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Advisory committee reviews water and wastewater impact fee update; staff recommends keeping current fees
Summary
Consultants presented a water and wastewater impact‑fee update to the Capital Improvement Advisory Committee showing maximum allowable fees near current levels; staff recommended retaining current fees because the calculated maximums are only slightly higher and a required third‑party audit would erode benefits of a small increase.
The City of Cedar Park’s Capital Improvement Advisory Committee on July 15 received a technical update on proposed water and wastewater impact fees and a recommended path forward that preserves the current fee schedule.
Stephanie Nysus of Freese & Nichols (presenting for Bridle Nichols/consultant team) summarized the technical methodology: identify a 10‑year capital improvement plan (CIP), calculate the portion of each project attributable to 10‑year growth, apply the statutory credit required by Chapter 395 of the Texas Local Government Code, and divide eligible costs by projected growth in living‑unit equivalents (LUEs) to derive a maximum allowable impact fee per service unit.
Nysus presented impact‑fee calculations that produced maximum allowable fees of $3,197 per service unit for water and $3,181 per service unit for wastewater. "We do apply the bridal [statutory] credit that's required by chapter 395 ... in the alternative you can apply 50% credit," Nysus explained when walking through the methodology. Staff noted those updated maximums are near Cedar Parkcurrent fees and that most of the CIP costs are existing infrastructure that already contain excess capacity.
Public‑works staff recommended retaining the current fee schedule rather than raising fees to the calculated maximums. Nanette McCartan (Public Works) and staff said a small increase could trigger a new third‑party financial audit required by Chapter 395 and that the audit cost could eliminate the fiscal benefit of a modest fee increase. "What staff is recommending at this point is just to retain our current fee," staff said.
The consultant reviewed the CIP maps and described water drivers (production capacity, storage, fire flow) and wastewater drivers (treatment capacity, lift stations, conveyance to avoid sanitary sewer overflows). The water CIP included roughly 20 miles of existing pipeline with 4 miles of proposed pipeline and a new pump station/ground storage in the northwest service area; the wastewater CIP included about 19 miles of existing pipe, four existing lift stations and proposed expansions including the Brushy Creek regional treatment plant expansion.
Nysus outlined a timeline: staff will submit the impact‑fee report by Aug. 12, return to the committee Aug. 19 for review, and present recommended ordinance language and a public‑hearing schedule to City Council in September and October, with a public hearing tentatively set for Oct. 23 and second reading in November. Chapter 395 requires five‑year updates and added new audit rules; staff noted the law also restricts frequency of increases (no increase within three years of a previous increase).
Committee business also recorded a separate vote to approve minutes from the May 20 meeting. Committee members moved to approve the minutes and voted unanimously to adopt them.
No formal fee change was adopted at the July 15 meeting; staff and consultants plan additional review and a public hearing sequence later in the year.
