In a new report, Supervisor Jim Burton (I-Blue Ridge) claims that the approved rezonings in 2004 cost taxpayers $3 million more than if the land had been developed by-right.
"In terms of capital facilities, we are falling farther and farther behind with each rezoning," Burton said.
The Board of Supervisors approved 14 developer requests to rezone land for higher densities last year. Developers offer to pay for capital improvements, or proffers, to offset the demands on services the increased population will require.
The 14 approved rezonings in 2004 will result in 5,088 new homes, incurring $114 million in capital costs, according to Burton’s report. Proffers — not including transportation proffers — only pay for $67 million of those costs. By-right development of the same land, meanwhile, would have resulted in 1,337 new homes and $44 million in capital costs. Burton took his information from county staff reports on each rezoning request.
That means that, for the rezoned land, taxpayers still pick up the tab for $47 million in capital costs, versus $44 million if the land had been developed by-right. The $3 million difference proves, according to Burton, that proffers are not the answer to the county’s growing pains.
BURTON DOESN’T include transportation proffers, which are filed separately from capital improvement proffers, in the above calculation. But he still claims that proffers don’t make up the difference when it comes to Loudoun’s many transportation needs.
"Even though we get transportation proffers, we get more vehicle trips per day than the proffers offset," Burton said.
According to Burton’s report, which draws from Loudoun County Office of Transportation Services information, the $38 million in proffers the county received via rezoning in 2004 doesn’t come close to closing the gap between what the county has and what the county needs.
The county needs 428 lane miles at a cost of $856 million to complete planned arterial and collector road in the suburban and transition areas, translating to pretty much all of eastern Loudoun, according to the Office of Transportation Services. Loudoun also needs $330 million worth of planned interchanges. The total? About $1.2 billion worth of transportation needs — and the transportation proffers only offer $38 million.
Admittedly, it’s not the developers’ job to make up for lost time when it comes to transportation problems. As pro-growth supervisors have pointed out in the past, developers are only responsible for the costs of the extra population they create.
Here, Burton still finds developers’ proffers lacking.
"Even though we get transportation proffers, we get more vehicle trips per day than the proffers offset," he said.
The 2004 rezonings will create an additional 37,510 vehicle trips per day in the Dulles district, which is facing some of the most rapid growth.
DULLES DISTRICT supervisor Stephen Snow (R), who has touted proffers as the best way for the county to get the infrastructure it needs, refused to look at Burton’s report when requested by a reporter.
"I do not believe they’re his numbers," Snow said. "They’re fabrications."
Burton responded to the allegation by reiterating the numbers are pulled directly from staff reports on the rezonings.
"I would challenge [Snow] to produce his own data," Burton said. "I do not believe in data-free analysis."
Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, supported the report’s findings.
"It confirms that the developers are making far too few contributions, particularly given their record profits they’ve enjoyed these past few years," Schwartz said. "They’re passing the cost onto the taxpayer."
Snow pointed out that the current board, which entered with a new Republican majority in 2004, has gotten more proffered school sites than the last two boards combined.
School Board member Robert DuPree (Dulles), who chairs the board’s acquisitions committee, confirmed that claim. The 1996 board acquired one school site, Pinebrook Elementary, which will open this fall. The 2000 board also acquired one site.
The 2004 board, meanwhile, has acquired four new sites — two elementary, one middle school and one high school.
For DuPree, developers play a critical role in providing for Loudoun’s exploding student population.
"Proffered school sites are the cheapest," DuPree said at a recent Loudoun Education Alliance of Parents meeting.
Burton wasn’t so sure. Proffers do not pay for school construction, teacher salary or maintenance — just the land.
"Are school sites worth 5,000 extra homes?" he said. "5,000 homes will bring with it 2,600 students. Once again, we’re falling farther and farther behind."