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Star council adopts stepped parks impact fee, adds police fee while excluding training center after lengthy hearing
Summary
After hours of testimony and competing consultant analyses, the Star City Council on April 7 approved a three-year stepped parks impact fee and a new police impact fee (excluding a proposed training center). Builders and a review consultant had argued the study overstated costs; the city said the fees are needed so growth pays for growth.
Star — The Star City Council on April 7 approved new development impact fees for parks and police after a public hearing that drew dozens of residents, builders and two competing consultant reviews.
The council voted to phase in the parks fee over three years — 80% in year one ($4,695.76 per residential unit), 90% in year two ($5,282.73) and 100% thereafter ($5,869.70) — and to adopt a police impact fee of $680.88 per residential unit (nonresidential at $0.31 per square foot), excluding a proposed police training center from the fee base. The council recorded the motions and approved the ordinances by roll call.
Why it mattered: The city’s population growth exceeded the service capacity on which the current level of parks and public-safety service is based, the city’s consultant told the council. "Development impact fees are not a tax; they are a one-time fee assessed at the time a building permit is pulled to help pay for the increased demand on public services," said Christine Stole of Clearwater Financial, the consultant who prepared the study.
What opponents said: Builders and the Building Contractors Association (BCA) urged caution, saying the study overstated costs and included items they considered ineligible. "This study does not meet the standard of fair and equitable impact fees," Adam Capel of Tridio Homes and the BCA told the council, arguing the study used replacement costs rather than depreciated values and counted leased or operational items that should not be funded by one-time impact fees.
An independent review commissioned by the BCA reached similar conclusions. "Our opinion is that the impact fee study is not compliant with Idaho code and that the fees are overstated," said Carter Frolic of Launch Development Finance Advisors.
City response and council decision: City staff and the study team defended the methodology and said Idaho code allows cities to identify a level of service based on the services currently provided, even when some program space is leased. Staff also noted safeguards in the proposal: annual reviews of fees, a required five-year full update of the study, and that collected fees must be spent on growth-related capital projects or returned under the statute’s time limits.
Council members said they weighed the community’s competing concerns about preserving service levels and housing affordability. After extended questions and debate, Councilman Neielson moved a compromise to adopt a phased parks fee and a police fee that excluded the training-center component; the motion passed on a roll-call vote.
What’s next: The council adopted ordinances implementing the fees and tasked staff and the impact-fee advisory committee with annual reviews. The city must track collections by project so unused fees older than eight years are returned per state law.
Quotes and attribution: Christine Stole, Clearwater Financial: "Development impact fees are not a tax; they are a one-time fee..." Adam Capel, Tridio Homes/BCA: "This study does not meet the standard of fair and equitable impact fees." Carter Frolic, Launch: "The fees are overstated and not compliant with Idaho code," said Frolic.
Procedural note: The council recorded its vote and adopted the parks and police ordinances at the April 7 meeting; the council also tabled impact fees for pathways indefinitely for separate study and public review.
