As Hinesville braces for a wave of population growth, the mayor said increasing affordable housing has become important for the city.
On Thursday, in hopes of keeping construction on schedule, Hinesville City Council cut building impact fees by $1,000.
City Manager Billy Edwards said the city collects an impact fee, which was $4,570, from builders for each unit in return for city services such as sewer lines.
To avoid incurring debt from the decrease, the city decided to lower the fee for only two years before returning to a similar rate.
Edwards said as long as the city has at least a thousand utility hookups in the next two years (which he said should be relatively easy with the influx of residents), taxpayers should not be affected.
Mayor Jim Thomas said the decrease was necessary to get builders interested in the area.
“We had a contractor come in from Massachusetts, and he said couldn’t do it [based on the current impact fee],” Thomas said. “We’ve got to reduce our fees and build the bulk of the houses.”
In January of 2011, fees go back up, but to $4,400.
“This is effective as of this meeting,” Thomas said.
On Thursday, in hopes of keeping construction on schedule, Hinesville City Council cut building impact fees by $1,000.
City Manager Billy Edwards said the city collects an impact fee, which was $4,570, from builders for each unit in return for city services such as sewer lines.
To avoid incurring debt from the decrease, the city decided to lower the fee for only two years before returning to a similar rate.
Edwards said as long as the city has at least a thousand utility hookups in the next two years (which he said should be relatively easy with the influx of residents), taxpayers should not be affected.
Mayor Jim Thomas said the decrease was necessary to get builders interested in the area.
“We had a contractor come in from Massachusetts, and he said couldn’t do it [based on the current impact fee],” Thomas said. “We’ve got to reduce our fees and build the bulk of the houses.”
In January of 2011, fees go back up, but to $4,400.
“This is effective as of this meeting,” Thomas said.