If Fort Mill and Clover schools grow the same way, why does one get so much more cash?
The Clover School District added four more single-family homes last year than the Fort Mill School District. The Clover district brought in one-fifth the money from impact fees.
If impact fees provide money from development based on an area’s growth, why the discrepancy?
And could fees change to narrow the gap?
State law requires an annual update on impact fees. York County planning and development services director Jonathan Buono delivered that update Monday. Buono noted another state requirement that comes due this year — to reevaluate the fee in Fort Mill.
On Tuesday, Councilwoman Allison Love, who represents Clover and Lake Wylie on the council, said she’d have more details in a couple weeks on where she stands on possible changes to the Clover fee.
Single-family homes aren’t the only piece to residential growth. They are the piece that trends with the most consistency.
Large new apartment projects are far less common than individual home sales so they can wildly sway month-to-month or even year-to-year figures. For instance, 42% of all impact fees collected last year in the Clover district came in December. Apartments accounted for 93% of that December peak after barely registering in any other month. Fort Mill had a similar apartment rush in February.
Counting apartments, the Fort Mill district added more total new residences in 2022 than Clover. Fort Mill had 247 single-family homes and 494 apartments. Those 741 residences generated more than $10.4 million in impact fees.
Clover added 251 single-family homes, 351 apartments and 11 manufactured homes. Those 613 residences generated more than $1.7 million in impact fees.
Fort Mill had 71 of its new residences exempted from fees as retiree housing. The idea there is senior housing doesn’t impact school enrollment.
Clover had 21 fees waived. Clover had more exceptions to the fee as rebuilds rather than new ones, at 29 compared to 14 in Fort Mill. Fort Mill had two fee refunds for expired permits. Clover had none.
What are impact fees?
Development impact fees are charges on new construction. Their goal is to have new development offset the costs of increased demands for services. Cities, towns, counties and school districts in South Carolina can have impact fees for a variety of reasons. Some pay for town police and fire stations. Some fund county recreation improvements. Others pay for roads.
York County Council has the final say on whether to set up, keep, get rid of, or change impact fees for the four county school districts. Money collected on new residential construction can pay for new schools or other capital costs.
The Fort Mill School District had a much smaller fee of $2,500 per new residence, which York County upped considerably in 2018 to more than $18,000 per new home and $12,000 per new apartment. The county approved a new school impact fee for the Clover School District in 2020. The York School District asked for its own fee, but the county voted against it last fall.
Studies are required, and to set the rate of impact fees they must consider housing affordability, growth, school operations and many other factors to determine costs to educate students. Those studies calculate a maximum amount a school district could get per new home or apartment. Fort Mill got the full amount listed in its study. The Clover district study showed state law would support fees there at more than $15,000 per home, $7,400 per apartment and $9,800 per mobile home.
Instead, the county set up new fees at $4,000 per home, almost $2,000 for apartments or townhomes and more than $2,600 per mobile home.
Home affordability
When York County opted to set lower rates in Clover than its council had two years prior in Fort Mill, a main reason given was affordability.
Council members said there are demographic differences in the two districts, and the Lake Wylie and Clover sides of that district were distinct from one another.The U.S. Census Bureau lists the median household income for Lake Wylie at almost $108,000. The figure for Clover is almost $56,000. Council members expressed repeated concern for how higher fees might hurt first-time owners on the less expensive end of the home market.
Love proposed the smaller impact fees three years ago as a way to avoid harming long-time families in the area.
“We are not a one size fits all community,” Love said during debate ahead of that decision.
The most common concern related to higher fees involved mobile homes. The Fort Mill study didn’t address them. The Clover study, based on community makeup where there are more such units, did. Several council members bristled at the more than $9,800 per new mobile home allowed in the study. A figure higher than the allowance for apartments.
The study referenced mobile homes but data now lists manufactured homes. Last year, there were 11 new manufactured homes within the Clover district. For comparison, there were 251 new single-family homes and 351 new apartment units.
Continued growth
Fort Mill superintendent Chuck Epps read through a variety of impact fee statistics Tuesday night including monthly and yearly comparisons.
“All that says is people are still moving here and still buying,” Epps said.
There was a slight lag in new residences, but board members in Fort Mill say it’s coming back with building in established neighborhoods like Massey and new ones like the more than 1,200-home Elizabeth along Fort Mill Parkway.
“I think with Elizabeth coming on we’re going to see a pickup,” Epps said.
Total Fort Mill school impact fees were up 9% last year compared to 2021. Both years were down from the high point of almost $15.9 million in 2020. Fees were down last year in Clover compared to 2021, by almost 10.5%.
A new home or apartment hits the Fort Mill and Clover areas differently.
Fort Mill emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic as the largest school district in York County. Fort Mill has about 18,000 students, roughly twice what Clover has. So each new student, by percentage, is more impactful for Clover in determining need for new schools and services.
Study figures that determine how much a district can charge in impact fees come from detailed calculations that compare what the district has, how many students it serves and projected per-student costs to maintain those offerings. State law mandates a review every five years. Fort Mill has its review this year, with Clover warranting one in two years.
Within the maximum amounts shown in the study, the county has the option to change fee amounts at any time.
Clover response
Asked for comment on the discrepancy in fee amounts, the Clover district issued a statement expressing both appreciation for the impact fee and an interest in reviewing the amount charged in Clover. The statement says:
“The Clover School District Board of Trustees is grateful for the step that was taken to grant CSD an Impact Fee to help offset construction costs in our ever-growing community.
Even with the approved Impact Fee, one of the main concerns Clover School District heard from residents throughout its two recent bond campaigns was that residents felt the approved Impact Fee should be higher.
CSD supports an equitable process in determining the amount York County school districts are eligible to receive. The district supports a review of the independent study that was conducted at the original recommended amount to support constituents across District Two.”
This story was originally published March 10, 2023 at 6:38 AM with the headline "If Fort Mill and Clover schools grow the same way, why does one get so much more cash?."
