Schertz panels back updated water/wastewater master plans and maximum impact fees; recommend phase‑in

SCHERTZ, Texas — Two city advisory bodies on Jan. 22 recommended that the City Council adopt updated water and wastewater master plans and a companion impact‑fee study that sets maximum development impact fees of $8,814 per living unit equivalent (LUE) for water and $5,556 per LUE for wastewater, with a staff‑proposed three‑year phase‑in.

The Planning and Zoning Commission voted 5-0 to recommend that the City Council incorporate the updated water and wastewater master plans into the comprehensive plan. Later the Capital Improvement Advisory Committee (CIAC) voted 6-1 to recommend the council adopt the land‑use assumptions, capital improvement plan (CIP) and the consultant’s calculated maximum impact fees and the three‑year phase‑in schedule to implement those fees.

Why it matters: The master plans and CIP identify projects the city says are needed both to address current system deficiencies and to provide capacity for anticipated growth through 2050. The impact‑fee calculation apportions the portion of project costs that can legally be charged to new development; adopting higher fees would shift some project costs from existing ratepayers to incoming development, while a phase‑in spreads the change over several years.

City staff presentation and modeling Kathy, a city water/wastewater planner, told both bodies the update relies on a consultant model and 2018 land‑use maps adjusted with 2022 development information as the baseline for growth assumptions. Staff and the consultant modeled the existing water and sewer systems, compared conditions to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) rules and identified projects to address current deficiencies and to serve projected growth through 2050.

Kathy said the water model incorporated actual residential usage patterns, wholesale customer demands, pressure‑reducing valve settings and…