At its Oct. 16 meeting, Tomball City Council recommended increasing water and wastewater impact fees to the maximum allowable fee and will consider the first reading of the ordinance to do so at its next meeting Nov. 6.
City staff was seeking a recommendation from council on the impact fees—if they would like them adopted at the maximum allowable or to be incrementally increased as they have in the past, Tomball Project Manager Meagan Mageo said at the meeting.
Council’s recommendation mirrors that of the Capital Improvement Plan Advisory Committee, which also recommended raising impact fees to the maximum allowable rate, according to the Oct. 16 agenda packet.
In a nutshell
An impact fee is a one-time charge collected from new development to pay for a portion of the costs related to specific capital improvements, according to a presentation by Freese and Nichols, an engineering, planning and consulting firm.
“So basically it’s growth paying for growth,” said Ishita Rahman, a water and wastewater master planner with Freese and Nichols.
According to the Oct. 16 agenda packet, the proposed maximum allowable fee for water and wastewater would be $6,618 and $8,069, respectively.What else?
During her presentation, Rahman said the city cannot charge an impact fee for irrigation meters per its current code of ordinances.
During discussion, council member Mark Stoll expressed his support for charging irrigation meter impact fees.
“My irrigation has more of an impact on this city than my house, so I don’t understand why we’re not charging [for irrigation meter],” Stoll said. “If anything, I think we need to look at that and change that.”
Rahman said changing the ordinance so the city can charge irrigation meter impact fees will be up for City Council’s consideration at the same time as the water and wastewater impact fee increase ordinance.
Stay tuned
Tomball City Council will consider the first reading of the ordinance to raise impact fees at its next meeting on Nov. 6, according to Freese and Nichols’ presentation.
