City presents required development impact fee audit; auditors find variance in growth assumptions and two fee misapplications
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Summary
Finance staff and external auditors presented the city's biennial development impact fee audit covering July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2024. The audit identified a variance between forecasted and actual growth and two instances of misapplied fees that staff corrected; staff said a new permitting system will reduce similar errors going forward.
Goodyear's finance director presented the required development impact fee audit at the March 24 meeting, summarizing findings from Heinfeld, Meach & Company, the third‑party firm that performed the review.
Finance Director Jared Askelson said the audit covers July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2024 and spanned two impact fee studies; Heinfeld, Meach & Company reviewed five statutory compliance areas: progress on the infrastructure improvement plan (IIP), collection and expenditure of fees, inequities in the fee plan, offsets for construction sales tax where applicable, and the annual reporting requirement.
The auditors reported two findings: first, a variance between the IIP forecast and actual growth — the forecast used in the earlier impact fee study differed from what occurred during the audit period; staff noted such variances are expected over time and can be addressed by adjusting projects during annual budget adoption. Second, auditors identified two instances where impact fees were miscalculated based on unit count or development type; staff said they corrected both instances with the applicants and that the new Accela permitting system adds approval controls to reduce future errors.
No council action was required; the public hearing was informational and closed with no votes. Staff indicated follow‑up through routine budget and permitting process changes.