Nassau County, Florida
On Monday, Nassau County responded to a letter from Florida's attorney general in regard to the recently imposed Impact Fees in the county.
The county's press release issued Monday just before 11 a.m. stated that "Nassau County evaluated and relied upon a multi-point test that demonstrate a 'perfect storm' of interrelated and unusual conditions that, when viewed collectively, created an extraordinary circumstance justifying impact fee recalibration consistent with Florida Statute."
Florida's Attorney General James Uthmeier sent the opinion letter to Florida Rep. Richard Gentry last week, who had reached out to Uthmeier in December, asking for his legal opinion on whether Nassau County's 17% population increase over the previous five years qualifies as "extraordinary circumstances."
"In short, my answer to your question is no," Uthmeier wrote. "The steady, albeit heightened, increase in population of 17% over the previous five years does not qualify 'extraordinary circumstances' under the exception found in section 163.31801 for exceeding the statutory cap on impact fees."
In his letter, the attorney general says raising impact fees beyond the limit without extraordinary circumstance "appears to be a tax disguised as an impact fee."
The county said in its press release that "based on a review of the letter requesting the Attorney General to render an opinion on Nassau County’s impact fees, it appears the Attorney General was responding to a hypothetical question posed by a Representative, who represents portions of Volusia, Lake and Marion counties. While the hypothetical situation does reference Nassau County, the question put forward to the Attorney General was not based on Nassau County’s Extraordinary Circumstances Demonstrated Needs Study."
The county said that it prepared an Extraordinary Circumstances Demonstrated Needs Study that "identified and evaluated several key factors that, when viewed collectively, created the extraordinary circumstances justifying impact fee recalibration consistent with Florida Statutes."
The factors listed were as follows:
- overall population growth
- population growth exceeding University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) projections
- increased permitting activity
- significant land value increases
- ballooning construction/infrastructure costs
- higher levels of service for citizens
- and all occurring during Nassau County’s transition from a rural county to a county with small urban designated areas.
In the release, Nassau County said its study "not only demonstrated compliance with current Florida law but established a six-point test by reviewing pending legislation like Senate Bills 548 (filed in 2026 Legislative Session) and 482 (filed in 2025 Legislative Session) which seek to establish a test under which multiple criteria, including population growth exceeding BEBR high projections over a five-year period, must be met to qualify as extraordinary circumstances."
County Manager Taco Pope was quoted in Monday's press release.
“The intent of our impact fee program is simple: keep Nassau County safe, functional, and fiscally responsible as we grow,” Pope said. “That requires us to evaluate not just how many people are moving here, but what growth actually costs—in transportation, fire rescue, law enforcement, parks and administrative facilities — and how rapidly those costs are rising.”
Read more in the Wednesday, Jan. 21 edition of the News-Leader.