Flower Mound committee approves semiannual impact fee report; five-year fee update underway

The Capital Improvement Advisory Committee on Monday approved the town’s semiannual impact fee report for the period ending Sept. 30, 2024, and heard that staff has begun a five‑year update of impact fees with a consultant.

Lee Rodriguez, the town’s capital improvements program manager, presented the report and said, “we collected a little over $800,000 from April 1 through September 30” in roadway impact fees and spent about $300,000 in the same period. He said the committee’s materials show “as of 09/30/2024, we have a little over $4,000,000 in available roadway impact fees.”

Why it matters: Impact fees are charged to new development to pay for the additional capacity projects — road, water and wastewater — required by growth. The semiannual report tracks revenues, expenses and balances by fund and by service area, and the five‑year update will reestablish fees based on current capital projects and growth projections.

Rodriguez summarized water and wastewater activity for the six‑month reporting period: “we collected about a little over 700,000 in revenue [for water], about 1,700,000 or 1,800,000 in expenses” for that period, which staff attributed largely to the Morris Road Waterline Phase 3 and the 377 Waterline Loop projects. For wastewater, Rodriguez said the period revenue was about $400,000 and period expenses about $2,000,000, with much of the spending going to the Oak Street lift station and Forest Main project. He reported an approximately $10,500,000 annual balance in the water impact fee fund and roughly $8,000,000 (reported as an "unavailable balance" in the presentation) in the wastewater fund.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about how impact fee service areas work and how the town tracks funds. Rodriguez explained roadway impact fees are divided into three service areas (A, B and C) and that fees collected in a service area must be spent on projects serving that same area. He said, “we will always keep them separated until they’re eventually spent.”

Brian Weltenberg, assistant director of public works, said the upcoming impact fee update will include a comparison with neighboring jurisdictions. He noted that since the last update the town now charges full recoverable roadway impact fees and 80% recoverable water and wastewater fees, and said during the previous update the town trended lower relative to peers; "we're probably mid... middle 60%" in the range of comparable municipalities, he said.

The committee was also briefed that the town has begun the formal impact‑fee update process with a consultant; Rodriguez said that process was kicked off the prior week and will lead to recommended fee adjustments and eventual adoption actions later in the process.

Action: A motion to approve the semiannual impact fee report as presented passed on a roll call vote. The motion and second were recorded on the meeting record but the mover and seconder were not identified by name in the transcript. Voting commissioners recorded as voting "Aye" were: Commissioner Jackson, Commissioner Harris, Commissioner Yostas, Vice Chair Hobbs, Commissioner Langley, Commissioner Baick, Commissioner Dench, Commissioner Koenig, and Commissioner (name not specified in the roll call). The meeting record shows the item passed.

The presentation included tables of historical annual balances (2020 through fiscal year ending 09/30/2024) for roadway, water and wastewater funds, and a list of current projects using impact fees. Rodriguez told the committee the next semiannual report will cover through March 31, 2025.

The committee did not take separate policy action beyond approving the report; staff noted the fee update is in progress and will be presented to the committee as the study advances.