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A county that intends to adopt impact fees must enjoy the cooperation of <br /> its municipalities. It is hard to imagine a county system of school impact fees <br /> that does not rely at least in part on municipal collection of at least some portion <br /> of the fees. <br /> <br /> The legal problems surrounding the use of impact fees have largely been <br /> solved, particularly if a local government is content to set fees at levels lower <br /> than might be legally justifiable. The calculation of impact fees must be based <br /> on a moderately complex methodology. The planning activity and analysis <br /> necessary to justify such fees generally require substantial consulting help or <br /> fairly sophisticated staff assistance. <br /> <br /> Impact fees are derived from the regulatory power of government. Since <br />they are based on cost-benefit principles, they have more in common with <br />special assessments than they do with excise or business taxes. Earmarking <br />collected funds for school capital imp~'ovements in particular benefit zones or. <br />districts and expending funds fOr projects according to a capital improvement <br />plan schedule require a fiscal discipline that may be too demanding and <br />inflexible for some local units. <br /> <br /> Despite the requirements that impact fees place on local governments <br />and school administrative units that wish to benefit from their use, it is possible <br />that other North Carolina counties may follow Orange County's lead and adopt <br />school impact fees of their own. The backlog of capital needs in North Carolina <br />school systems seems unlikely to decline dramatically anytime soon. The <br />search for new school construction funding sources will continue. <br /> <br />65 <br /> <br />60 <br /> <br /> <br />