Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Impact Fees topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Consultant outlines impact‑fee basics, process and tradeoffs in Beaumont presentation
Summary
HDR senior project manager Grady Reid presented an overview of water and wastewater impact fees, including allowable uses, service-area definitions, the capital improvement plan process and the role of an appointed advisory committee; council and public raised questions about costs, exemptions and effects on growth.
Grady Reid, senior project manager for HDR Engineering, delivered an "Impact Fee 101" presentation to the Planning Commission and City Council, describing how one‑time impact fees are typically calculated and applied to new or expanded development for water and wastewater infrastructure.
Reid told the joint meeting that impact fees are "a one time payment" levied on new or expanded development to recover city costs for new infrastructure that serves growth. He described the standard process: define a service area, prepare land‑use and utility-demand forecasts for a 10‑year planning horizon, identify a growth‑related capital improvement plan (CIP), compute the portion of each project attributable to growth, and divide that cost across projected new living‑unit equivalents (LUEs) to derive a maximum fee per LUE. Reid explained the state law options for avoiding double charging — either cut the computed fee in half or apply a rate credit based on what new customers will pay through utility rates.
Reid emphasized limits on use of impact‑fee proceeds: they may fund construction, engineering, surveying, financing and debt service for growth‑related capital projects, but not operations and maintenance, rehabilitation of existing deficiencies, or costs driven by new regulatory mandates. He also explained that impact fees can apply beyond city limits within the extraterritorial jurisdiction or designated water/wastewater service areas and that school districts are exempt unless they agree by contract.
Reid described the Capital Improvements Advisory Committee (CIAC) role: the planning commission commonly serves as the CIAC, reviews land‑use assumptions and the CIP, adopts an impact‑fee report, and presents recommendations to council. He said council would hold two public hearings before adopting any ordinance and could adopt a fee up to, but not exceeding, the CIAC's calculated maximum.
Council members and members of the public asked about likely fee ranges and study costs. Reid gave a preliminary industry range for comparable cities of roughly $3,000 to $7,000 combined water and wastewater per LUE and said HDR's study-fee estimate was approximately $45,000. He also addressed concerns that impact fees could deter development, saying in his experience they do not generally stop growth and that larger meters (commercial or industrial) can produce higher fee amounts. Members of the public and council discussed waiver options, administrative costs, who pays the fee (typically assessed at plat and collected on building permit issuance), and whether exemptions should be codified or handled by council on a case-by-case basis.
