Growth or development affects a rural community in three separate but interrelated areas: private, social, and public sectors. Private impacts are economic shocks to businesses and citizens of the community. Social impacts affect the community structure as well as individuals within the community, i.e., increased property tax costs may create hardships for young residents who wish to purchase housing, as well as for older residents on fixed incomes. Public sector is impacted by growth because elected officials are ultimately responsible for coping with changes in the community. Officials must deal with increased demands for public services and rising property tax rates, planning, and zoning decisions. Because of the importance of public sector decisions, it is essential that officials carefully analyze the potential impacts of growth. This publication attempts to provide a simple framework that can be used by officials and citizens to assess the effect of a specific development on public sector costs and revenues over time. (AH)