BRENHAM CITY COUNCIL HOLDS PUBLIC HEARING THURSDAY

  

The Brenham City Council held a rare evening meeting Thursday at Nancy Carol Roberts Memorial Library to hear how Impact Fees will affect the city.  Ryan Tinsley, Kelly Hajek, and Jared Engelke of Strand Associates presented the Impact Fee plan to the City Council.  The meeting was also a public hearing of the plan, and two of the audience members had questions for the members of Strand Associates.  One asked if the size of the developer mattered.  The answer is no, but the city may elect to waive the fee on small developers. The other question had to do with who pays for the impact fees.  The answer is developers pay for ½ of the impact of their development, the other ½ is paid by the user through water and wastewater fees.

The Impact Fees have traditionally been rumored to be a burden on new development, but not anymore.  Should the impact fees go into effect, all new developments within the city and the ETJ would be assessed an impact fee per service unit, or platted lot.  The city says the benefits of the fees include lessening the impact of costs for new capital improvements on existing rates and taxpayers, as well as helping to pay for a percentage of projects directly related to necessary improvements due to growth, offsetting debt or higher rates.

The city has decided to seek an Impact Fee for Water, Wastewater, and Roadway Capital Improvement Plans only, although they are available for other utilities also.  The exact cost of the fees will be revealed December 19.  The mandatory second public hearing of the Impact Fee Plan is set for February 1, of next year.