What are "Impact Fees"?

• "Impact Fees" are the charges jurisdictions make for roads, water, wastewater, schools, etc. that are charged to new developments to fund capital improvements needed to serve new growth.
• The land use impact fees included in this national survey included, single-family detached, multi-family, retail, office and industrial developments.

Source: National Impact Fee Survey, August 2007

Note: NA - Parks, Library & School fees are rarely charged to non-residential uses.

Source: National Impact Fee Survey, August 2007

Note: NA - Parks, Library & School fees are rarely charged to non-residential uses.

Question? If Utah had a School Impact Fee would we be having the same "split the district" and "East vs West" discussion we are having now? The proposed "West Bench" housing development would be providing $1.4B for new school construction.

Talking with the Receptionist, Pausing When You Speak and Other Secrets of Leadership Success

• Several years ago, while visiting a regional branch of Lee Hecht Harrison, a global career management services company, then-president Stephen Harrison was stopped short by "Ray," his chief operating officer. "You didn't greet the receptionist," said Ray, who proceeded to show Harrison how to do what he called the "two minute schmooze." Introducing himself, Ray inquired about the receptionist's commute and impressions of the company.
• Ray explained to Harrison: "A receptionist is a corporate concierge. They will talk to more important people in a day - suppliers, customers, even CEOs - than you will talk to all year."
• Enron-level scandals are not averted by talking to the receptionist alone, but Harrison, speaking at the recent 11th annual Wharton Leadership Conference, contended that small acts like this are part of what makes for an ethical corporate culture. And culture, not "heavy handed legislation" like the 2002 Sarbanes- Oxley Act, is a key safeguard against moral lapses, he said in his talk.

  Executive Pomposity

• For Harrison, even the word "ethics" itself seems too abstract; he replaces it with what he sees as a more intuitive, common-sense word: decency.
• "Decency is not just about being nice," noted Harrison, author of The Manager's Book of Decencies. Rather, it is about creating a "bubble wrap" of good deeds that will protect a company in hard times. "Our willingness to be decent at work cannot depend on whether business is up or whether we're in a bad mood or whether it's raining. Decencies don't amount to anything unless we take the trouble to make them come alive through concrete acts in all kinds of weather."
• For those at the top, this can mean such actions as being the first to volunteer for ethics training; honoring those with unglamorous jobs, like office cleaning; and listening to people at all levels of the organization. He pointed to the example of Herb Baum, former CEO of Dial, who used to host "Hot Dogs with Herb" on the factory floor, where he invited employees to talk with him about anything on their minds.
• Being accessible is as important as being humble, said Harrison. "Remember Ed Koch?" The former mayor of New York, in his second year in office, drove from borough to borough, asking people, "How am I doing?" "He went from being well-liked to well- loved." Harrison also recalled meeting up one night with a long-lost college roommate, Ruben Mark, chairman and CEO of Colgate Palmolive. Over a Japanese dinner, Harrison asked him how he explained his success. "He leaned across the table and said, 'That's easy. I make absolutely sure nothing creative or important is ever identified as my idea,'" said Harrison. "Now that's humility."
• He also counseled executives to avoid the trap of "executive pomposity." He first heard that term in a 1967 speech from the CEO of Technico, who spoke specifically about executive "telephone pomposity." Said Harrison: "I have answered my own phone since then."
• Being generous with praise and recognition will earn leaders what Harrison calls "psychic income." He gave the example of the chairman and CEO of Campbell Soup who "at the end of every day gathers his people to hear about neat stuff done that day and then handwrites thank-you notes to the people who did it. If you go around Campbell Soup, all over the world, you will find those notes framed."
• A key test of a leader's sensitivity comes at layoff time. While Western companies, and particularly American companies, have come to accept the reality of the need for layoffs, "what they should not come to terms with is a downsizing episode that is anything but sensitive, well thought out and has preserving personal dignity as the highest priority," Harrison said.
• Immediately after layoffs take place, for example, a leader should be "very visible and accessible," ready to answer questions, reduce anxieties and even assuage the guilt of those who survive the layoffs. "It takes courage to put your chest out, shoulders back, and be there to deal with this. It's a decency, and people will appreciate it."
• At the end of the day, said Harrison, the words of poet Maya Angelou ring true: "People will forget what you said, they will even forget what you did, but they will never forget what you made them feel."
• Source: The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania