Winter Haven holds first reading on updated municipal impact fees after Raftelis study

The Winter Haven City Commission held first reading of Ordinance O‑25‑25, which would update municipal services impact fees for police, fire, parks and recreation, and libraries using a study completed by Raftelis Financial Consultants dated May 29, 2025.

City staff summarized the Raftelis study and said the consultant reviewed appropriate levels of service and localized data to recommend fee adjustments that recover fair shares of capital costs permitted under the Florida Impact Fee Act. The consultant, Joe Williams of Raftelis, told commissioners that police impact fees are recommended to decrease because the existing police headquarters can accommodate additional staffing without major building expansion; fire, parks and recreation, and library impact fees are recommended to increase to reflect capital needs.

Staff said that if the commission adopts the recommendations on second reading with a supermajority (four of five commissioners), the police fee reduction would take effect immediately; the adjustments for parks, recreation, library and fire would take effect 90 days later (staff identified an intended effective date of about Oct. 1, 2025). Staff also noted that, under current state law, impact fees may not be indexed for automatic annual increases and that the city intends to revisit impact fees on approximately a three‑year cycle to remain current with development costs.

The item will return for a public workshop on June 18 and second reading on June 23; no public commenters spoke at tonight's first reading. Staff and the consultant answered commissioners' questions during the meeting and said additional information will be provided at the upcoming workshop.