YORK COUNTY, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) – The York County School District will not be allowed to collect impact fees from new construction to help generate needed funding to build schools after county council voted it down earlier this week.
Click below to see a statement from the York School District One Board Chair Chris Revels
November 10, 2022 with the district’s response.
“The York School District One Board of Trustees began discussing the need for a plan to address the growth impacting our school district in October of 2021. We invested many hours in research and discussion and conducted a facility and an enrollment study to help us determine the current and future capacity of our school facilities. As a result of the studies, and the continued growth evidenced by the approved and pending developments at that time, we determined the need for a fiscally responsible course of action to address the growth in our district without compromising the quality of the educational experience for our students.
With the knowledge that an impact fee could help us to lower any future bond referendum and protect our long-standing residents and taxpayers by allowing growth to pay for growth, we unanimously voted to approve the York School District One Impact Fee Resolution in March of 2022. We began working with the County Council staff immediately thereafter to have our resolution placed on their agenda and undergo the process required (three readings with a public hearing) in hopes of a vote of approval from County Council at 3rd reading. After many months of our staff’s hard work, conversations with our constituents, and observing the passing of impact fees for neighboring districts who have higher mill values, we were significantly disappointed in the denial of impact fees for York School District One.
An opportunity to equitably distribute the burden of generating needed revenue to build schools has been missed, and the future of our students and the quality of education they may be able to receive in the future now hangs in the balance. Although we find ourselves in an unfortunate position, being unable to utilize all available avenues to generate revenue for new construction, our board remains committed to discussing next steps to address the growth in our district in a way that best serves our community and our children.”
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