Dive Brief:

• It could cost homebuilders in Youngsville, LA, $2,250 more per house to build within the city limits.

• The City Council is considering charging residential developers and builders an impact fee for each new permit they issue. One council member said he expects builders to pass the fee on to their homebuyers

• The money would go toward paying for roads, sewer systems and other public works projects. The city’s tax base is heavily residential, as fewer businesses are located there than in neighboring communities.

Dive Insight:

A 2010 study by Texas firm Duncan Associates revealed that the average impact fee levied by cities across the country was almost $11,800. California’s impact fees — the country's highest — average $24,000 per single-family home, while in Louisiana, various towns charge fees in the $2,800- to $3,000-per-home range.

The president of the Acadian, LA, homebuilders’ association called the Youngsville proposal, which still needs the council’s approval, “a little unfair to… the new homeowner." Mac Gibson, who also owns a local construction firm, said the fee could push the price of a home high enough to discourage some buyers.

In addition, he told The Advocate, Youngsville builders already pay a 10.5% sales tax on construction materials. The rising cost of doing business, he said, is “putting more and more small businesses across the nation out of business.”

The proposed fee will be introduced during the town's Aug. 13 City Council meeting, and a vote could occur as early as September.