We need to remove impact fees in Columbia County, FL....Columbia County Commissioners & county representatives please take notice. Gov. Charlie Crist weighed in this subject even back in 2007 before much of the economic & financial turmoil hit the national scene.."Delaying new or increased impact fees is a good idea,” Crist was quoted as saying during an interview published in Builders Edge magazine. “Local governments should take appropriate steps to reduce costs so more citizens can achieve the American dream of home ownership." With the local home building & development such a big part of local economy especially for contractors, sub-contractors, and manual labor workforce. This is the part of the local economy in Lake City, FL & Columbia county area that need relief alot more right now than it needs additional fees. The additional fees also raise the price of a new home, or placing a mobile home on a lot, thus reducing affordability as well for local home buyers & out of the area home buyers considering Lake City for their next place to live. Take action, call your county commissioner, sign this petition, but don't only sign the petition, take more steps to have your voice heard. Anything we all can do to improve our local economy will help in the long run, keep jobs here in Columbia County so our workers do not have to leave the county to find work. Once this is done, a public announcement and statewide news article would be an excellent idea to get the word out, that Columbia county is pro-business, pro homeowner, waived all impact fees for the next 3-4 years and ready to move out of the economic slumber & start a new prosperous year in 2009, 2010, and beyond. Also Lake City & Columbia County, FL also needs long term infrastructure growth plans to be ready, in place, explored all possible funding programs, grants, entitlements, or other sources of state or federal & other general infrastructure growth funding. We need to get action quick & soon for Columbia County residents. DeSoto County,Florida, for example, suspended its impact fees, which had been adopted in 2006, as of January 1, 2008,and refunded all the fees that had been collected. Charlotte County, Florida rolled back its impact feesto 1998 levels, a decrease of $6,328 for a typical single-family unit. In the eight months before theJanuary 1, 2008 rollback, the County had been issuing a average of 57 single-family permits a month;in the eight months since for which data are available, the County has issued on average only 30 permitsa month.6 Marion County, Florida cut its residential fees by $4,000 for a 90-day period. Source. impactfees .com Other reference. http://www.impactfees.com/pdfs_all/doc479.pdf Sign the petition, forward to somebody else that you know that may like to be involved.