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Clear Lake council approves midyear budget updates and to use $528,443 in impact fees for 18th Avenue extension
Summary
Council approved a midyear budget amendment and agreed to appropriate $528,443 in development impact fees toward the Airport Road / 18th Avenue extension; Director Wells also outlined efforts to recover transient-occupancy revenue from unlicensed short-term rentals.
At its Feb. 15 meeting, the Clear Lake City Council voted unanimously to adopt midyear budget adjustments that include appropriating development impact fees and several targeted operational changes.
Director Wells told the council the development impact-fee balance is $528,443 as of June 30, 2023, and staff recommended using the total balance "for the Airport Road Eighteenth Avenue extension for further continuation of that project." Wells referenced the city’s enabling ordinance and state law while explaining the legal framework: "On 09/17/2020, the council approved ordinance 247-2020 amending chapter 3 of the Clear Lake Municipal Code creating a development impact fee program" and cited AB 1,600 as the state statute setting fee rules.
Wells also presented a brief midyear economic and revenue update. He said sales and use tax actuals for FY22–23 were about $2.2 million and projected modest changes in the next two years. On housing, Wells reported the median sale price in Clear Lake for December 2023 was $210,000 and that nine houses sold that month, noting local trends differed from surrounding communities.
The presentation included an overview of short-term rental revenue recovery: the city transitioned transient-occupancy-tax administration back from HDL to municipal control and contracted Rentalscape to identify advertising for unlicensed listings. Wells said HDL reported collecting taxes from 28 short-term rentals, while Rentalscape identified 69 listings the city believes are active. "We have identified multiple short term rentals that are unlicensed," Wells said, adding the finance and planning departments will coordinate next steps to improve licensing and collections.
The council also approved a small set of midyear budget adjustments recommended by staff that include recognizing insurance revenue and appropriating funds for police vehicle replacement, and adding $30,000 for abandoned-vehicle abatement. Council discussion touched on whether recovered revenue might enable future investments in parks and tourism promotion.
The council voted unanimously to approve the development impact fee report and adopt the midyear budget resolution.
