- December 24, 2024
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Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin, right, and Councilman Nick Klufas at the July 8 oversight committee meeting.
School Board members Janet McDonald, Trevor Tucker and Colleen Conklin.
Flagler County Commissioners David Sullivan and Andy Dance.
Bunnell City Manager Alvin Jackson explained the city's position.
With less than two months remaining to come up with a new interlocal agreement, the School Board and the Flagler County Commission dug in their heels over when the school district can collect money to ensure it will have enough space for future students.
Little progress was made at the July 8 ILA oversight committee meeting. In the end, another meeting was scheduled for Aug. 4 with the county's Aug. 31 deadline looming.
"This is when the fire is put to your toes, no question about it," said Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin, the oversight committee's chairman.
"There will be an extreme sense of urgency to complete this process at the next meeting."
DAVID ALFIN, Palm Coast mayor
With new information presented by the School Board and a working group meeting of administrators scheduled for July 20, Alfin said, "There will be an extreme sense of urgency to complete this process at the next meeting."
The district says its middle schools and high schools are at capacity, so if an ILA is not approved with a plan for creating space for incoming students, new development potentially could be put on hold.
"If we come up with anything less than our statute requirements, we're going to stop development and that's not something the schools want to do," School Board member Janet McDonald said.
The School Board wants to continue proportionate share mitigation agreements with developers to collect impact fees early enough to plan for new schools and school expansion when existing schools are at capacity.
The county has countered with a proposed capacity reservation system in which developers would pay 20% up front with a length of time to be decided to pay another share before homes are built and impact fees are due. Commissioner Andy Dance said that could be 10 years, but it can be negotiated at the working group meeting.
The school district currently negotiates individual arrangements with developers. It has proposed replacing the agreements with a standard procedure in which it would collect 40% of the impact fees in the first year of the planned development, 30% in year 2 and the remaining 30% in year 3.
CITY POSITIONS
The municipalities have taken sides with Palm Coast and Bunnell agreeing with the county's 20% reservation system. Flagler Beach showed support for the district's position.
Vice Mayor John Rogers and City Commissioner Bob Barnes represented Bunnell at the committee meeting. City Councilman Nick Klufas represented Palm Coast. Flagler Beach did not have a representative present at the Government Services Building, but Commissioner Ken Bryan, reached on the phone, said the Commission supported "concurrency to assure schools would be funded."
Bunnell City Manager Alvin Jackson presented his city's case for supporting the county's proposal.
"Proportionate fair share, I think, is a game killer. Those developers we've been talking to would not want to upload all of the impact fees within the first three years."
ALVIN JACKSON, Bunnell city manager
"It's very important for (developers) to feel comfortable with the amount of money needed up front for impact fees," he said. "Proportionate fair share, I think, is a game killer. Those developers we've been talking to would not want to upload all of the impact fees within the first three years."
Jackson said developers have no problem paying for seats for new students who would move into their developments, "but they don't want to upload all of those seats in one or two years. Grand Reserve is a prime example," he said. "That project has taken about 12 years to develop and they're paying as they go and as they build those homes that's the impact. That's where the impact occurs."
County Commissioner David Sullivan said three issues need to be worked out: the length of time for reservations, the exact wording of the agreement to comply with statutes and how bonding would work for building new schools.
School Board Attorney Kristy Gavin said the district has $39 million in debt service on three bonds that will run out in 2030. It is planning to build a new middle school that is expected to cost $70 million and open in August 2026. A new high school would cost $90 million.
That would breech the district's bonding limit, which is set at 75% of the projects, but the sweet spot for bonding, Gavin and School Board members said, is 50%. The district has already begun spending on an $18 million expansion project for Matanzas High School. The district does not plan to bond for that project. It would come out of a $30 million reserve.
The district is also limited on a 1.5 millage rate for school taxes. It spends $9 million a year to maintain its buildings.
"The leaves $10 million of our 1.5 mills to utilize for our debt service," Gavin said.
Gavin said proportionate share funds for new development can't be used for old debt.
"The bottom line is development is here. It's not coming, it's here, and it's only going to grow. Developers are already doing proportionate share. This is the legal way forward for the district."
COLLEEN CONKLIN, School Board member
PORTABLES INSTALLED AT BTMS
With sixth graders moving from elementary schools to middle schools in August, seven portables have been moved to the Buddy Taylor Middle School campus.
"The bottom line is development is here," School Board member Colleen Conklin said. "It's not coming, it's here, and it's only going to grow. Developers are already doing proportionate share. This is the legal way forward for the district."
School Board Chair Trevor Tucker said if capacity reservations don't provide the money the district needs to buy land, plan and build new schools by the time students move in, the schools might have to rely more and more on portables.
"We would probably have to put portables at Indian Trails Sports Complex (for Indian Trails Middle School)," he said.
Chris Wilson, the attorney advising the School Board during the ILA negotiations, said concurrency, which guarantees adequate school facilities through intergovernmental coordination, cannot be achieved by a 20% reservation. County officials suggested that the 20% figure for capital reservation is negotiable. But Patty Bott, the district's coordinator of planning and intergovernmental relations, said if the total is not 100% in the early stages of development, with credits returned to developers if necessary when homes are built, it is not concurrency.
"It's notable that so many people are in agreement with (20% up front). I'd hate to see all of this hard work blow up to non-agreement."
ANNAMARIE LONG, executive director of the Flagler Home Builders Association
Representatives of the Flagler Home Builders Association and the Palm Coast-Flagler Regional Chamber of Commerce said they supported the county's 20% reservation fee.
"It's notable that so many people are in agreement with that," Annamarie Long, the executive director of the Home Builders Association said. "I'd hate to see all of this hard work blow up to non-agreement."
The School Board, county and cities will discuss the updated proposals that come out of the working group meeting in advance of the Aug. 4 committee meeting.
Rogers said with the new information provided by the district, a new consensus by the Bunnell City Commission will be necessary.
"Everyone at the Palm Coast Council understands the need for excellent schools," Alfin said. "We need to have the best schools in the best county in Florida."
