Committee reviews biannual impact-fee report and finds growth below projections

The committee received the city—s biannual impact-fee report for water, wastewater and roads and discussed why observed development has fallen short of earlier projections. Chair Matt Keller said the original 10-year projection "was 3,200 service units for water, 3,500 for wastewater," and walked members through trend lines, application tables and collections data.

Keller told the group the report reflects a change in assumed growth after the COVID period, when the study reduced the annual projection from 3.5% to 1.5%. "As a reminder, we were actually at about 8% about 10 years ago of the maximum assessment," he said, explaining the historical context of apportionment choices. He also noted the account- and application-level records are available online for members to verify the underlying entries.

The presentation included a technical note about how the city counts service units: "It—s based on a 0.625 inch water meter, which represents 1 service unit," Keller said, adding that larger meters convert to fractional or multiple units. Members pressed staff on whether the report distinguishes net new accounts from meter-size swaps or redevelopment; staff said permit and account records could be used to reconcile that distinction.

Keller said the city has funds in the impact-fee accounts and that the Mount Gilead project is expected to be ready to bid by the end of the month. The committee directed staff to correct identified data issues, add an apportionment table to the report showing residential/nonresidential/parkway/industrial charge splits, and bring consultant proposals to the next meeting for scope and fee presentations.