Title
Conduct a Public Hearing to Consider/Discuss/Act on an Amendment to the Capital Improvements Plan for Utility Impact Fees and the Imposition of Updated Utility Impact Fees; and Accompanying Ordinance
Summary
COUNCIL GOAL: Operational Excellence
MEETING DATE: February 7, 2017
DEPARTMENT: Development Services - Planning Department
CONTACT: Jennifer Arnold, Planning Manager
Gary Graham, PE, PTOE, CIP and Traffic Engineering Manager
RECOMMENDED CITY COUNCIL ACTION:
* Approval of the Ordinance.
ITEM SUMMARY:
* The proposed amendment to the Utility Impact Fee Ordinance is to update the Capital Improvements Plan for Utility Impact Fees (Exhibit B of the Ordinance), the maximum accessible utility impact fee (Schedule 1 of the Ordinance), and the actual water and wastewater impact fees charged (Schedule 2 of the Ordinance) to account for recent changes in city practice.
* As of mid-2016, the City no longer issues 11/2" water meters. As well, the city no longer issues compound meters or turbine meters and now only issues multi-jet (simple) meters and ultrasonic meters. These changes have a direct impact on the assessment of utility impact fees.
* In general, the decision to discontinue using 11/2" meters was made to improve efficiency within the utility infrastructure system by requiring the most appropriately-sized meter for different users. Similarly, compound and turbine meters have been replaced by ultrasonic meters, which have higher efficiencies in flow and design and are less costly to the city.
* However, since utility impact fees are assessed and charged based on meter size and meter type, this change in city practice necessitates a modification to the Utility Impact Fee Ordinance to incorporate the new and discontinued meters.
* As such, Staff recommends an update to the Capital Improvements Plan for Utility Impact Fees (Exhibit B of the Ordinance) to include ultrasonic meters in the calculation of maximum accessible impact fees. More...
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