How will the new White Flint pay for the costs to accommodate new students?

The Sector Plan proposes 12,020 new residential units including those that have already been approved.  Assuming 25% of these units will be low-rise 4 story multifamily buildings and the remaining 75% will be high-rise multifamily buildings, the following is the calculation of school impact fees.  $10,431 in impact fees per low-rise multifamily unit multiplied by 25% of the 12,020 units equals $31.3 million in impact fees.  $4,422 in impact fees per high-rise multifamily unit multiplied by 75% of the 12,020 units equals $39.9 million in impact fees.  This results in $71.2 million in total impact fees over the life of the Sector Plan.    

Montgomery County Public Schools projects 1,111 new students from White Flint.  This would result in $64,100 per new student to expand existing facilities or build new schools.   The new Garrett Park Elementary School costs $25 million to build and will serve 662 students upon completion.  This equates to $37,764 per student in school construction costs.  Using this cost multiplied by the 1,111 new students, White Flint will need to fund approximately $41.9 million in new construction or renovation costs to house the students generated by the Sector Plan.  This leaves a surplus of $29.3 million to be used to expand existing schools or build new schools to accommodate the school age population growth generated by the existing single family neighborhoods surrounding White Flint.   

Said another way, the impact fees from White Flint would build almost three new elementary schools while producing demand for less than two schools.   In addition to $71.2 million in impact fees, White Flint is expected to produce roughly $1.5 billion in increased property tax revenue.  Only 10% of that $1.5 billion will be used to fund local infrastructure which leaves $1.35 billion for other Montgomery County programs.  50% of the County budget typically goes towards schools, so the White Flint Sector Plan could produce an additional $675 million to fund school costs County wide including your teachers’ salaries! This also means that if the $71.2 million is not enough to cover new school costs, the County will have a pool of money to tap into that wouldn’t be there without new development. 

Evan Goldman