Camp Verde council directs staff to study reinstating impact fees

The Town of Camp Verde Mayor and Council on Feb. 26 directed staff to commission a new study on impact fees after a presentation by L. Carson Bise, AICP, president of TischlerBise, Inc. Mayor Dee Jenkins led the 5 p.m. work session at 473 S. Main Street with a full council present.

Bise reviewed earlier work his firm performed for Camp Verde and explained how state law changes have constrained local impact-fee programs. "Impact fees cannot be used for operations, maintenance or replacement," Bise told the council, and he distinguished impact fees — which fund general infrastructure tied to growth — from capacity fees, which are charged by utilities.

Town Manager Miranda Fisher told council that Councilor Robert Foreman had requested the work session. Bise recounted the town's history with impact fees: Camp Verde contracted with TischlerBise in 2006 to study potential fees, voters approved a measure authorizing collection in 2007, and the council suspended collection on Oct. 26, 2011, in response to Arizona Senate Bill 1525, which took effect in 2012 and changed the legal framework for impact fees.

Vice Mayor Marie Moore asked whether it is common for municipalities to charge both impact fees and capacity fees; Bise replied that capacity fees are associated with utilities while impact fees apply to general government infrastructure such as law enforcement, library, parks and recreation — the service areas his prior study examined for Camp Verde. Moore asked staff to compile a list of Yavapai County towns that currently collect impact fees to provide local comparisons.

After questions and discussion, the Mayor and Council agreed to direct staff to move forward with a new impact-fee study and to schedule a follow-up work session. Town Manager Miranda Fisher said she will return to council in April 2025 with the study and a proposed meeting date. Mayor Jenkins adjourned the meeting at 6:10 p.m.