Per a Comprehensive Plan Amendment, the City of Fife is currently considering to increase School Impact Fees from $2,640 per single family unit to $4,532 per single family unit. MBA asserts that $1,892 increase will hurt housing attainability in the city of Fife as these impact fees are passed onto the homebuyer. We noted to Fife City Council that our nation, our state, and our county is currently in the midst of an affordable housing crisis, with home ownership attainability slipping out of reach for many people.
As many in the industry know, a large factor in the affordability and price of a home is attributed to fees and regulations. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) estimates that an average of 25% of a home’s value is due to fees and regulations on a single family unit (30% on a multifamily unit). Furthermore, NAHB has calculated priced out estimates for various regions around the US. In the Seattle/Bellevue/Tacoma region where Fife is located, a $1,000 increase in home prices out 896 people. Consequentially, this 72% fee increase will price out many people looking to move to Fife.
Master Builders Association of Pierce County urged Council to radically reduce the fee increase and will continue to seek to work with Fife City Council on this issue.