Riviera Beach finance staff urges higher impact fees to cover growing capital costs; workshops scheduled before any ordinance vote

The Riviera Beach City Council heard a detailed briefing March 18 from Chief Financial Officer Randy Sherman on a new impact-fee study that shows the city’s current fees cover only a fraction of developers’ estimated local impacts.

Sherman said the study compares the fee currently collected for an 800-square-foot single-family home ($1,429 for roads) with an estimated true road impact of $7,424 — a gap of roughly $6,000. Under Florida law, municipalities may phase in increases up to 50% over current fees without extraordinary justification; Sherman and staff described a process and legal rationale for seeking higher rates up to the statutory maximum but warned the city must publish justification and hold two workshops prior to adopting any fee at the maximum.

“Last time we did it was in 2022…If we follow the statute and only do the 50% and phase it in over four years, even by the end of four years we’ll still be short $5,000 for every single-family residence of 800 square feet,” Sherman told the council. He said the larger justification rests on population growth, significant capital projects now planned or underway, and construction-cost escalation. If adopted to the maximum, staff said the city’s impact-fee schedule would move closer to peer communities and could yield tens of millions in project revenue as proposals proceed.

Why it matters: staff warned that impact fees are paid by developers at the time projects are permitted and cannot be collected retroactively. The council received examples of how fees would ramp over four years under the 50% statutory increment and heard that to exceed that cap the city must document extraordinary capital needs and growth."If we don't raise the impact fees to be able to pay to enhance or increase the capacity of all those facilities…we will not have the money to do it and meet the needs that are coming in," Sherman said.

Council discussion and public comment focused on whether impact-fee buy-downs should be available for affordable-housing projects; Sherman said the county uses assistance programs to subsidize fees and suggested the city's MIHOP ordinance could be adjusted as an alternative. The council set first-reading timing and was told new rates must be posted for 90 days before taking effect if adopted.

Speakers quoted in this article are from the city's finance team and council; the transcript includes detailed slides and a public workshop record that will be part of the official ordinance file.

Next steps: staff will hold the required workshops and return the ordinance for first reading (staff indicated April 1 was planned), then a second reading; any adopted rates will require a 90-day posting period before they could take effect.