New Pasco County Mobility Fee Has Potential to Stimulate Business Growth
July, 18, 2011
The Pasco County Board of County Commissioners voted 5-0 to replace the County’s existing transportation impact fee with a new mobility fee to cover the costs of transportation infrastructure. Pasco County is the first county in Florida, under a new state law, to adopt a mobility fee to replace road impact fees and transportation concurrency. The new fee schedule dramatically lowers the cost of development in Pasco County. The intent of the Commissioners’ action is to stimulate construction and job creation.
“This is a historic decision by the Commissioners,” says John Hagen, President/CEO of the Pasco Economic Development Council. “This innovative approach to assessing transportation fees gives Pasco County an advantage over other communities. The best news is that for office, hotel, and industrial users, it’s free. We know this will attract attention and lead to job creation opportunities for Pasco County.”
The mobility fee is more flexible than the current road impact fee, because it allows for transportation funds to be spent on transit, sidewalks and trails, in addition to roadways. Pasco County was able to adopt this new mobility fee system without increasing any taxes on residents or businesses, preserving Pasco County's "pro-business" status.
A key feature of the new system is that it pledges property tax revenues from future growth to buy down the fees for selected uses and selected areas. The intent is to direct development into uses that create jobs and new tax base for the County and into areas where infrastructure and services are more readily available, principally along corridors such as US 19, I-75, and SR 54/56.
“The idea is to attract better-paying jobs to Pasco and decrease the number of residents who must commute outside the county to work,” says Hagen. “Having a robust and useful transportation infrastructure is important to enticing businesses to expand here. Equally important is to remove the cost and regulation barriers to business development. We know we have the room to grow. Free and Fast is our new mantra to realize that potential.”