Fayette County

commissioners tomorrow are expected to set the wheels in motion for approval

of impact fees to help finance a new county jail, now that local cities

have gotten on the bandwagon.

Commissioners

will have a public hearing and discuss the impact fee plan at their regular

meeting Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. at the County Administrative Complex.

Tyrone, Peachtree

City and Fayetteville have all approved the latest version of impact fees,

and Brooks has delayed its vote on the fees only to wait until the other

cities had settled on a final version, according to city officials.

Impact fees

are charged to developers to help pay the cost of new government facilities

and services made necessary by growth. The idea is to reduce property

taxes for existing residents by charging additional fees for new development.

Commissioners

Linda Wells and Greg Dunn, elected in 1998, promised to work for approval

of the fees as part of their election campaigns. Commission Chairman Harold

Bost also has favored use of impact fees ever since he was elected in

1996.

Commissioners

Herb Frady and Glen Gosa have repeatedly voted against the fees, calling

for use of other methods to finance the $25 million jail.

Fayette's governing

body approved the concept of impact fees last spring, but it has taken

all summer and into the fall to devise a set of impact fees that satisfy

state law and local concerns.

As part of

their original approval, commissioners included a requirement that all

of the county's cities agree to charge the fees within their borders,

since the jail is a county-wide project.

Cities have

agreed in principle, but the devil has been in the details.

Tyrone's Town

Council has repeatedly delayed action on the fees, objecting to various

details. In the most recent version before the final one, the town objected

because businesses 10,000 square feet and under were being charged the

same as those up to 50,000 square feet, an unfair burden for small businesses,

Tyrone officials said.

The latest

version creates a new category for small businesses.

Under that

plan, net fees would be as follows:

For each home

$660.28 in 2000 and $770.92 thereafter.

Stores/10,000-50,000

sq. ft. $4,052.07 and $4,420.04.

Retail/50,000-110,000

sq. ft. $6,410.82 and $7,326.30.

Retail/over

110,000 sq. ft. $7,706.61 and $9,647.64.

Other/under

10,000 sq. ft. and storage warehouse $2,053.13 and $2,218.56.

Once the county

and all the cities have approved the final version, the paperwork will

go to the state Department of Community affairs and Atlanta Regional Commission

for their approval.

County officials

are hoping to begin charging the fees early next year.