Roswell committee approves hiring Tishler Bice for impact-fee update; council to ratify

Community Development Director Michelle Alexander told the Roswell City Council’s all-committees meeting on Jan. 14, 2025, that staff recommends awarding a contract for an update to the city’s development impact-fee study to consultant Tishler Bice and moving the contract to the regular council agenda for final approval.

Alexander said the city last updated its impact fees in 2015 and that the study will review fees that fund parks and recreation, transportation and public safety. “The last time you did an update was 2015,” she said, adding that the update will examine levels of service, the capital improvements element of the comprehensive plan, and financial reporting requirements the state requires for impact-fee programs.

The update is a budgeted item in the FY2025 work plan. Alexander told council members the city budgeted $100,000 for the study and that procurement returned a single responsive proposal at about $77,000, and that staff and purchasing recommend moving forward. She said the work should take roughly five months and could be shorter because Roswell already has recent studies — including a fire facilities analysis and an updated transportation master plan — that feed into the consultant’s work.

Why it matters: Impact fees are one-time developer charges intended to help pay for expanded infrastructure tied to new development so that existing residents are not solely burdened by growth. Alexander told the committee the city has collected about $9.5 million from impact fees since 2016 and noted that individual large projects that do not proceed can reduce expected revenue (she cited a hotel project that would have added roughly $225,000 had it been completed).

Discussion and concerns centered on competition for the contract, what the consultant would study, and how Roswell’s fees compare with nearby cities. Council Member Christine Hall asked whether the procurement drew many responses: "So we had 26 people, 26 companies basically look at this RFP, but we only got 1 proposal. Is that correct?" Staff replied that while many downloaded the RFP only one firm submitted a proposal. Several council members said they would like either more competition or to review the consultant’s prior work before the council vote; staff said councilors would have two weeks to review deliverables before the item reaches the full council.

Council Member Sarah Beeson supported reevaluating fees and noted academic research showing many municipalities undercharge impact fees. "I'm fully supportive of reevaluating these because it's been 10 years," Beeson said, adding that the study should evaluate different types of development (for example, multifamily versus single-family) rather than applying a single flat residential fee.

Staff clarified the study’s scope will examine method options, what types of capital projects are eligible for impact-fee funding, and how to align the fee program with Roswell’s comprehensive plan and economic development priorities. Alexander explained some projects on Roswell’s capital list would be partially funded by impact fees (for example, a listed project might attribute 20% of its cost to impact fees) and that the consultant can advise on prioritizing projects in the five‑year work program.

Motion and next steps: Committee members moved to forward the contract award to the city council. The motion to move forward and approve awarding the contract to Tishler Bice was made by Council Member Morflood and seconded by Council Member David Johnson; the committee voted to pass the motion unanimously. Staff said they will provide outstanding procurement follow-up (including a post-mortem on why only one proposal was received) and bring the contract for formal approval at the next council meeting.

What is not decided: The committee did not adopt any changes to impact-fee rates. Alexander and multiple council members emphasized that the consultant’s findings would present potential fee levels and methodology, but any change would be a future policy decision for the full council and must follow state requirements and the city’s ordinance and comprehensive-plan processes.

The committee also discussed legal and procedural limits: staff and the city attorney noted Roswell’s ordinance allows waivers or exceptions in some economic-development cases but does not allow charging more than the adopted fee schedule. The committee concluded the consultant’s report is advisory and that council policy choices will determine any final fee changes.