Pearland City Council will consider updating its impact fee, as it is required to do every five years by state law. Council members will debate how to best set the fee while minimizing the impact on residents and efforts to attract new businesses.

The council will consider adopting a higher impact fee at the upcoming April 10 meeting. An impact fee is a state-mandated fee that has businesses foot some of the bill for the city’s water and wastewater infrastructure projects, reducing the cost for residents.

Impact fees allow for residents’ utility bills to remain lower, officials said. Utility bills are the primary method for the city to pay for its growth-based infrastructure improvement projects.

The council discussed the impact fee at a March 27 public hearing on the topic, where members debated raising the fee to the maximum allowable rate of $9,265, a 43% increase from the adopted 2018 fee of $6,477. The total fee is based on a business’ water meter size and reflects a combined water and wastewater fee.

Officials said any dollar amount adopted underneath the maximum allowable fee would be reflected on residents’ utility bills.

Pearland City Council meetings are streamed live on the city’s official YouTube page. Agendas can be viewed on the city's website.