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Impact Fees in Urban Planning

Why Impact Fees Is Nothing but a Big Hassle in Urban Planning

Impact fees had been an unnecessarily part of the North American cities and have been shoved in our throats. Thanks to the court of Queen’s Bench Winnipeg that now the impact fee is dead. Ever since the impact fee was challenged, there have been discussions over this in whole North American cities where it was imposed. Cities of all sizes throughout North America are charged with impact fees. They are needed to be paid to fulfill the funding for utilities such as parks, roads, or schools. A few years back, Winnipeg was a shining example of this. Though impact fees may be crucial for the exurbs, where excess population or increasing population of the city can be managed but not in the heart of metropolitan where there are things are quite welcoming for the people who want to live in the neighborhood. Here is why the Impact fee is just a burden in the name of urban development 

Buildings Don’t Need Further Improvements

When builders ask for the impact fee because they have to build a new building then it doesn’t make any sense. You build buildings because people pay to live inside them. What else would be interesting to know is the fact that building new doesn’t need to create new public service in the city as well. Instead of imposing the new impact fee, why not talk to the community members and ask them and take their opinion regarding if they want to improve the existing services by paying for the amenities and services they are using and imposing a tax on home buildings just like any other business which is a sane option for any local city govt.

Why someone else should pay?

Impact fee to build new amenities doesn’t make sense in many ways. We all know the financial situation that the middle class and working class are facing. The utility bills are increasing and have become more regressive in the last few years. Rising property taxes can put the homeowners and people with fixed income in the red zone. Meanwhile, several municipal budgets are already on the short side. Combining all of them, these factors make impact fees attractive for political parties to support it. However, the solution may lie in cities funding the infrastructure instead of imposing more taxes and impact fees as utility charges and spread the burden equally across the resident on the entire city.

Building New Homes Should Be Toxic

Toxic not in the terms of environmental but it simply means that when the impact will be charged by the home builders then it will send a message to masses that the building new home to mitigate the living home crisis is a noxious activity and to fight with such crisis through this way can send a message that this is toxic activity. The simple thing is, they build a new home and those who need will buy them there is no room for an impact fee.

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