Council corrects conversion error in impact-fee Table 9 after staff identifies pass-by trip omission

Van Alstyne — Council voted June 9 to amend the city's impact-fee conversion table (Table 9) after staff identified a calculation error that failed to account for pass-by trips for certain commercial land uses.

Staff explained the roadway impact fees are derived from two components: the number of trips generated per unit of development and the distance those trips travel. For some retail and service uses, pass-by trips (drivers who stop en route rather than creating an additional arterial trip) reduce the net new trip count; staff said a clerical error failed to apply the pass-by discount in a few commercial cells of Table 9.

The omission made several retail/service fees appear higher than they should have been when council previously considered impact-fee rates. Staff offered corrected conversion factors and recommended replacing Table 9 to reflect the pass-by adjustments and a handful of uniform trip-length updates for consistency.

Councilmembers expressed frustration that the April adoption had proceeded on incorrect inputs and said the error likely affected their ability to set commercial fee percentages earlier. Staff and the city attorney explained that state law and the adopted study support the city's maximum fee calculations and that the correction to the conversion table does not jeopardize the legal adoption; however, the council noted it cannot raise the newly adopted fees within the statutory waiting period.

Council moved to replace Table 9 with the corrected conversion factors; the motion passed 5-1 with Councilwoman Arsenal voting no.

What this means: The city corrected conversion factors used to calculate imposed roadway impact fees; the maximum fee study and the council's prior policy decisions remain the legal basis for the fee schedule. The council asked staff to keep transparent documentation of the correction and to provide clearer examples when future fee adjustments are considered.