STUART — Signs of economic distress abound in Martin County and the outlook for next year doesn’t appear to be much better.

Martin County’s population dipped slightly since last year, school enrollment is expected to decline for two years, government revenues are down and new construction has dropped, several local and state officials said this week during government meetings.

The housing market is so bad two developers asked Martin County to rescind their hard won final site plan approvals for new subdivisions so they can delay paying impact fees and utility connection charges, said Growth Management Director Nicki van Vonno.

“That is a recent trend and it’s directly tied to the applicant’s ability to go forward or not,” van Vonno said. “Money is tight.”

The County Commission voted unanimously on Tuesday to rescind the final site plan approval for the Pentalago subdivision, 42 ranchettes on Citrus Boulevard near Interstate 95 in Palm City Farms.

The county gets to keep $20,950 in development review and engineering fees paid by developer Tight Line Lakes of Palm City, van Vonno said. And the developer must pay the fees and meet all the county’s requirements a second time to regain the final site plan approval and start construction.

The developer of Ault Acres, four ranchettes north of Salerno Road, has also asked to have final site plan approval rescinded, van Vonno said. And the review of the plans for 70 houses in the MacArthur West subdivision in Hobe Sound is on hold.

In addition, the County Commission killed the Quillen Development of Regional Impact in Indiantown on Tuesday after 3 1/2 years of reviewing the plans for 2,250 houses and 150,000 square feet of commercial space.

Meanwhile, the county’s income from impact fees on new construction dropped to $1.6 million this year compared to $16 million in 2005 at the height of the building boom, said Assistant County Administrator Jim Sherman. Sales tax income is also dropping.

“Revenues are going to continue to be a big issue for us,” Sherman said. “We think next year is going to be tough too.”

The financial situation is also difficult from a statewide point of view, said state Rep. Adam Fetterman, D-Port St. Lucie.

“From a budgetary standpoint, next year is going to be tough, if not worse than this,” Fetterman said. “Projections are grim and I believe we will have at least one more very difficult year.”

The county’s population dipped below 144,000 people in 2009, a small decrease from last year, said J. Lisle Bozeman, capital planning specialist for the school district. But the population is projected to grow by nearly 6,000 people by 2015.

The school population is expected to decline by 89 students in the upcoming school year and by 58 students in the following school year, a district record shows.

“The school district is expected to continue to experience a small drop in enrollment in the next two years, but it is expected to turn around in 2011,” Bozeman said.

MARTIN COUNTY SCHOOLS ENROLLMENT PROJECTION

2009: 17,229; -89

2010: 17,171; -58

2011: 17,264; +93

2012: 17,424; +160

2013: 17,707; +283

By George Andreassi, TCPalm.com

Tags: application, development, fees, government, housing, Indiantown, lake, money, North, roads, sale, sales, Schools, Stuart, students, taxes, trend, utility, vote

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