NAR Positions on Impact Fees

NAR Position as of May 2003

The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® opposes the imposition of impact fees under any condition. The National Association of REALTORS® has consistently maintained that fees for services hampers or deters development in our nation's communities causing:

• A disproportionate increase in the cost of new construction;
  
• Higher costs for new construction which, in turn, results in upward pressure on the cost of existing properties;
  
• Urban sprawl as developers seek political jurisdictions without impact fees;
  
• Reductions in the quality and/or quantity of new construction units due to increasing costs;
  
• Disproportionate disadvantages to lower income households; and
  
• Reductions in housing opportunity across the income spectrum, for ownership as well as rental.

In communities where impact fees are in place, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® urges their repeal. To lessen their impact on local housing costs and development opportunities, the National Association of REALTORS® encourages:

• Proceeds from impact fees should be segregated from other government revenues;
  
• Impact fees should be used solely for capital improvements related to a specific new development;
  
• Municipalities or schools should have the burden to demonstrate specific infrastructure needs as a prerequisite to assessing impact fees;
  
• Credits should be given to developers to offset impact fees;
  
• Impact fees should be collected only at the point the impact is realized by the local community (e.g., from such sources as increased property tax revenues paid as a result of the development, land dedications and infrastructure work performed by the developer); and
  
• Exemptions to impact fees should be provided for housing marketed to low- and moderate-income households, for ownership as well as rental.

 

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