receiving direct benefit from the parks and recreation impact fee, the impact fee for regional parks is developed on a countywide basis and is charged to all new
development throughout Collier County while the impact fee for community parks is charged only to development within the unincorporated county.
Yes, to ensure that new growth is receiving direct benefit from the parks and recreation impact fee, the impact fee for regional parks is developed on a countywide basis and is charged to all new development throughout Collier County while the impact fee for community parks is charged only to development within the unincorporated county.
You know in the county's Impact Fee Schedule, lines 7 and 8, it shows you the breakdown of how Regional and Community park impact fees are collected. Therefore clearly showing they are to be divided. It's all common sense.
So interesting, isn't it?
Did you know just for chits and giggles, I contacted the Lee County Parks and Rec Director and requested those very same questions I have asked from our county? And guess what? I got all the information and the breakdown of community impact fees for each district all in ONE DAY!
Imagine that.
Hear Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Ye!
Announcing a meeting by GGEACA Board (Golden Gate Estates Area Civic Association)to be held 6:30pm, Thursday, September 6th at Fire-station #71. Everyone is welcome. The discussion of park impact fees will be discussed so therefore I shall bring you an update as of today.
Well, let's put it this way, I am still confused. I will try my best to explain why but try not go into serious detail. That will be discussed more in depth next Wednesday so we can all sit down together and figure this all out.
As of now, I have written three blogs. You are more than welcome to go back and reference them and then come back to read today's update. Here they are:
Park Impact Fee Requests:
http://www.naplesnews.com/blogs/my-thoughts-exactly-annette-kniola/2012/jun/16/parks/
Preliminary Park Impact Fee Update:
http://www.naplesnews.com/blogs/my-thoughts-exactly-annette-kniola/2012/jul/05/park/
Preliminary Park Impact Fee Update-Part 2:
http://www.naplesnews.com/blogs/my-thoughts-exactly-annette-kniola/2012/aug/08/park/
Hard to believe it keeps going and going and going. But I plan to keep going and going and going. Call me the Energizer Bunny!
Anyway, the whole park impact fee ordeal began with very simple questions (below) that were sent to our county administration staff. Those simple question have turned into too many to post. But here is the basics on the topic of our park impact fees, especially because it pertains to District #5 and the $23 million we brought in since 1997.
Questions:
As far as Regional and Community Park Impact fees that are collected in Collier County, do you keep them in separate accounts by district?
Does the Regional Impact Fees spread out county wide and Community Park Impact Fees stay within the district it was collected? If so, can I have the breakdown of District 5 collected over the years?
Steve Carnell has since responded and explained Regional and Community impact fee funds do not require to be separated. The only separation the county has done thus far is keeping these park impact fee funds into two separate accounts. These accounts are called Unincorporated Area (Fund 346) and Incorporated Area (Fund 345). Basically these two funds have both the Regional and Community Impact fees commingled.
Though I continue to request that these funds must be broken down further, especially the Community Park Impact Fees per district, Steve wrote they are not.
I have a problem with that. I have tried so much to convince him with ordinances that I read, and the park study that was adopted within those ordinances, in which it defines that these fees should be further separated to benefit each district in which they were collected.
Example in that P+R Ordinance: Not only does each fund require all collections, revenues and so forth, but also reads each of the foregoing impact fee trust funds shall be further separated or divided based upon benefit districts. But yes, what districts do they speak of? It is not defined anywhere. A bit of a gray area? But then again, that's where our County Attorney needs to step in, or better yet, and outside source to define what these ordinances and districts truly mean. Or simply put, what is the law of the land.
Steve feels it means unincorporated/incorporated districts, where I feel it is the 5 districts. Where is this defined? I told him the impact fees collected from any districts are to be broken down further. Either way, it should not matter.
Why? Because also in that P+R Ordinance is an adopted study by our Commissioners. An adopted study that is to be used and to abided by all county staff. That study is the Collier County Parks and Recreation Impact Fee Study.
It reads this:
Collier County provides parks services and recreation facilities to all Collier County residents and visitors. However, regional parks are larger and typically have more facilities targeting residents throughout Collier County. On the other hand, community parks are smaller in size and typically draw visitors from the unincorporated County, as municipalities in Collier County have similar types of community and neighborhood parks targeting residents within their immediate geographic area. To ensure that new growth is receiving direct benefit from the parks and recreation impact fee, the impact fee for regional parks is developed on a countywide basis and is charged to all new
development throughout Collier County while the impact fee for community parks is charged only to development within the unincorporated county.
Yes, to ensure that new growth is receiving direct benefit from the parks and recreation impact fee, the impact fee for regional parks is developed on a countywide basis and is charged to all new development throughout Collier County while the impact fee for community parks is charged only to development within the unincorporated county.
You know in the county's Impact Fee Schedule, lines 7 and 8, it shows you the breakdown of how Regional and Community park impact fees are collected. Therefore clearly showing they are to be divided. It's all common sense.
So interesting, isn't it?
Did you know just for chits and giggles, I contacted the Lee County Parks and Rec Director and requested those very same questions I have asked from our county? And guess what? I got all the information and the breakdown of community impact fees for each district all in ONE DAY!
Imagine that.
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