Following testimony by Illinois REALTORS® and members of a local coalition, the Boone County Board voted for another two-year moratorium on new construction impact fees at its mid-March meeting.

Illinois REALTORS® Local Governmental Affairs Director Neeley Erickson and Loves Park-area REALTOR® and Boone County Board Member Alisa Patterson used tax assessment information to show the board that encouraging new construction would be key to improving the county’s bottom line and spurring economic growth. They said enacting another moratorium would be helpful to builders.

During the first moratorium, about 50 homes were built on previously empty lots in Boone County. When the tax records of 10 of those properties were examined, Patterson and Erickson said the county stood to collect nearly $84,000 more in property taxes because of the new development. They called it a victory for all concerned.

Representing two organizations that were part of the coalition against impact fees, Belvidere Park District Executive Director Jen Jacky and Boone County Conservation District Executive Director Dan Kane told the board they appreciated the tax growth and favored a second moratorium. The first impact fee moratorium passed in early 2021 and expired March 1, 2023.

“The coalition and the county board agreed that in order to meet the interests and needs of the community, we needed to work together,” she said.

Erickson summarized her own testimony before the Boone County Board when she said, “If Boone County wants steady growth, with more children in its schools and investments in recreation and parks, it must have a steady increase in the affordable housing inventory for 20- to 34-year-olds. Impact fees stunt the growth of the housing supply, drive up prices, build barriers to access, prohibit movement up the housing ladder and hinder economic progress.”

A history of impact fees

The history of Boone County’s impact fees, Erickson said, can be traced to a boom period that started nearly 23 years ago. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, more than 53,000 people live in Boone County, on the east side of the Rockford Metropolitan Statistical Area. Belvidere is the county seat.

“Between the years 2000 and 2006, Boone County was the third-fastest-growing county in Illinois and the 86^th-fastest-growing county in the United States,” said Erickson. “The county agreed to use impact fees to help pay for capital improvements. But even after that growth surge stopped, the impact fees remained in place.”

By 2011, new residential construction sunk to an all-time low, school enrollments were steadily declining and housing inventory dwindled like it did across the country. For years, local REALTORS® unsuccessfully advocated for an impact fee moratorium, she said, even though more residents became receptive to their point of view. Eventually they formed the coalition that included two school districts, the Belvidere Park District and the Boone County Conservation District.

“By 2021, the challenges we faced were multifaceted,” she said. “First, elected officials needed to understand the purpose of impact fees and their appropriate use. Second, we had to overcome the assumption that a moratorium was a get-rich-quick scheme for REALTORS® and developers. Finally, we had to fight the notion that eliminating the fees would create a flood of housing that the community could not absorb.

“The fears from 2000 to 2006 were still intense, and we understood that,” said Erickson. “But we helped elected officials understand the moratorium wouldn’t cause an uncontrollable huge surge in development. We’re all working together to grow at a manageable pace.”