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Leesburg staff recommend one‑time water, sewer impact fee increases citing extraordinary circumstances
Summary
City staff reviewed a consultant'completed impact fee study and recommended increasing water and wastewater impact fees (one‑time) to reflect growth, higher construction costs and a statutory 50% cap option; commission set a second workshop and directed staff to proceed toward ordinance adoption.
Cliff Kelsey, public works director, told the City Commission at its Aug. 11 utility workshop that a consultant'led impact fee study shows the city's current water and sewer impact fees are low compared with peers and should be raised to ensure new development pays a greater share of system capacity costs.
The study's results, Kelsey said, show the recommended increase would raise the water fee about 67% and wastewater by a similar amount. "We're looking at increasing water by 67%, wastewater very close to the same," Kelsey said during his presentation. He underscored that state law requires any change be adopted within 12 months of the study and that a 90‑day grace period applies before a new or increased fee can be imposed.
Why it matters: Impact fees are intended to have growth "pay for growth" by covering the capital cost of added water and sewer capacity. City staff told the commission that extraordinary circumstances (rapid population growth, a high number of entitlements in process and sharply higher construction costs since 2019) justify pursuing a larger, one‑time increase under the state's extraordinary‑circumstances provision.
Details: Kelsey said staff provided the consultant with the city's assets, capital improvement plan and development pipeline, and the consultant calculated per‑gallon capacity costs using the city's level of service assumptions (300 gallons per day per ERU for water and 250 GPD per ERU for wastewater). The presentation showed the city currently charges a relatively low fee and that the recommended level would keep Leesburg competitive versus neighboring jurisdictions while raising more revenue per new connection.
Options and next steps: Staff summarized two implementation paths: (1) phase a 50% cap increase in over several years, or (2) pursue a single, full increase immediately by invoking the extraordinary‑circumstances provision. The commission scheduled a second workshop for Aug. 25 at 5 p.m. and was told that, should the commission direct adoption after workshops, ordinances could be introduced in September with implementation after the statutory 90‑day grace period (staff estimated a January effective date under the current schedule).
Public comment: Tony Oriolo of Hanover Land Company spoke at the meeting in support of the fee update, saying he had reviewed the study and that the development community "fully support[s] the impact fee increases" and the principle that growth should pay for growth.
Outcome: The commission directed staff to continue the workshop process and prepare ordinances for potential adoption; no final ordinance was adopted at the Aug. 11 meeting.
What to watch: The commission will revisit the study at the Aug. 25 workshop, where staff expects to present a recommended ordinance and implementation schedule that complies with state impact‑fee law.
