Georgetown advances stepped increases to water, wastewater and transportation impact fees after public hearing

The Georgetown City Council on July 22 held a public hearing on updated water and wastewater impact fees and approved first readings of ordinances to amend both those fees and the city's transportation impact fees, advancing stepped increases intended to have new growth pay for new infrastructure.

City staff and consultants told the council the updates reflect revised land-use assumptions and capital improvement plans reviewed by an impact-fee committee. Wes (last name not specified), a city staff member leading the presentation, said the water capital-improvement plan includes roughly $1.9 billion in projects for the next 10 years, of which about $825 million is eligible for impact-fee reimbursement. He said the wastewater CIP is approximately $1 billion with about $400 million eligible for reimbursement.

The proposed fees use a stair-step approach to reach higher amounts over time while allowing council oversight. For water, the committee and council supported phased increases that staff summarized as roughly $11,000 at the end of this month, $12,000 the following year and $13,000 in 2027. For wastewater the committee had proposed $7,000 this year, $8,500 next year and $10,000 at the cap; council directed staff toward a faster climb, with staff showing a schedule of $7,000 now, $10,250 in August 2026 and a maximum of about $13,500 thereafter. Staff said the ordinance language can be revised to permit the council to reduce future steps but, under the new state law cited by staff, the council cannot later raise the fees beyond the stair-step amounts set now.

Tommy Tucker, president-elect of the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin, spoke in the public hearing representing the association and urged caution. "This is about affordability," Tucker said. "Any increase in cost, whether it's concrete, lumber, fees, etcetera, it impacts affordability and households being able to buy homes in Central Texas, not just Georgetown." He said the HBA supports the stair-step approach and is willing to work with staff to test assumptions on growth, interest rates and other inputs. Tucker said his group did not oppose the water increases but preferred the committee's wastewater recommendations to staff's higher maximums.

Council and staff said the fee study used conservative financial assumptions: 3% annual inflation for line items, 5% for facilities, 3% assumed interest earnings on balances and a 30-year debt amortization at an assumed 5% interest rate. Consultants named by staff included CDM Smith for the utilities modeling and NewGen Strategies for the financial analysis. Staff said the required public hearing was scheduled in accordance with state law and advertised in newspapers serving the city's water CCN area, which staff noted includes parts of Marble Falls and Killeen as well as Georgetown.

The council approved a first reading of the ordinance amending chapter 13.32 of the city code to update water and wastewater impact fees and approved a first reading of an ordinance amending chapter 12.46 to update transportation impact fees. Staff said a second reading is scheduled for the council's Aug. 12 meeting and that the water and wastewater fee updates are proposed to take effect Aug. 31, though council may revisit the scheduled increases before those dates.

Details on the timetable, specific effective dates and the final fee amounts are subject to the second reading and any ordinance language changes council directs staff to make before that final vote.