Menomonee Falls board adopts amendment to Chapter 42 to add police facilities to impact fees; proposed fee rises to $15,167

Following a public hearing on Aug. 4, the Village Board of Trustees voted unanimously to amend Chapter 42, Article 2 of the municipal code to update Menomonee Falls’ impact fees and add police facilities to the list of eligible projects.

Tom Hoffman, Director of Engineering and Development, said the amendment is tied to a 2025 public facility needs assessment by the village’s consultant. "Impact fees are a fee that is charged to new development that would pay for new or expanding public infrastructure to serve that growth," Hoffman said, explaining that impact fees are charged at the time of a building permit and are intended to have new development pay for the incremental cost of growth-related facilities.

Hoffman identified projects used in the needs assessment: three planned wells in Aero Park (Wells 12–14), a Bella Vista booster station to serve higher-elevation areas, a proposed public service training center, an addition to the utility office at the DPW facility, and modernization/expansion of police facilities at Village Hall. He said the consultant allocates costs between new development (growth) and existing deficiency; for example, the training-center share was shown as 80 percent attributable to new growth and 20 percent deficiency, while the police-area expansion was described as about 74 percent growth and 26 percent deficiency.

Hoffman presented a representative calculation showing an existing total impact-fee figure of $12,374 rising to $15,167 under the proposed schedule. He said the village would not be the highest in the region but would be near the top. He also noted that state statute contains refund provisions if collected fees are not spent within required time frames.

The public hearing was opened and, with no speakers advancing during the hearing, Trustee Tada moved to approve the ordinance language amending Chapter 42, Article 2. Village Manager Mark Fitzgerald reminded trustees that three projects coming in 2026 would see roughly 70 percent of the combined cost paid by impact fees (police expansion and the training center) and that a small expansion to the public works facility would be 100 percent funded by impact fees. The board voted by voice; the chair recorded all ayes and the motion carried.

Trustees discussed timing and growth projections; Hoffman said the village is experiencing a high single-family development pace on the west side, citing about 95 single-family starts and duplex starts already in July and an average closer to 90–100 per year in prior years. He said impact-fee rates and needs assessments will be revisited as projects and costs change.

Next steps: the approved amendment moves the village to the updated impact-fee schedule and authorizes staff to allocate collected fees to the projects identified in the needs assessment. The board did not record roll-call tallies by name in the minutes; the voice vote was recorded as unanimous.