Subchapter V WASTEWATER AND WATER IMPACT FEES

The land use assumptions for the city were adopted by the City Council by Resolution 4935, dated January 7, 2025.

The land use assumptions shall be updated utilizing the amendment procedure set forth in section 52.086.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990; Am. Ordinance 1958, adopted 2/1/1994; Am. Ordinance 2322, adopted 3/24/1998; Am. Ordinance 2677, adopted 4/16/2002; Ordinance 4240 adopted 2/4/2025)

§ 52.077 Impact fees per service unit.

The maximum impact fee per service unit for wastewater facilities within the wastewater service area shall be $3,188.51.

The maximum impact fee per service unit for water facilities within the water service area shall be $1,634.00.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990; Am. Ordinance 1958, adopted 2/1/1994; Am. Ordinance 2322, adopted 3/24/1998; Am. Ordinance 2677, adopted 4/16/2002; Ordinance 4240 adopted 2/4/2025)

§ 52.078 Assessment of impact fees.

The approval of any new development shall include as a condition the assessment of the impact fee applicable to that development.

Assessment of the impact fee for any new development shall be made as follows:

For a development which is submitted for approval pursuant to the city's subdivision regulations following the effective date of this subchapter, assessment shall be at the time of final plat approval, and shall be the amount of the impact fee assessment per service unit as set forth in section 52.077.

Unless technical information and studies are submitted in accordance with section 52.078(B)(2), the maximum impact fees per service meter which will be assessed to new development is set forth in Appendix A of this chapter.

For a development which has received final plat approval prior to the effective date of this subchapter and for which no replatting is necessary prior to the issuance of a building permit, assessment shall be on the effective date of this subchapter, and shall be the amount of the impact fee assessment per service unit as set forth in section 52.077.

Following the lapse or expiration of approval for a final plat or replat, a new assessment must be performed at the time an application for a new final plat or replat for that development is filed with the city.

§ 52.079 Computation and collection of impact fees.

An application for an amending plat made pursuant to Tex. Local Govt. Code Ann., Section 212.016, and the city subdivision ordinance is not subject to reassessment for an impact fee.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990; Am. Ordinance 2322, adopted 3/24/1998; Am. Ordinance 2677, adopted 4/16/2002)

The impact fee due for the new development shall be collected at the time a building permit is issued by the city, unless an agreement between the developer and the city has been executed providing for a different time of payment.

The impact fees due for the new development shall be calculated in the following manner:

The impact fee per service unit for each category of capital improvements, which is to be paid by each new development within the service area, shall be that established by ordinance by the City Council, as may amended from time to time, and shall be not more than the maximum impact fee per service unit established in section 52.077. Unless technical information and studies are submitted in accordance with division (B) of this section, the impact fees which are to be paid by new development shall be as set forth in Appendix B of this chapter.

The developer may submit, or the Director of Engineering may require the submission of, a study, prepared by a professional engineer, licensed in the state, clearly indicating the number of water and/or wastewater service units which will be consumed or generated by the new development. The Director of Engineering will review the information for completeness and conformity with generally accepted engineering practices and will, when satisfied with the completeness and conformity of the study, multiply the number of service units times the impact fee per service unit contained in Appendix B of this chapter to determine the total impact fee to be collected for the development.

The amount of any impact fee due for any new development shall not exceed the amount computed by multiplying the maximum impact fee per service unit under section 52.077 by the number of new service units consumed or generated by the development.

Impact fee schedules as set forth in Appendices A and B of this chapter may be amended from time to time utilizing the amendment procedure set forth in section 52.086.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990; Am. Ordinance 2322, adopted 3/24/1998; Ordinance 4240 adopted 2/4/2025)

§ 52.080 Suspension of fee collection.

For any new development which has received final plat approval in accordance with Tex. Local Govt. Code Ann., Chapter 212, or pursuant to the city's subdivision regulations, or for which an application for final approval has been made prior to the effective date of this subchapter, the city may assess, but shall not collect any impact fee as herein defined, on any acreage for which a valid building permit is issued within one year subsequent to the effective date of this subchapter.

Impact fees shall not be collected for a development where services are not currently available unless the collection is made to pay for a capital improvement or facility expansion that has been identified in the capital improvement plans and the city commits to commence construction within two years and to have the service available within a reasonable period of time considering the type of capital improvement or facility expansion to be constructed, but in no event longer than five years. Notwithstanding the above restriction on the collection of impact fees, impact fees may be assessed on that development.

During the one-year period, the city may impose and collect on such new development pro rata fees and extension fees pursuant to sections 52.037 and 52.038.

§ 52.081 Offsets and credits against impact fees.

(E)

Impact fees shall not be collected for public school district facilities constructed within the city limits.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990; Am. Ordinance 1958, adopted 2/1/1994; Am. Ordinance 2173, adopted 5/28/1996)

The city shall offset the reasonable value of any area-related facilities, identified in the capital improvements plans and constructed pursuant to an agreement with the city, which are dedicated to and received by the city on or after the effective date of this subchapter, against the amount of the impact fee due for the category of capital improvement.

The city shall offset or credit any new development which occurs subsequent to the effective date of this subchapter, any amount of capital recovery fees which have been collected by the city under prior ordinances and any impact fees collected by the city pursuant to this subchapter.

