Lake Stevens council adopts 2026 fee resolution but defers transportation impact fees

Lake Stevens — The Lake Stevens City Council on Oct. 14 approved a 2026 fee resolution that increases most municipal fees, updates several long-unused charges and adds new permit and event fees, but the council removed the proposed traffic mitigation (TIZ) fee table for additional study.

The resolution, which city staff said will take effect Jan. 1, 2026, raises most fees by a five-year CPI-U adjustment of 5.36% and updates long-unused schedules including business-license and public-works right-of-way fees. The council voted to approve the package with the section titled “Traffic Mitigation Fees” (Table A, Section 2) omitted; council members said they want more time to review consultant methodology and potential project reductions before adopting transportation impact fees.

City staff and department managers told the council the package reflects several policy and technical changes. Carol Manis, the city’s building official, said, “The fee resolution will be implemented 01/01/2026,” and summarized the CPI-U approach and several new or changed fees, including a new annexation notice fee and updated business-license tiers that staff said had not been revised since 2006.

Planning manager Christie Schmidt led discussion of impact fees and proposed splitting the resolution so park impact fees —…