CLEWISTON – Impact fees will add $6,714 to the cost of building a new home in Hendry County, under the ordinance approved by the Hendry County Commissioners at their Nov. 12 meeting.

The impact fees will be divided among Emergency Medical Services, Law Enforcement, Correctional Facilities, Schools and Transportation. In previous discussion, commissioners considered fees of up to $9,500.

In the Nov. 12 discussion, Commissioner Emory “Rowdy” Howard said more impact fees should be designated for the school system, which will need to grow.

Commissioner Ramon Iglesias argued for lower impact fees. “The biggest part of my district is Port LaBelle. You’ve got to remember, in addition to that impact fee, they’ve got a water connection fee of $4,018. These new owners will have to go on septic tanks which will cost them $20,000, which used to cost $10,000 a year and a half ago,” he said.

He said if the impact fees are too high, potential residents may opt to build their homes in Glades County instead of Hendry County. “It’s going to take those houses off our ad valorem,” he said. “There’s no impact fee in Glades County.”

He suggested that to increase the share for schools, they could devote a smaller portion of the impact fees to transportation. He noted the State Legislature does not allow counties to use impact fees to fix potholes, which are a problem in Port LaBelle and Montura.

“We don’t have a taxing authority for our EMS,” said Commissioner Karson Turner. “We don’t have a taxing authority for our law enforcement. We are the taxing authority. There is a separate taxing authority, called the Hendry County School District, for our schools. This is a supplemental amount.”

“The number is too high,” said Kevin Berth, representing Heartland Homes. New building permits have declined, he explained. He said the data used to develop the impact fee ordinance is two years old and does not reflect current conditions. He asked them to pause the decision and re-evaluate the data.

He said 14,000 lots were plotted 50 years ago in Port LaBelle and only 4,000 homes were built.

In other business, commissioners added a prohibition on non-medical marijuana businesses in the county,  should Florida at some time in the future approve recreational use marijuana. Hendry County zoning already prohibits businesses that sell medical marijuana.

County Attorney Matt Raulerson announced the successful adjudication of the county’s first code enforcement lien foreclosure. He said the property went to sale and all liens will be paid. Two more cases are getting ready for judgment, he said. About 10 cases are under review.