The discussion of impact fees comes at a time when Leopold is facing criticism over recent high-profile fundraisers with developers. State campaign finance reports released Thursday indicated Leopold raised $504,000 between January 2007 and this month, with more than half coming from developers or those with close ties to the building community, including attorneys and suppliers.
Councilman Ronald C. Dillon Jr. and Vitale said that the Leopold administration late last year had offered to work with the council to settle on fee amounts. But when council members asked for more information, Leopold pushed ahead with his legislation alone, they said.
"I was taken off-guard when the administration introduced the bill," Dillon said. "Until then, I thought there was a desire to share information. Then things went awry."
County officials counter that they have provided draft studies of the Nicholas report to the council, and had inquired about the scope and direction to take on impact fees.
In 2000, the county administration under Democrat Janet S. Owens formed an independent committee of environmental and business interests to analyze the basis for increasing impact fees. They rebuffed several recommendations made by Nicholas, who was hired at the beginning of the decade to review impact fees.
Leopold decided against forming such a committee. The Nicholas study has been reviewed by the Planning Advisory Board, which is appointed by his administration.
The first public hearing for the bill is scheduled for mid-February. Councilman Jamie Benoit, a Crownsville Democrat, said he would prefer killing Leopold's bill that night and "produce our own."
Middlebrooks has floated the idea of raising the transfer tax to generate funds from the sale of new and existing property. Councilman Josh Cohen, an Annapolis Democrat, said that phasing in increases over two to three years would place less of a burden on developers, who are facing a downturn in the economy.
Lawmakers are also considering whether to incorporate this bill into legislation to overhaul the way classrooms are counted and charge a fee to combat stormwater runoff.
Cohen called Leopold's bill "a good-faith attempt" to capture the true cost of development on roads, schools and public safety. Yet while Cohen lauded the administration "for framing the discussion in the right way," he said the numbers are likely to go down.
phill.mcgowan@baltsun.com
