Chesterfield considers proffer increase

The Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors this week could increase what are already the stiffest fees in the region on residential development.

Tomorrow, the board will vote on a proposal to increase proffers to $18,966. That's on top of last year's decision by supervisors to adjust the proffer amount from $15,600 per home to $18,080 -- a move to account for inflation, according to Allan Carmody, the county's budget director.

Proffers are fees paid by developers to the county to help offset the impact of new residents on public infrastructure such as roads, schools and parks -- and those costs are often passed on to homebuyers.

Loudoun County in Northern Virginia has the state's highest cash proffer, at $46,819 per home. Henrico County and the city of Richmond do not collect cash proffers.

Chesterfield's Board of Supervisors always has the option to increase the proffer amount to $25,511, which is the estimated burden of each new home on county infrastructure, but that is considered unlikely.. As a third option, the board could simply vote to hold the proffer amount at its current amount.

"I'm inclined to go with the policy that we have in place which would increase slightly the proffer, but having said that, I know these are tough economic times, so we'll see how the debate goes," said board Chairman A.S. "Art" Warren.

Warren Wakeland of the Home Building Association of Richmond said the increase would help cover a small portion of the county's capital projects but would keep the number of building permits low and home prices high at a time when the county and the homebuilding industry could use a boost.

"What we hope the Board of Supervisors will do Wednesday is weigh the cost and benefit of charging cash proffers in this economy," Wakeland said. "In our eyes, the cost outweighs the benefit."

Supervisors in Hanover County recently voted to increase the proffer to $18,330, effective July 1. A second increase, effective Jan. 1, will bump Hanover's proffer to $19,575 per home.

"What we're trying to do is maintain the current levels of service for the citizens of the county when we have new development," said John H. Hodges, Hanover's deputy county administrator. "The reason primarily is driven by roads. While some costs are going down, the needs are going up in terms of vehicles on the roads, and we're trying to maintain the roads that are impacted by growth."

Caroline County's proffer amount is $17,632 and has not been reexamined this year. The Goochland County Board of Supervisors this month lowered proffers from $15,274 to $14,292 a home.

Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or .

Cash proffers