Former state senator and county executive Robert R. Neall will lead a panel that will offer recommendations on a sweeping set of impact-fee increases proposed by County Executive John R. Leopold.
The Anne Arundel County Council has also named the eight other members of the advisory committee, which represents business, environmental and community interests, and has been asked to produce a preliminary report for the March 17 council meeting and submit a final document by April 21.
The council voted last month to put a hold on the impact-fee bill until April 21 to review a report by county consultant James C. Nicholas, whose findings served as the basis for the proposed increases in the fee. The bill expires at the end of April.
Leopold, a Republican, submitted legislation in January that would raise impact fees by as much as fourteen-fold on new development. For example, it would increase the current fee on a new four-bedroom, single-family home of $4,904 by more than $21,000. The fees are usually passed on by the developer to the home buyer.
"The general consensus on the council is that impact fees have to be raised substantially," said council Vice Chairman Edward R. Reilly, a Crofton Republican. "But the fundamental criteria is: It should reflect the actual cost of the impact. It shouldn't be used to spur development or set so high as to be a political tool to restrict development."
Neall, Anne Arundel's county executive from 1990 to 1994, is widely respected for his fiscal acumen. He served four years ago as a volunteer financial adviser to the Baltimore school system as it tried to climb out of a $58 million cumulative deficit.
Other panel members are:
Bob Burdon, president and chief executive of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce;
Bob Gallagher, riverkeeper of the Rhode and West rivers;
Ann Fligsten, an attorney and director of the Growth Action Network;
Dan Ellis, executive director of Arundel Habitat for Humanity;
Dwight S. Taylor, president of Corporate Office Properties Trust;
Albert Johnston, a vice president for the Greater Severna Park Council and a member of a previous committee on impact fees;
Sam Georgiou, former chairman of the Citizen Advisory Committee for Anne Arundel schools;
Jerry Walker, vice president of DCA Imaging Systems.
phill.mcgowan@baltsun.com