On September 3, at its regularly scheduled meeting, the Town Council voted unanimously to reinstate the Middle School Impact Fee ordinance. This fee was originally adopted in 2002 to help pay for the debt service on the bonds issued for building the Gorham Middle School. The fee was suspended in 2009 due to concerns about the impacts of the economic recession that began in 2007.
The impact fee is part of the permitting process, so it could be the builder or homeowner who pays the fee. Any development activity in Gorham that may potentially have school aged children living in the units will be subject to the fee.
The revenue collected from the impact fee will be placed in a fund that is segregated from the Town’s general revenue. All fees collected under this ordinance will be used to pay the debt on the bonds issued to finance the construction of the school. The ordinance will remain in effect until the bonds are paid off plus a period of ten years to account for the time that the ordinance was suspended. Any impact fees collected that exceed the Town’s payments on the bonds, shall be refunded on a prorated basis in the same manner as the fees are assessed.
Town Manager Ephrem Paraschak said, “In 2018, the Town Council directed the Ordinance Committee to examine how to reinstate the Middle School Impact Fee or create a new impact fee.” The decision was made to reinstate the existing fee because, “creating a new impact fee would have taken more time and resources than reinstating the existing fee.”
A full description of the ordinance as well as how the fees are calculated can be found in the Town Council meeting minutes dated September 3, 2019. Paraschak said specific questions regarding the ordinance should be directed to the Code Enforcement or Planning departments. The ordinance took effect October 3, 2019.