Smyrna Town Council votes unanimously to put a 30-day hold on collecting school impact fees.
At a meeting on Monday, the council was set to hear from the Home Builders Association of Delaware, which aired concerns about the impact fees in a letter to officials earlier this month. But, before that presentation - and perhaps sparked by it - Council opted to impose a 30-day moratorium on collecting school impact fees to give officials more time to examine the issue.
Speaking after the vote and on behalf of the home builders, attorney Timothy Houseal laid out a series of arguments contending that it would be illegal and perhaps unconstitutional for Smyrna to collect school impact fees.
“You can assess for municipal improvements," he said. "Unfortunately, the school district improvements that these would be collected for are not considered municipal improvements because you don't own the school district, you don't run the school district.”
But, during public comment, Smyrna Board of Education member Chris Scuse retorted that the town’s charter does give Smyrna the ability to impose impact fees for “public” improvements.
“First, I believe the Smyrna School District is definitely a public school district," Scuse said. "Second, how do they know what the term public was intended for in the town charter?”
Scuse also defended the rationale behind impact fees.
“If new construction causes the need for the new schools, the new construction should pay for it," he said.
Following public comment, the council went into a closed session to discuss possible litigation around the school impact fees.
School impact fees in Smyrna range from around $5,800 to $10,000 per unit, depending on what type of home is being built.
