In October 2019, staff of the Growth Management & Planning Department engaged Fiscal Choice Consulting, LLC to develop a School Review Fee Study. Fiscal Choice Consulting, LLC was hired by Hillsborough County Government to update the County review fee schedules, which have since been approved. The final study was completed in November 2019. The methodology reviews all costs associated with development reviews for each application type in order to arrive at a recommended fee schedule.

Currently, the Growth Management & Planning Department reviews all comprehensive plan amendments, rezonings, and preliminary plats/residential site plans as part of the school concurrency process. Per Section 5.5.2 (c) of the adopted Interlocal Agreement with the local governments, “The School Board may elect to establish a school concurrency review fee to be paid by the applicant that will accompany the completed application sent by the County or delivered to the School Board prior to any school concurrency review commences.”

Due to the increasing volume of these reviews, the amount of staff time allocated to complete these reviews, along with the associated software and legal review costs, staff requested the approval of the completed study and the implementation of school concurrency review fees to the School Board on Tuesday, March 10, 2020 School Board public meeting. The School Board authorized staff to proceed with the logistics of the fee rollout and stakeholder input. The final fee recommendation was approved by the School Board on July 28, 2020. The fees will become effective on September 1, 2020.

Since approval, staff has reached out to the local jurisdictions and development community to discuss the implementation process / next steps approach for the incorporation of these fees.

These review fees can be paid at the local jurisdiction as part of the application submittal process. Additionally, an online store has been established through Square which offers applicants the option to pay for these review fees.

Documents:

• School Concurrency Review Fee Study
• School Concurrency Review Fee Schedule
• School Planning and Concurrency Applications
• City of Tampa School Concurrency Review Fee Informational Form
• Hillsborough County School Concurrency Review Fee Informational Form
• Plant City School Concurrency Review Fee Informational Form
• Temple Terrace School Concurrency Review Fee Informational Form

Square Online Store: https://hillsborough-county-school-district---growth-management-planni.square.site/