Ozark, MO halts new development after sewer tax goes down in flames.

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ShowME
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Ozark, MO halts new development after sewer tax goes down in flames.

Post by ShowME »

Imagine a high growth suburb comparable to Gardner, KS cutting off all new development overnight.  Typical penny penching, tightass mentality.

http://www.news-leader.com/today/200504 ... ngnew.html


 
By Didi Tang
News-Leader

Ozark — Steve Stinnett, developer of the Town and Country Village in Ozark, may have to leave his project unfinished.
That is because the city is no longer platting new subdivisions after voters on April 5 defeated an $1,800 sewer impact fee proposal.

Without the revenue, the city says a new wastewater treatment plant won't be built.

Without the plant, future development in Ozark is in jeopardy.

Caught in the dilemma are developers like Stinnett, who have purchased land in Ozark and bet on future development.

"It's like buying a piece of bread from the store and not being able to eat it," said Stinnett, worried about recouping his investment.

Stinnett said he is unhappy with the Home Builders Association of Greater Springfield, which helped kill the ballot issue.

"It's a little shortsighted in their decision to defeat the impact fee proposal," Stinnett said. "I'm greatly concerned not only with my project but also the overall mood."

Overall, the city might see a huge setback in its growth if no new lots could be allowed.

"It's a community-wide issue," City Administrator Collin Quigley said. "Lots of builders, developers, architects, engineers and property owners are concerned. They want answers."

There is a dire need for the new sewer plant, but Matt Morrow, executive director of the regional homebuilders association, said impact fees are unfair, unreliable and should not be the solution.

There are other ways, he said.

Show us, said city officials who will meet with Morrow and his colleagues at 10 a.m. today in the Ozark City Hall.

"We want to know what the funding method is," Quigley said. "...We think our plan is fair and balanced."

To finance the $25.5 million sewer project, the city had proposed to use sales tax, higher sewer rates and developers' contributions.

But new construction should help pay as well, Quigley said, noting the new plant is to serve new growth.

Should developers build their own sewer plant, it would cost them nearly $3,000 per household, far more than the $1,800 impact fee the city suggested, Quigley has said.

Surcharge alternative

Morrow does not buy it.

While it is not a private group's job to come up with a public policy, Morrow said he would show Ozark officials today that other funding methods exist.

For the past two weeks, Morrow said he has been researching on possible funding alternatives, even though they might not be perfect.

One of them is a sewer surcharge.

Rather than levying a fee on new construction, the city could charge an extra sewer fee — say, $8 to $10 a month — to new customers.

By doing so, the city can get revenue from newcomers, instead of new-home buyers, Morrow said, noting 68 percent of new homes go to existing residents in a town.

"It doesn't hit existing residents," he said. "It doesn't drive up home prices."

Morrow revealed the plan at a Nixa government meeting April 11 when Nixa officials, in their discussion over impact fees, also said the city had no other choice.

In Ozark, Quigley said he would not comment on Morrow's proposal until he sees it.

No new permits

Before there is any funding solution to build the new sewer plant, the city will continue turning away requests for new subdivisions, Quigley said.

At the regional office of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Bruce Martin said his office will not issue sewer permits to new development in Ozark.

"The city will greatly exceed their capacity once all the lots are built out," he said.

The city's current sewer plant can handle up to 1.75 million gallons of wastewater per day.

In anticipation of the new plant, Ozark and the DNR had approved construction that could push the volume to nearly 3.5 million gallons per day.

"The city has a very good plan, and it is well engineered," Martin said.

But that plan relied on impact fees, which voters in April rejected.

As planned, Ozark will move to make improvements to its citywide sewer system and expand the existing plant to handle up to 2.2 million gallons per day, Quigley said.

Without the new plant, the cost for the sewer project will be recalculated, and a revenue bond with the appropriate amount will be issued, Quigley said.

The city will use sales tax revenue, sewer rates (probably between $22 to $25 per month) and developers' contributions to pay for the debt, Quigley said.

But, without the new plant, there would be no new growth.

"At this time, there's no fund to build," Quigley said. "That's very real."
Calling a spade a spade.
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Re: Ozark, MO halts new development after sewer tax goes down in flames.

Post by dangerboy »

That's an interesting development in southwest Missouri, which is very proud of it's rapid exurban growth yet has a very strong anti-tax culture. This goes to show that growth isn't free, someone has to pay for the new sewers, roads, schools, etc.

Something similar happened in Oak Grove a few years.  The city was issue building permits like crazy, without making in investments in its sewer infrastructure.  In their case it was the state DNR that forced them to stop issuing permits.
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Re: Ozark, MO halts new development after sewer tax goes down in flames.

Post by KCK »

This reminds me of an issue that came up in KCK recently. A power substation for BPU was needed so that the city could continue it's expansion of housing in the west. Well the location of the substation was near a school, and some parents believed it to be a health hazard for their children because of electromagnetic waves or some shit. Anyway, BPU said simply put that if they weren't allowed to build the substation on that land, they wouldn't accept any more power connections, which would prevent any more development in western KCK. Anyway, the UG approved that site at the next zoning board meeting with 100% of the vote.
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Re: Ozark, MO halts new development after sewer tax goes down in flames.

Post by Denver Josh »

I don't neccessaryily think its that bad for a city to say "we don't want to expand anymore."  Without seeing exactly where this subdivision is planned, its hard for me to comment exactly concerning this case- but I don't think every developer who wants to build should get to.  I wouldn't be worried about the developer getting a "return on his investement."  Thats very short sided to feel sorry for him.

I don't think all developers are greedy, but its very easy to say all a developer cares about is making money- not necessarily improving comunities.  I'm sure we can all think of developments where there was absolutely no reason to build anything other than for a developer to cash in.
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Re: Ozark, MO halts new development after sewer tax goes down in flames.

Post by longviewmo »

Ozark, MO and Osage Beach are 100 miles apart
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Re: Ozark, MO halts new development after sewer tax goes down in flames.

Post by Anthony_Hugo98 »

longviewmo wrote: Sat Oct 29, 2022 8:47 am
Ozark, MO and Osage Beach are 100 miles apart
I think this is the closest existing thread for the ozarks, that would be my guess
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