Fairburn officials

took the first step toward developing an impact fee proposal Monday night.

Impact fees

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

and services made necessary by growth, and are touted by government leaders

as a way to shift some of the burden of growth from existing homeowners

to future ones.

The City Council

passed a capital improvement element that must be approved by state officials

before the city can craft an impact fee ordinance.

The capital

improvement element outlines the projects the city would fund with the

impact fees.

City Administrator

Tony Cox said the hefty 50-page document was sent to the state late this

week. The city has identified several projects that impact fees would

help fund.

Included in

the projects are an expansion of City Hall, a second fire station, improvements

to the road system and an expansion of the city's park system.

Impact fees

can fund only items that can be directly attributed to the new growth

in the area, and Cox said the city is already bursting at the seams and

will have to upgrade its services to handle the future growth.

After the state

analyzes the element, it will send it