Board adopts amended impact-fee ordinance to add police facilities; fees rise in the study example

The Village of Menomonee Falls Board of Trustees voted Aug. 4 to adopt an ordinance amending Chapter 42, Article 2 of the municipal code to update impact fees charged to new development.

Tom Hoffman, director of engineering and development, led a public hearing and presentation on the 2025 public facility needs assessment. He said impact fees are charged at the time of a building permit and are intended to pay for new or expanded public infrastructure needed to serve growth, including sewer, water, parks, fire and (under the amendment) police facilities. "Impact fees are a fee that is charged to new development that would pay for new or expanding of public infrastructure to serve that growth that's happening here in the village," Hoffman said.

The needs assessment identifies several projects: three planned wells (referred to as Well 12/13/14) and a Bella Vista booster pump station, a utility-office addition to the DPW facility, a public-service training center, and modernization/expansion of police facilities. Hoffman said the study amortizes large facilities over a longer life, which in some cases reduced per-unit fees compared with shorter schedules.

Using the consultant's figures, Hoffman said the example residential-equivalent fee shown in the presentation would increase from $12,374 to $15,167 because of project inclusions and updated cost estimates. He said the study compares current fees in neighboring communities (the presentation used current neighboring-community fees from the consultant's survey) and that the village would not become the highest in the region, though it would be near the top of the sample.

Trustees asked procedural questions about when fees are charged and whether the village could justify the proposed level; Hoffman confirmed fees are collected at permit issuance and explained that segregated funds and periodic updates help ensure the village spends collected fees on the intended projects. Village staff also noted statutory refund provisions that require returning fees if not spent within certain timeframes.

After the public hearing closed, the board considered the ordinance. A motion to adopt the amendment carried on a voice vote. Village staff said that three projects slated for 2026 would be funded in part by the fees as structured: impact fees would pay about 70% of combined costs for the police expansion and the training center and 100% of a smaller public-works expansion.

The ordinance will be implemented by staff and finance according to the needs-assessment schedule and the village's practice of segregating fee receipts for specified projects.