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Port Orchard staff recommends per‑bedroom method for park impact fees to meet new state law
Summary
Staff proposed converting Port Orchard’s park impact fees to a per‑bedroom model (recommended $1,559 per bedroom using a four‑year average) to comply with Senate Bill 5258; staff warned of administrative complications with a square‑foot model and noted a June 30 statutory deadline for adoption of new fee schedules.
City staff recommended that Port Orchard adopt a per‑bedroom methodology for park impact fees to comply with state changes from Senate Bill 5258 and to preserve revenue stability, and said the city must adopt conforming impact‑fee schedules by June 30, 2025.
Nick Bond, community development director, summarized the legislative change and options evaluated: square‑foot vs. per‑bedroom approaches and multiple averaging periods for house size data. “The legislature passed Senate Bill 5258, which changed the requirements for how our impact fees are structured,” Bond told the committee. He said the city must adopt impact‑fee schedules that comply with the new law by June 30, 2025. Bond said staff initially examined a square‑foot approach but found permitting data does not reliably separate finished and unfinished space (for example, garages or unfinished basements), which could create inequities. He said the square‑foot approach would also push up fees sharply for large houses and reduce fees for smaller units.
Staff recommended a per‑bedroom method using a four‑year average of bedrooms that produces a per‑bedroom fee near $1,559. Bond said using the per‑bedroom method keeps fees “a little bit tighter to our existing fee schedule,” noting the city’s current single‑family fee is $6,251. He told the committee that the per‑bedroom approach also provides more predictable revenue and is administratively simpler than parsing finished square footage across permit records.
Bond also discussed accessory dwelling units (ADUs). State law caps an ADU’s impact fee at 50% of the fee for the principal structure; staff said they will include code language to calculate a notional fee on the principal structure and then reduce the ADU fee as needed to comply with the 50% limit.
Committee members suggested bringing the matter to a council work study or to the finance committee for broader council review. Bond said he planned to meet with the Home Builders Association for feedback and to return to council in March or, if needed, to work study in February. He emphasized the statutory adoption deadline of June 30, 2025, for the city’s revised fee schedules.
Ending: Staff recommended a four‑year average per‑bedroom fee and will continue stakeholder outreach; the city must adopt revised schedules by June 30, 2025 and staff will bring an ordinance and public hearing scheduling to the council for final action.
