Tyrone

town officials appear to give the idea of impact

fees paying for a jail the green light, but want

to have some questions answered first.

Last

week, Fayette County Commission Chairman Harold

Bost told the Tyrone Town Council that the county

wanted to use impact fees to help pay back the

bond debt on a proposed new $25 million jail for

the county.

Since

all municipalities use the jail, Bost said all

cities in the county had to agree to impose the

fee, which is estimated at $820 per building

permit.

"These

impact fees will pay for 60 percent of the

jail," he said.

While

the Town Council agreed that impact fees would be

a good way to help pay for the jail, Councilman

Ray Bogenschutz questioned some of the figures

Bost was using.

"You're

projecting this on an inmate population going

from two for every thousand residents to 3.5 per

thousand. Historically, we're a low crime

county," he said.

Bost

agreed, but said the consultants who came up with

the figures were reputable and he didn't have any

reason to question the figures.

Bogenschutz

said if the figures fell below the 3.5 per

thousand, the county would have to refund the

impact fees, which could create a logistical

nightmare.

The

councilman also didn't want people getting the

wrong message.

"I

don't want the ACLU coming in here questioning if

we're putting people in the jail just to keep the

numbers up," he said.

Town

manager Barry Amos also said the town would have

to rewrite its capital improvement program for

the state Department of Community Affairs. The

town instituted impact fees last year and would

have to add the county's project to its capital

element.

Another

question was the collecting of the fees and

sending them to the county.

"I

support it, but I'd like to see reimbursement for

our time," he said.

Bost

said he would relay the concerns to the

commission, but could not guarantee anything.

Bost

also said he would see about staging a meeting in

the near future between the county and the

municipalities to try and clear up any questions.

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