Commission adopts wastewater impact fee service area report and sets April 5 effective date

The Bozeman City Commission voted unanimously March 25 to accept the 2025 Wastewater Impact Fee Service Area Report and adopt a resolution making the new fee schedule effective April 5, 2025.

City staff and consultant Collin McCawini of Tishler, Bice & Associates presented a methodology to calculate growth‑related costs for wastewater collection and treatment. McCawini said the study separates treatment and collection components and uses equivalent dwelling units (EDUs) and meter sizes to allocate cost. He told commissioners collection projects carry a larger per‑EDU cost because of the need to oversize mains for peak flows.

Chris Saunders of Community Development explained that impact fees are authorized by state law and are limited to capital costs for capacity expansion, not operations and maintenance. Commissioners heard that the city’s wastewater capital improvement plan lists roughly $68.8 million in projects over a multi‑year horizon; the report limits fee recovery to the next 10 years of growth and credits the existing impact‑fee fund balance so the city does not overcollect.

The draft schedule raises some commercial and multifamily fees and increases the single‑family EDU amount to roughly $2,600 per EDU after the collection and treatment components are combined; the estimate of revenue the fee is expected to generate over 10 years is about $32.3 million, the consultant said. Commissioners asked about the gap between total CIP costs and projected fee revenue; staff and the utilities director explained that many large projects are financed with debt over longer terms and that impact fees are intended to cover the growth‑related share rather than the full, multi‑decade cost.

Deputy Mayor Morrison moved to accept the service area report; the commission voted 5–0 to accept it. The commission then considered and adopted a resolution to set an effective date for the new schedule of April 5, 2025; that vote was also 5–0.

Ending: Staff said they will post the new fee schedule and incorporate the rates into permitting procedures beginning April 5, and commissioners asked staff to monitor demand patterns and the effects of inflation when updating the next fee study.