City reports clean biannual audit of system development (impact) fees; no council action required

Sylvia Delat, Chandler’s budget and research administrator, presented the results of the city’s biannual system development fee audit during a public hearing on March 27.

Delat told council that all Arizona municipalities that collect system development or impact fees must comply with state law requiring annual fee reports and a biannual audit or advisory committee review. The city’s most recent audit, conducted by Heinfeld & Meech, covered fiscal years 2022–23 and 2023–24 and was based on the city’s 2019 land-use assumptions and infrastructure improvement plan. The city posted its most recent annual report in August 2024.

Auditors compared growth projections in the adopted 2019 plan to actual growth for the two covered fiscal years, reviewed the progress of projects in the infrastructure improvement plan, sampled 80 building permits to confirm correct fee application, and sampled 50 expenditures to verify charges were for plan projects. Delat said the auditors reported a clean audit, noting only “slight differences in growth projections” compared with actual growth. No exceptions were reported.

Because the session was a public hearing to receive the audit report, Delat told the council that no formal action was required at the meeting. Council closed the public hearing after hearing the presentation and without further public comment.

Delat said the city may need to update its land-use assumptions and infrastructure plan sooner than the five-year timetable because of inflationary impacts on capital projects and to add new infill-related projects in parks and public works.