Community Impact reports that the Montgomery City Council , during their July 22nd meeting, voted to schedule a public hearing for August 26th at 6 PM to consider raising impact fees. City Engineer Chris Roznovsky said it is a one time charge on new development that can in turn fund debt to pay for infrastructure expansion such as wastewater and water systems.
This is the city’s final chance, according to City Attorney Alan Petrov, for the city to update impact fees before a new state law, Senate Bill 1883 goes into effect September 1st. The bill changes the review cycle for impact fees from every two years to three.
Roznovsky said the proposed change follows a review required by the state that updates assumptions that are based on land use, growth and infrastructure costs. He also said, if approved, per single-family connection, the maximum assessable impact fee would go up around 17%.
With 45% already in active development, Roznovsky said Montgomery projects 3,923 new connections in the next decade.
Projects like water and sewer line expansions, plant upgrades and increased well capacity are supported by the fees. The developers share the costs instead of being set entirely by taxpayers.
Over $26 million for water and over $24 million for sewer is expected to be spent by Montgomery in the next ten years according to Roznovsky. What’s left can be paid for by user fees, utility debt and developer reimbursements. He said, “You’re only allowed to capture the cost of increasing capacity.”
