Wadsworth staff explain options for off-site infrastructure costs: impact fees, reimbursement districts and TIF

Economic Development Director Tom Morris told the committee that off-site infrastructure obligations — the water, sewer and road work outside a developer’s parcel that are nevertheless necessary for a project — create a recurring dilemma: wait for others or pay now. Using a simple three-parcel example, Morris showed how the unchecked choice to 'wait' or to 'pay' can create inefficiency and stalled development.

Morris summarized several tools the city uses to manage costs. He said unfunded mandates that require an initial developer to oversize infrastructure were historically common but can feel unfair to the initial developer. Pay-and-recoup approaches reimbursed oversizing over time through tap-in fees but can become prohibitive if contract terms carry high interest or owners change. Morris described newer mechanisms: impact fees (which can be credited against an oversized improvement), reimbursement districts with time-limited recoupment and CPI-linked adjustments, and Tax Increment Financing (TIF) that uses the parcel’s increased tax value to repay large capital extensions. “When Parcel 1 brings a small pipe down to hook up to the water source...that was inefficient,” Morris said, explaining why coordinated oversizing can produce long-term savings. He cited Wall Road and the Vance area as local examples where these tools are being applied.