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Commissioner Solari provided several quotes from F.A. Hayek's The Road to Serfdom, <br />on the Rule of Law (see below) to support his position that the impact fee extensions would be <br />an example of an ex post facto law, which is unconstitutional. <br />Nothing distinguishes more clearly conditions in a free country from those in a country under <br />arbitrary government than the observance in the former of the great principles known as the <br />Rule of Law. Stripped of all technicalities, this means that government in all its actions is bound <br />by rules fixed and announced beforehand - rules which make it possible to foresee with fair <br />certainty how the authority will use its coercive powers in given circumstances and to plan <br />one's individual affairs on the basis of this knowledge. <br />(F. A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, p.80) <br />The Rule of Law thus implies limits to the scope of legislation• it restricts it to the kind of <br />general rules known as formal law and excludes legislation either directly aimed at particular <br />people or at enabling anybody to use the coercive power of the state for the purpose of such <br />discrimination It means, not that everything is regulated by law, but, on the contrary, that the <br />coercive power of the state can be used only in cases defined by law in advance and in such a <br />way that it can be foreseen how it can be used. <br />(F. A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, p.92) <br />By giving the government unlimited powers, the most arbitrary rule can be made legal: and in <br />this way a democracy may set up the most complete despotism imaginable. <br />(F. A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, p.91) <br />Vice Chairman O'Bryan was concerned that if the County was forced to accelerate <br />infrastructure improvements because of growth, without the impact fee funds, taxes would have <br />to be raised. <br />Commissioner Solari maintained that prior to the institution of the impact fees, the <br />County was able to provide needed services. <br />Commissioner Flescher spoke in favor of the three-year extension option as a means for <br />the County to deliver the infrastructure that is needed. <br />March 13, 2012 15 <br />BK 142PG191 <br />