If you build a house in Hanover County, it will cost the county $14,954.

The money doesn't have anything to do with actual building costs.  It's what the county says it needs to provide public services -- such as schools and fire stations -- for your house.

It's a cash proffer and it offsets the impact of growth in the county.  The builder pays the money before concrete is poured for the first footing.

The proffer in Hanover might sound like a lot, but in Caroline County, it is $17,632, the highest among 20 localities in the Richmond area.

"We are not far out of line when you compare us to our northern neighbors," said Caroline County Administrator Percy C. Ashcraft.

Indeed. Prince William County recently deferred a decision to raise proffers to $51,113 for every house built, keeping its limit at $37,719 -- one of the highest in the state.

The pros and cons of cash proffers have been argued since they were instituted in Virginia 16 years ago.

"Everybody is in agreement that the system is broken," said William H. Shewmake, a Chesterfield County attorney who specializes in land use and zoning issues.

"I don't believe it is broken," said Allan Carmody, Chesterfield's director of budget and management. "But it is not providing all of the funding needed for capital facilities."

Cash proffers pay for 10 percent to 12 percent of capital improvements in the county, Carmody said.

In perspective, it's not that much, he said.

Shewmake said the proffer system encourages sprawl, because builders go where the land is cheaper to offset the cost of proffers.

Builders question the cost that proffers add to housing, pushing some buyers and public-service workers out of the market. They also wonder who exactly should pay those costs.

A broad-based revenue source is discussed as a possible solution.

Proponents say the cost of growth should be shared by everyone who benefits from the extra pizza parlor or dry cleaner that opened as a result of residential growth.

The proffer issue "is a great debate," Carmody said.

"In the end, the intent is the same," he said. "Everyone wants a great community. Let's all figure out the best way to do that. . . . If you have no schools or they are overcrowded, then builders don't have a market."

Builders and planning directors don't arm-wrestle over proffers, Carmody said. "We work together to mitigate the impact."

In most cases, builders pay the proffers and pass the cost to homebuyers -- but not always.

For example, four brothers and sisters are looking at paying $44,877 in proffers to Hanover. Each wants to build a house on property that's been in the family since 1928.

The family has paid property taxes for all these years. Property taxes are used the same way proffers are -- to pay for new schools, firehouses and libraries.

The family claims the cash proffer is double taxation. They say it seems odd to pay to build on their own property, while developers build for profit.

The county says others pay and so should they.

"Each home is expected to pay for its share of the cost of infrastructure," said Thomas Harris, a county spokesman.

Moreover, credit toward proffers is given for property taxes, Harris said. In a homesteading situation, the county allows for one proffer for one structure to be waived.

Cash proffers are supposed to be voluntary. But if they are not paid, a project may not win approval, builders say.

Carmody said Chesterfield has approved zonings for no cash proffers as well as cases for $15,600, the maximum amount.

The county might agree to waive the cash proffer, for example, if a developer proposes to clean up a blighted area or provide more work-force housing.

"There's nothing voluntary about them," said Tyler Craddock with the Home Building Association of Richmond.

A cash proffer is the politically easy tax, because prospective homeowners pay it, he said. "It's the 'welcome stranger' tax," Craddock said.

"It's a hidden tax, because you never see a line on a closing statement showing how much the proffer added to the cost of a home."

The courts have determined that they won't get involved in the reason projects are turned down, Shewmake said.

Richmond and Henrico County have no cash proffers. But they receive proffers in the form of new roads or land for parks, schools and fire stations.

No matter which way business costs are diced -- whether it's a cash proffer or a land proffer -- they are passed on to homebuyers.

Randy Silber, planning director for Henrico, said the county considered cash proffers two years ago.

"We looked at what the cash proffer might be and what we needed to generate revenue and decided against it," he said.

Developers sweeten their deals by offering to build or improve roads, Silber said.

Developer HHHunt, for example, built a four-lane divided road on Nuckols Road to help with traffic generated by people moving into new subdivisions in western Henrico.

Such offers are attractive to Henrico, because the county maintains nearly all its roads, Silber said. Most other counties rely on the Virginia Department of Transportation.

"In the future, who knows what the county may need to do to deal with potential revenue sources," Silber said. "At this point, we have been able to work with developers to obtain the property and improvements we need."

Developers in Chesterfield, in addition to paying cash proffers, may offer land for a road right of way.

"Forty percent of the cost of building new roads is land acquisition, so if you want to play ball and save the county money, you provide the right of way," Shewmake said.

These donations are not freebies. They add to the bottom line, pushing up the cost of housing.

Some would argue that developers should pony up and tighten up their profit margins.

Builders say development is risky and they have good years and bad years -- this being one of those not-so-good years.

Chesterfield started cash proffers in 1991, suggesting $2,000 for every house built. It did not reflect the true cost, but the county wanted to phase in proffers.

The proffer limit now is $15,600.

The county was one of the first to institute proffers after the system won approval from the legislature in 1989.

It has been aggressive in raising proffers in response to a burgeoning population.

About 2,400 houses are built in the county every year. Yet, only 35 percent of the building permits for those homes have cash proffers, Carmody said.

It takes years for projects to come to fruition, so most in the pipeline predate cash proffers.

Proffers are locked in at zoning and paid when building permits are obtained.

Although the maximum proffer is $15,600, the actual proffer amount paid for houses coming on the market is $5,500 to $5,800 because of the time lag, Carmody said.

If cash proffers alone inflate the cost of housing, then houses would be more expensive in Chesterfield than Henrico, Carmody said.  That is not the case, he said. Prices are comparable.