Committee reviews impact‑fee benchmarks for parks, water and sewer; staff to clarify ordinance figures

The Finance Advisory Committee reviewed comparative impact‑fee data for parks, water and sewer from nearby municipalities as part of an information briefing. Staff said the spreadsheet drew from municipal ordinances, comprehensive plans and administrator responses; committee members noted some apparent discrepancies and asked staff to confirm current ordinance amounts.

Discussion highlighted that impact fees can be calculated on different bases (meter size for water, unit counts or acreage for parks and sewer) and that some neighboring communities tie fee schedules to CPI adjustments. Staff said some figures on the spreadsheet came from comprehensive‑plan recommendations rather than ordinance language and that local administrators sometimes waive or change implementation in practice. For example, staff cited Marshall's ordinance language that set certain fees but said the administrator was uncertain whether the fee remained in active use.

Committee members also discussed which party pays specific fees: staff explained that in the village's current fee practice the owner typically pays public water and sewer impact fees, while developers commonly pay playground improvement fees and fees‑in‑lieu of land dedication; some fees are triggered when preliminary plats or certified survey maps are approved rather than at lot sale.

Committee members asked staff to reconcile the parks plan recommendations with current ordinance rates (committee members observed that a recommended active‑recreation fee on one page of the parks plan did not match the current fee schedule shown elsewhere). Staff said they would verify the authoritative ordinance amounts, check whether CPI escalation language had been applied, and return an updated table to the board for policy discussion; no rate changes were adopted at the meeting.