Homes For All Now seeks to inform consumers and petition local governments to stop the excessive increases of regulatory fees.
The Gold Coast Builders Association and Builders Association of South Florida have partnered together to launch Homes For All Now, a campaign to advocate against excessive housing regulatory fee increases targeting new construction. Drastic fee increases are pricing a growing segment of residents in Broward and Palm Beach County out of the new housing market. In many instances, those fees can add up to over $90,000 to the price of a newly built home.
Home builders are happy to pay fees, such as impact fees, to help municipalities and school districts fund the construction of the infrastructure needed to accommodate new residents. From new schools to new roads and upgraded water & sewer lines, infrastructure improvements benefit area residents as much as the home builders vying for home buyers.
Unfortunately, since the onset of the pandemic, counties, cities, school districts and other taxing agencies have been excessively increasing impact fees, driving up construction costs. Furthermore, the pandemic has caused homebuilding materials and labor shortages, which is making construction costs skyrocket, further fueling the rise of home prices. Every time the price of a home is increased by $1,000, nearly 10,200 Floridians are priced out of the market, according to the National Association of Home Builders.
“Homes For All Now seeks to involve the community in petitioning elected officials to be mindful of how drastic regulatory fee increases can further exacerbate the current housing crisis in markets like Broward and Palm Beach,” said KT Catlin, Executive Officer of the Gold Coast Builders Association.
“This campaign seeks to inform residents about the hefty fee increases fueling the price of new homes, but it also encourages them to reach out to their elected officials on this issue. Home builders are willing and eager to work with counties, cities and school districts to find a middle ground to benefit home buyers and increase the homeownership rates in Broward and Palm Beach County.”
As some local governments get ready to review their regulatory fees in the coming months, this campaign will seek to avoid similar situations as experienced with the Broward School District in 2020. The district proposed increasing school impact fees from $6,888 to $9,049 for three-bedroom properties and $6,888 to $12,295 for four-bedroom properties. The school impact fees are collected to build new schools to meet the demand for new classrooms fueled by new developments. However, Broward Public Schools are seeing a consistent decline in enrollment and that trend is expected to continue until 2026, making it unnecessary to build new schools and raise impact fees. Despite objections from the Gold Coast Builders Association and the Builders Association of South Florida, the district increased school impact fees by 25 percent, impacting home prices.
In response to excessive impact fee increases in Florida, the Governor signed a law that prevents local governments from increasing impact fees more than once every four years and limits the increases to 50 percent. At the same time, increases between 25 and 50 percent would have to be spread over four years. Smaller increases would be phased in over two years.
For more information on the campaign, visit www.HomesForAllNow.com.
About the Gold Coast Builders Association
The Gold Coast Builders Association (GCBA) was established in 1986. GCBA is a dedicated South Florida builders association with a reputation of excelling in Broward and Palm Beach Governmental affairs. GCBA members are dedicated to fulfilling the “American Dream” of owning a home for all. GCBA is the local affiliate of the National
Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and Florida Home Builders Association
(FHBA). To learn more about the GCBA, please visit https://www.gcbaflorida.com. For more information on the campaign, visit www.HomesForAllNow.com
About the Builders Association of South Florida
The Builders Association of South Florida (BASF) is a non-profit trade association, established in 1944. For over 77 years, BASF has focused on building affordably priced homes and apartments for hard-working South Florida families. BASF furthers their mission by providing advocacy service and support to builders, contractors and associated members who work in the residential and mixed-used commercial/residential industry. BASF’s territory includes Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties. BASF is affiliated with the Florida Home Builders (FHBA), with offices in Tallahassee, and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), in Washington, D.C. BASF’s administrative offices are in the north Miami-Dade City of Miami Gardens, FL. Find us on the web at www.basfonline.org
