SUSSEX COUNTY, DE -- Delaware Governor Matt Meyer has signed Senate Bill 176 into law, authorizing Sussex County officials to impose a school impact fee on new building permits.
No official impact fee has been imposed at this time. Officials with the Delaware Education Association told WBOC that Sussex County leaders are still exploring what that potential fee would look like and that a proposal is still in the works.
Christy Wimmer, the president of the Cape Henlopen Education Association, said the district is in need of additional funding to support growing class sizes.
"Our high school is in need of an expansion. We have students that are sitting on windowsills or on the floor because they don't have desks or chairs," Wimmer said. "We have teachers who are on carts at the high school because there are not enough classrooms for them to hold their classes in."
Wimmer said an impact fee, which would charge developers to help fund school expansion projects, is a fair trade.
"Developers and home builders are making record profits off the sale of new houses, but the burden of paying for additional schools or adding on classrooms to accommodate that growth is falling on taxpayers," Wimmer said.
Wimmer said a countywide impact fee would be more effective in gaining funding for the school district than passing a referendum would be.
"Cape Henlopen has lost approximately $63 million in school funding," Wimmer said. "We've had two referendums fail in the last couple of years. That school impact fee would go a long way to help us get referendums passed, because it would pick up a bulk of the construction fees."
However, some building associations are cautious of the potential impact fees.
When previously asked about the potential of a school impact fee in Sussex County, a representative from the Delaware Homebuilders Association sent WBOC the following statement:
"While we understand the need to fund school infrastructure in a growing county like Sussex, impact fees on new housing are ultimately passed on to homebuyers, driving up costs at a time when affordability is already a major concern. We believe now is not the right time to impose new fees without also exploring alternative funding options or cost offsets. Any new policy should strike a balance between supporting public services and maintaining access to attainable housing for working families and first-time buyers."
No school impact fee has been finalized for Sussex County. Any drafted legislation would need to go through county officials for approval.