LIVINGSTON- Monday afternoon, Livingston Parish School Board held its Budget Committee goals meeting.
The main thing on the agenda was to discuss an ‘Impact Fee.’
“Impact fee is a fee that the developer pays whenever they come in building a subdivision in a district. What it’s going to impact: it could impact sewer, it could impact water, it could impact the sheriff, drainage, roads, schools, all that is what usually goes into an impact fee,” Cecil Harris, school board president, said.
Developers in Livingston Parish are busy building new subdivisions in one of the fastest growing parishes in the state. Although the growth is good for parish revenue, it has concerning impacts on the school district.
“Building new homes is going to effect the schools because it’s more students. More students you have, the more teachers you have, and the the more space you have to have. You’ve got to be able to building new classrooms or add more classrooms to these existing building, which you have construction costs,” Harris said.
This is the reason why the school board is hoping to get an impact fee passed by the Parish Council. The fee would be imposed on developers who want to build subdivisions in the parish. It will help the district afford the changes that come with additional residents.
“The fuel costs, the costs for buses, how many kids are going to be impacted by the subdivisions that’s moving in, also the construction costs was figured into it. How much it cost to build the new schools,” Harris said.
The Budget Committee approved the fee, sending it to the main school board meeting on Thursday. From there, it will either be voted down during that meeting or head to Parish Council.
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