Water and wastewater fees paid by local developers could soon increase by more than $11,000 should a proposed update be approved by City Council later this summer.
Impact fees are a charge imposed by a political subdivision against new development to offset the costs of capital improvements made necessary by the development, according to state planning and development codes.
City Council last approved New Braunfels Utilities’ impact fee program in 2018, according to city documents. Chapter 395 of the Texas Local Government Code requires the fee plans to be reviewed and updated every five years.
In November 2021, NBU hired Freese and Nichols, Inc. to evaluate and update the utility company’s land use assumptions, capital improvements plan and impact fees as part of a 2022 Impact Fee Study.
The firm used growth projections, water and wastewater loading criteria and more to develop 10-year load projections for the NBU water and wastewater systems, according to NBU documents.
Additionally, FNI developed an impact fee capital improvements plan for both systems to serve projected growth through 2023, according to NBU.
The sum of all upcoming projects' projected cost was used to calculate a total impact fee which was divided by the projected growth in living unit equivalents for water and wastewater to determine the maximum allowable impact fees for those systems.
NBU staff and FNI provided an overview of the impact fee process to the City of New Braunfels Impact Fee Advisory Committee on Feb. 1, according to city documents.
During a May 24 NBU Board of Trustees meeting, board members approved a resolution recommending an update to the impact fees.
Under the new program, the water impact fee will increase from $7,989 to $17,512, while the wastewater impact fee will increase from $3,251 to $5,712. In total, fees paid by developers will increase from $11,240 to $23,224 per living unit equivalent, a jump that James Mahan, principal at South Texas Capital Advisors, said would significantly increase new home prices.
In an email to Community Impact Newspaper, Mahan said the increased fees would likely result in rising costs for new homes and increased rent for new multi-family properties.
A public hearing for the updated fees is scheduled during an Aug. 8 City Council meeting, wherein NBU officials will present a presentation about the proposed changes, according to NBU documents. A waiver to the increase for workforce housing will also be discussed.
Should officials approve the change at the following meeting, scheduled for Aug. 25, the new rates would go into effect later this year.
The city is also reevaluating its roadway impact fee. The New Braunfels Transportation & Capital improvements Department will host a public meeting to discuss those impacts on June 23.
