The Waxahachie City Council voted to adopt updated land-use assumptions, capital improvement plans and revised assessment schedules for water, wastewater and road impact fees, the city announced after a public hearing and staff presentation. City consultants recommended adopting the technical reports and collecting up to the 50 percent collection rate allowed under Chapter 395 of the Texas Local Government Code.

Consultants said the update covers a 10-year planning window (2025–2035) and focuses on new-capacity projects — road widenings, new roadways and water/wastewater expansions — that growth will require. "An impact fee is a one-time charge against new development for the impact put on infrastructure, specifically roads, water, and wastewater," consultant Eddie Minh Haas said during the presentation.

The council heard detailed technical material from Friese and Nichols and from the consultants who led the roadway and water/wastewater updates. The highway/roadway plan was tied to the city’s thoroughfare plan and splits road calculations into five legally defined service areas. The consultants said the town’s 10-year growth forecast anticipates rising population and employment that will require additional capacity.

Why it matters: the updated fee schedule determines how much of the capital cost of new infrastructure will be charged to new development versus paid through other revenue sources such as property taxes. Staff and the advisory committee recommended adopting the reports and using a 50 percent collection rate as a policy starting point, and they recommended revisiting the numbers sooner than the five-year statutory review cycle because new state rules will freeze whatever rate the council sets for three years.

Key details: the consultants described about $690 million in roadway project planning-level costs, of which roughly $72 million is attributable to 10-year anticipated growth; water projects with total planning costs above $387 million have about $76.6 million of 10‑year impact-fee-eligible capacity; wastewater projects total roughly $662.8 million with about $93.9 million attributed to the next 10 years. Service-unit and trip-rate tables were updated to calculate per-unit fees; the consultants presented benchmarking against comparable North Texas communities.

Discussion vs. action: councilmember (unnamed) moved to approve an ordinance adopting the updated land-use assumptions, CIPs and revised fees; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote with no roll-call tally recorded in the minutes. The council also accepted a recommendation that the update be revisited after three years to allow for a fuller audit and credit analysis under the new state rules before any change to the adopted ceiling.

Votes and next steps: the motion passed on the council floor. Staff will implement the adopted schedules and the council directed that the next programmatic update include an audit and a credit analysis so the city can consider collection levels above 50 percent in future updates. The ordinance provides for severability and an effective date per the city’s standard form.