Florida Chamber Urges House Committee to Support HB 697

Download Letter   Regulatory Reform

To: House Ways & Means Committee

The Florida Chamber of Commerce urges you to support HB 697, relating to Impact Fees. This bill, sponsored by Representative Mike Miller, will be heard on Wednesday, January 17th, in the House Ways & Means Committee.

The Florida Chamber believes that our state must welcome responsible development while appropriately investing in the infrastructure that a modern economy requires. For many local governments, impact fees are a mechanism by which a development can finance the required infrastructure needed for the new project. However, some local governments have assessed an impact fee before a construction is occupied. In essence, these means a business could pay an impact fee well before it actually makes the impact it is paying for. This legislation is supported by Florida’s business community because this bill:

• Prohibits the collection of an impact fee prior to a project receiving a certificate of occupancy; and
• Ensures that an impact fee is levied at the time of a project’s actual impact on the community infrastructure.

  The Florida Chamber urges you to support HB 697, and will consider votes on this legislation, and any substantive amendments to it in committee or on the floor, in our annual How They Voted report card. The grade that you earn will be based on your voting record on the issues, such as this one, that are outlined in Where We Stand, a guide to Florida’s 2018 Business Agenda. We will make every effort to notify you prior to a vote that may be included in our annual legislative report card. If you have any questions about this or other issues on the 2018 Business Agenda, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Regards,

Frank C. Walker, III
Vice President of Government Affairs