Builders' report says growth more than pays for itself.

Home builders in Volusia are trying to silence sprawl foes with a new report offering a debatable conclusion: Growth not only pays for itself, it makes money for local governments, according to an industry-developed study to be released today in Daytona Beach.The report surfaces as a citizen group and county government consider new growth controls for the November ballot.


The builders' report, completed by the National Association of Home Builders, concludes that the 6,983 single-family homes, apartments, condos and duplexes built in Volusia last year will pump more than $1 billion into the local economy in the next 15 years.During the same period, that development will cost city and county governments $488.7 million to pay for roads, utilities, schools, police, fire and other services, according to the study.That means a surplus of more than $500 million for local governments, the study concludes."Instinctively, we knew that growth pays for itself, but everybody is screaming that it doesn't, so we wanted a study done just to make sure," said Susan Darden, executive officer for the Volusia Home Builders Association. The report cost $500.The bottom line, according to the study, is that home builders foot the bill for government services, as well as generating millions for government coffers.But the findings of the home builders' study doesn't seem to fit with the reality faced by local governments, including Volusia County, which have raised fees for new roads, schools and other public services to keep up with growth.Last year, for example, the County Council more than quadrupled the one-time fees charged on new houses from $1,139 to $5,284 to help make growth pay more for schools -- a move home builders strongly opposed.Other counties in Central Florida have increased such fees in recent years.Clay Henderson, a land-use attorney and member of the county's smart-growth advisory committee, is skeptical of the construction industry's findings."What they [Volusia Builders Association] are saying is that their industry is going to carry the need," he said. "But what the rest of us are saying is that their numbers don't quite add up."Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida political-science professor, said the report comes amid mounting anti-sprawl sentiments because of rapid growth."They [home builders] sense animosity towards growth in Florida," MacManus said. "Any sector that is under attack is trying to defend themselves and show they pay their way."Two years ago, Volusia home builders won a legal battle to invalidate a measure approved by nearly 72 percent of voters to protect the rural core of Volusia and direct growth into urban areas. The same activists who supported that measure are trying to put two new slow-growth ballot questions before voters in November.Elliot Eisenberg, a National Association of Home Builders senior economist who conducted the study, said the building industry has been paying for public services and creating revenue across the country. Since 1997, his group has done such a study more than 350 times throughout the nation and reached the same conclusions.In Central Florida, the study has also been conducted in Polk and Flagler counties, Darden said.Those studies, according to news reports, have been met with praise and skepticism from citizens and public officials from coast to coast.Home building, Eisenberg said, generates a multiplier effect, where money circulates throughout the economy and generates different sources of revenue. He couldn't say why local governments are struggling for new revenue at a time of rapid growth. But he stood behind the study, which will be released at 10:30 a.m. today at 3520 W. International Speedway Blvd., and noted it was based on federal government data."Our methodology," he said, "is clear."