New Growth Management Law Proposals Would Make It Easier to Build Downtown and Tougher to Develop in the Suburbs

ORLANDO-After 15 unsuccessful years trying to curb urban sprawl by forcing developers to have utilities and roads in place before breaking ground, Florida is trying another tack. The state is considering making it more expensive to develop in rural areas with little or no infrastructure and less costly for Downtown developments. The approach is called full-cost accounting and is fraught with potential lawsuits and unending controversy, say pro-development forces.

The full-cost accounting concept matches a proposed project’s property tax contributions against the costs of services, such as new roads and utilities, provided by a local government.

For example, point out observers monitoring the whole idea, if a mega mixed-use venture in the suburbs paid $50,000 a year in property taxes but it cost the local municipality or county $75,000 a year to maintain services at the area, that proposed mixed-use venture would not get off the ground.