Builder 'New Traditions' challenges Benton City impact fees; city notes $46,170 study cost and legal requirements

City officials told the Benton City Council on July 1 that a builder, New Traditions, has formally challenged the city's impact fees, prompting discussion of the legal standard for fee validation and the cost to perform a required study.

The mayor said the builder—named in meeting discussion as New Traditions—has challenged the fees and that the city has contracted with a consultant (SonicQuote) to prepare a fee-validation study. The mayor said the cost for an updated study was estimated at $46,170 and that the city currently lacks funds in the fee accounts to pay for such a study.

City counsel summarized the legal context, citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court matter commonly referred to in the discussion as the Sheetz case and saying that courts require municipalities to show a nexus and proportionality between a fee and the impact it is meant to mitigate. “They still need to show… some nexus and proportionality,” counsel said, noting builders may challenge fees by presenting project-specific analyses.

Officials explained the statutory process: a challenger may present their own study to show why a particular project should pay a different amount; if the challenger's work shows a lower impact-based fee, the city may need to reimburse or credit the developer. City staff added that any city-funded study to raise or validate fees cannot be paid from the collected impact-fee fund and would need to come from other government funds.

Council members asked whether a builder-funded study would be valid for other projects or only for the challenger’s project. Counsel and staff said the studies are project-specific: a builder’s study would support that builder’s appeal; a city study would be an updated long-term fee study but would carry a cost the city must budget.