Park fees: Sudden big increase shows bad planning

Re: “Pierce considers big fee hike to pay for more, better parks,” (TNT 8/30).

If Pierce County were a private business, it would certainly be out of business by now. It shouldn’t have taken a consultant’s report to tell them that park impact fees were way too low for way too long.

Yes, it’s the home builders and ultimately new homeowners who end up footing the bill for those fees. To suddenly raise those rates by almost 7 times the current rate is just plain bad operations and a shock to the system.

Why wasn’t the county raising those rates slowly over the years in order to fund all those dormant park plans? Instead the rates have virtually remained at a 1997 level.

It ends up being a lose- lose situation: The residents of Pierce County don’t get the parks that we so lack, the builders and ultimately new homeowners get hit with a big bill, and Pierce County hides beyond a consultant report.

What has the County Council and parks board been thinking about all these years? Obviously not funding parks.

This story was originally published September 2, 2016 at 11:07 AM with the headline "Park fees: Sudden big increase shows bad planning."