For the first time, Henry County began collecting transportation impact fees earlier this month. The fee will be paid by all new construction in unincorporated Henry County. Impact fees cover areas such as roads, parks and public safety. The fees may only be spent on capital improvements aka new items.
Commissioners adopted the new impact fees in August 2022. When approving the new fees, they added a six-month grace period before they took effect. Update: a subsequent impact fee update passed in July 2024.
Transportation Impact Fees 2023
Henry County first adopted impact fees in 2003. At the time, the county did not include transportation. The fees went unchanged for twenty years. During this time, a new housing unit paid $1,661.50 in impact fees. About half of this amount went to parks & recreation.
As of February 2, 2023, developers must now pay $3,544.46 per housing unit. Henry County charges the same amount regardless if it’s a single-family house, townhouse or apartment unit. The thirty-five hundred dollars break down to include the following:
- Transportation – $1,378.50
- Parks & Recreation – $1,213.70
- Greenspace – $154.48
- Libraries – $55.41
- Animal Control – $19.32
- Fire and EMS – $315.40
- Sheriff’s Office – $263.18
- Police Protection – $123.93
- Emergency E-911 – $20.55
- Impact Fee Administration – $106.33
- Capital Improvements Plan Prep – $53.17
A developer building a 100-lot subdivision would pay $354,446 in fees. This includes $137,850 for transportation. Secondly, an apartments builder with 300 units would pay a little more than one million dollars. From this amount, about $415 thousand would help with road improvements.
Commercial and industrial builders also pay impact fees. Their rate structure depends on the square footage for each particular project. For example, a 1 million square foot warehouse would pay $700,000 in impact fees. The full rate schedule is available on the county website (PDF link – 2 pages).
Henry County impact fees only apply within unincorporated parts of the county. Each city has a separate impact fee structure. Presently, Locust Grove and Stockbridge levy transportation impact fees.
Featured image shows new houses under construction. Google photo.
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