“For lack of better words, I’ll call it an impact fee. The difference is the money generated by the fee would stay in the district where the transaction takes place,” said Schwartzkopf, who began floating the plan to developers in recent weeks and sprung it on fellow legislators May 8 in hopes of finding support for the proposal before the General Assembly recesses June 30.

Schwartzkopf is proposing a 1/2 percent fee be tacked onto real estate transactions and have the funds deposited into an account legislators can oversee for projects in their district. “This is in the preliminary stages, but my thought is that it would work much like the Suburban Street Fund, where we have the ability to pay for infrastructure upgrades in a more timely manner than the state does and in a more direct manner which corresponds to the accelerated development we have seen,” said Schwartzkopf.

The Suburban Street Fund is a moniker for accounts granted to each of the 62 legislators for discretionary use funding transportation related projects. Currently, each legislator is allotted $300,000 annually through accounts overseen by the Delaware Department of Transportation. In contrast to that account, funds available to legislators under this provision would fluctuate in relationship to the transactions in their individual districts.

“Some districts will undeniably make out better than others, such as the coastal areas where property values are high and sales are frequent, but every district in the state would experience a positive impact,” he said.

One of the developers who has weighed in on the idea is Dan McGreavy, president of Caldera Properties. “In general, I support a concept where developers contribute to a better living environment. Sussex County has been good to our industry and we want to help maintain it as a premiere resort destination,” said McGreavy, whose company’s development has been concentrated in Bethany Beach, Rehoboth Beach and Lewes. “I think a 1/2 percent sounds reasonable; it is going to be important to decide whether it is fair to impose this on just new development or all transactions. I’d like to sit down with the legislators and iron it out,” he said.

Schwartzkopf is hoping to organize such a think-tank in short order to have the legislation on the floor of the House by June.

“I’ve been evaluating the support and opposition of the bill, and it seems like I should move forward. The idea is to keep the money in the district impacted by the development for infrastructure and related costs,” said Schwartzkopf.

Delaware is one of a mere dozen states with extremely little local ownership of roads. In most cases, the state is responsible for maintenance of even the smallest or shortest of roads. As a result, local governments tend not to have a lesser role in generating funds for transportation. While no formal plans have been made for a meeting, Schwartzkopf said he is open to suggestions on modifying the proposal.

Wendy O. Baker, president of the Sussex County Land Trust, said community support may be decided by the details. “I would be in favor of the idea if some of the funds could be designated for open space preservation.”

Schwartzkopf responded, “That is a very good point. I am willing to talk this out and tailor it to our needs but I believe it makes sense for the state and the district to move forward on this right now.”