Desperate to attract new jobs to the county with the highest unemployment rate in the state, Clark County commissioners on Tuesday declared a 14-month “fee holiday” for specific business developments.
Commissioner Tom Mielke said he and Commissioners Steve Stuart and Marc Boldt wanted to do something to “jump-start the community” but acknowledged they have no idea how many people might bite on the offer and, if a lot of people do bite, they don’t know how they are going to make up for the lost revenue.
“We knew this was going to be a gamble,” Mielke said. “We know we have no way to pay for it.”
During the next year, “we’re going to be holding our breath and wringing that last drop out of the rag,” Mielke said.
Under the resolution, the county will waive application and service fees for certain mixed-use, commercial, industrial, business park and office campus projects.
The resolution targets commercial zones for retail stores, designated Public Investment Areas, parcels adjacent to the Chelatchie Prairie rail line for businesses engaged in rail-related business and businesses that are underrepresented in Clark County.
Public investment areas involved in the program are Highway 99; Salmon Creek Research Park and Washington State University Vancouver Industrial Park; the “Discovery Corridor” in the Interstate 5/Clark County Fairgrounds area; the Barberton/St. Johns area; and Northeast 117th Avenue.
The waiver will expire Dec. 30, 2011.
The fees that will be waived total tens of thousands of dollars for a single project.
In one example presented to the commissioners, waiving fees for preliminary and final reviews, inspections, building permits and tenant improvements would save the developer $113,954.
The Department of Community Development relies almost entirely on fees. Forgoing the fee revenues will leave the department to rely on the general fund, which gets its money from the county’s share of property taxes; two-thirds of the general fund goes to pay for public safety.
As part of the resolution, commissioners agreed to not increase any other fees for the purpose of replacing lost county revenue.
Applicants who receive fee waivers would have to begin and “diligently pursue” construction on the projects no later than June 30, 2012.
Stephanie Rice: 360-735-4508 or stephanie.rice@columbian.com.
