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Administrator Baird reminded Mr. Paladin that today's discussion was about how <br />we could help commercial. <br />Mr. Paladin asked if the possibility of detouring trips, to lower commercial/ <br />industrial fees was considered, and Mr. Leftwich stated they would have to go back to surveys <br />to look at specific examples. <br />Mr. Paladin's other question was whether we could lower the fees enough to <br />justify our legal defense, even if we were not very conservative in the commercial/industrial <br />aspect. He did not think that not increasing impact fees in our current economic environment <br />would make a big difference; but thought what could make a big difference is to substantially <br />reduce the impact fees of commercial/industrial, or if it would be legally defensible if we had a <br />moratorium on not charging impact fees on commercial/industrial for twelve (12) months. <br />Attorney Collins did not think we could defend that under the current system and <br />methodology under which we developed this set of impact fees. <br />Administrator Baird added that it could, however, be taken out of our General <br />Fund or paid out of ad valorem taxes legally, if the Board desired. <br />Attorney Collins affirmed Mr. Paladin's statement that we could subsidize it and <br />that would be the only way to legally defend that. <br />Vice Chairman Davis asked if they could do a refund of impact fees for targeted <br />industries, and Attorney Collins reasoned that if they paid and collected, then that would be <br />tantamount to a grant or subsidy, so it probably could be done. Further discussions ensued <br />regarding funding sources that could be used. <br />September 17, 2008 14 <br />Public Workshop <br />