BEAUFORT, SC – Beaufort County and local Municipalities will continue good-faith discussions on Impact fees over the next several weeks. For this reason, impact fees are not included on the agenda for Monday, June 13^, County Council Meeting.

In individual letters which were sent to each municipality, Joe Passiment, Chairman of County Council, recently wrote “Our staff looks forward to working with the municipalities to finalize an agreement on these fees for the benefit of all citizens and residents of Beaufort County.”

On April 25, the County Council voted 9-2 at third and final reading to repeal the school impact fee due to the lack of intergovernmental agreements with municipalities since the passage of the fee in July 2021.

At the same meeting, it was decided to defer until June 13, 2022 third and final reading of an ordinance repealing all existing impact fees. Those fees include park and recreation, fire,  road, and library impact fees in order to provide the County and the municipalities additional time to agree upon the terms on IGAs relating to their collection.

“We continue to have good open communications with the municipalities,” said Eric Greenway, Beaufort County Administrator. “I look forward to the one-on-one meetings with the municipalities to get these agreements over the finish line.”

The county has received IGA’s or responses to the County’s proposed IGAs from all municipalities. It is scheduling bi-lateral meetings between the County Administrator, the Deputy County Administrator, Assistant County Administrators who oversee areas affected by the proposed impact fees, and a representative from the legal department and the municipal counterparts.

Impact fees provide funding that maintains the fiscal health and services of the County Government. They currently include Road Impact Fees, Parks & Rec Impact Fees, Library Impact Fees, and Fire Impact Fees.