Council approves update in impact fees

Las Cruces Bulletin

By a 6-1 vote, the Las Cruces City Council approved a resolution granting updates to the city’s public safety development impact fees and capital improvement plan.

Councillor Ceil Levatino was the sole vote against the resolution.

The vote will mean a fee increase for some home owners and some business owners. The fees are “onetime payments used to fund capital improvements necessitated by additional housing units and nonresidential buildings,” according to the draft Public Safety Development Fee Update document prepared for the city by TischlerBise, Inc., a fiscal, economic and planning consulting firm located in Bethesda, Maryland and Bradenton, Florida.

The fees, which help pay for police and fire department equipment, buildings and property, are set based on the level of service provided on a costper- person basis, said Las Cruces Fire Chief Travis Brown.

Brown said all city impact fees have to be updated at least every five years as mandated by the New Mexico Development Fee Act. He said the fees are assessed only on new houses and commercial properties and on additions to commercial properties which are adding square footage. The new fees will take effect July 1.

“Currently, residential development fees are imposed by dwelling type,” according to the TischlerBise report. Under the updated fee schedule, they will be assessed based on dwelling size as measured by square feet of living space, the report said. Fees for commercial properties are based on the type of property per 1,000 square feet of building, except for lodging.

For single-family homes of 900 square feet or less, the impact fee will drop from its current level of $466 to $337, a decrease of $129. For all other homes, the fees increase, including from $466 to $552 for a home of 901 to 1,300 square feet and up from $639 to $887 for a home of 2,101 square feet or more. Those fees increase from a low of $73 to a high of $248.

For commercial properties, the fee per room for hotels and motels will drop from $313 to $202, a decrease of $111. For the other six categories, fees will increase, including from $26 to $90 for a mini-warehouse and from $735 to $1,014 for a commercial/ retail property. Impact fee increases for commercial properties range from a low of $33 to a high of $279.

TischlerBise’s city population analysis allocated “seventy-two percent of public safety capital costs to residential development and 28 percent to nonresidential (commercial) development.”

Brown said the new rates were proposed after public input was received in nearly 30 public meetings. “Most recently, we had not had significant participation by stakeholders,” he said. While some opposition to the rate increases has been expressed, he said, most people “felt the increases were reasonable.”

Brown said about $1.6 million in public safety impact fees have been collected in the city since January 2012. He said about $430,000 of that money purchased a new fire engine, $50,000 paid TischlerBise for its fee analysis research and report and the remaining funds went to construction of the city’s new East Mesa Public Safety Complex.

Impact fees must be used for infrastructure – buildings, equipment and property, Brown said.

“In five years we have increased and improved our level of service,” Brown said. “There is a higher cost to a higher level of service.”

He said land-use assumptions adopted in December 2015 to establish the level of service and infrastructure needed to meet public safety demands in the coming years indicate a 1.52 percent growth in residential homes in the city in the next 10 years. Brown said the impact fees are expected to raise about $10 million over the next 10 years, based on growth projections.

“The percentages just seem high to me,” said Councillor Ceil Levatino, the only council member to vote against the new fees. Levatino is a real estate agent by trade. “I would be most comfortable at this point keeping them where they are, at least for six months. Let’s see how it goes,” Levatino said, saying she was concerned “not just about builders and developers. My concern is also subcontractors.”

Realtor Steve Montanez, the only member of the public to speak about the impact fees at the council meeting, said the proposed fees were “kind of aggressive,” and said he doesn’t see the city growing “at the rate set by the land use assumptions used” in the TischlerBice analysis. Montanez also said “public safety is completely necessary.”

There has been little opposition to the proposed rate increases because local residents “recognize the number one service that we as government have to provide is their safety,” said Mayor Ken Miyagishima. When it comes to public safety, I think it’s fair to say that’s job one.” Rates for most homeowners, he said, would only increase by about 51 cents a month on a 30-year mortgage.

“My vote is going to keep our community safe,” Councillor Olga Pedroza said. “If it costs 51 cents a month extra, it’s money well spent,” she said.

To see the full TischlerBise report, visit http://las-cruces.granicus.com/MetaViewer. php?view_id=2& event_id=214& meta_ id=68579.