The city shall rebate the overpaid amount of any impact fee collected by the city for any property that changes from a more intense land use category to a less intense land use category.

All offsets, credits and rebates against impact fees shall be subject to the following limitations and shall be granted based on this subchapter.

No offset or credit shall be given for the dedication or construction of site-related facilities.

No offset or credit shall exceed the impact fee to be collected from new development as established in sections 52.091 or 52.092.

The unit costs used to calculate the offsets shall not exceed those assumed for the capital improvements included in the impact fee capital improvements plan for the category of facility within the service area for which the impact fee is imposed.

If an offset or credit applicable to a plat has not been exhausted within ten years from the date of the connection made after the effective date of this subchapter or within such period as may be otherwise designated by contract, that offset or credit shall lapse.

(5)

In no event will the city reimburse the property owner or developer for an offset or credit when no impact fees for the new development can be collected pursuant to this subchapter or for any amount exceeding the total impact fees collected or due for the development for that category of capital improvement, unless otherwise agreed to by the city.

(6)

Rebates shall be paid to the current record owner of the property at the time the rebate is made.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990)

§ 52.082 Establishment of accounts.

The city shall establish an account to which interest is allocated for each service area for each category of capital facility for which an impact fee is imposed pursuant to this subchapter. Each impact fee collected within the service area shall be deposited into that account.

Interest earned on the account into which the impact fees are deposited shall be considered funds of the account and shall be used solely for the purposes authorized in section 52.083.

The city shall establish adequate financial and accounting controls to ensure that impact fees disbursed from the account are utilized solely for the purposes authorized in section 52.083. Disbursement of funds shall be authorized by the city at those times as are reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes and intent of the subdivision; provided, that any fee paid shall be expended within a reasonable period of time, but not to exceed ten years from the date the fee is deposited into the account.

§ 52.083 Use of proceeds of impact fee accounts.

The city shall maintain and keep financial records for impact fees, which shall show the source and disbursement of all fees collected in or expended from each service area. The records of the account into which impact fees are deposited shall be open for public inspection and copying during ordinary business hours. The city may establish a fee for copying services.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990)

The impact fees collected for each service are pursuant to this subchapter may be used to finance or to recoup the costs of any capital improvements or facility expansions identified in the applicable capital improvements plan for the service area, including the construction contract price, surveying and engineering fees, land acquisition costs (including land purchases, court awards and costs, attorney's fees and expert witness fees), and the fees actually paid or contracted to be paid to an independent qualified engineer or financial consultant preparing or updating the capital improvements plan who is not an employee of the city. Impact fees may also be used to pay the principal sum and interest and other finance costs on bonds, notes or other obligations issued by or on behalf of the city to finance capital improvements or facility expansions identified in the capital improvements plan.

Impact fees collected pursuant to this subchapter shall not be used to pay for any of the following expenses:

Construction, acquisition or expansion of capital improvements or assets other than those identified in the applicable capital improvements plan;

Repair, operation or maintenance of existing or new capital improvements or facility expansions;

Upgrading, expanding or replacing existing capital improvements to serve existing development in order to meet stricter safety, efficiency, environmental or regulatory standards;

Upgrading, expanding or replacing existing capital improvements to provide better service to existing development; however, impact fees may be used to pay the costs of upgrading, expanding or replacing existing capital improvements in order to meet the need for new capital improvements generated by new development; or

(5)

Administrative and operating costs of the city.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990)

§ 52.084 Appeals.

The property owner or applicant for new development may appeal the following decisions to the City Council.

The applicability of an impact fee to the development;

The method of calculating the amount of the impact fee due;

The availability or the amount of an offset, credit or rebate;

The application of an offset or credit against an impact fee due; and

(5)

The amount of a refund due, if any.

The burden of proof shall be on the appellant to demonstrate that the amount of the fee or the amount of the offset, credit or rebate was not calculated according to section 52.079 or the guidelines established for determining offsets, credits and rebates as set forth in section 52.081.

The appellant must file a notice of appeal with the City Secretary within 30 days following the determination of the amount of the impact fees to be paid by the development. If the notice of appeal is accompanied by a bond or other sufficient surety satisfactory to the City Attorney in an amount equal to the original determination of the impact fee due, the development application may be processed while the appeal is pending.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990)

§ 52.085 Refunds.

Any impact fee or portion thereof collected pursuant to this subchapter, which has not been expended within the service area within ten years from the date of payment, shall be refunded, upon written application, to the record owner of the property at the time the refund is paid or, if the impact fee was paid by another governmental entity, to that governmental entity, together with interest calculated from the date of collection to the date of refund at the statutory rate as set forth in Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann., Title 79, Article 1.03, or any successor statute.

Ten years following the date of payment, an impact fee collected pursuant to this subchapter shall be considered expended if the total expenditures for capital improvements or facility expansions authorized in this section within the service area exceeds the total fees collected for such improvements or expansions during that period.

§ 52.086 Updates to plan and revision of fees.

Upon completion of all the capital improvements or facility expansions identified in the impact fee capital improvements plan for the service area, the city shall recalculate the impact fee using the actual costs or the improvements or expansions. If the maximum impact fee calculated based on actual cost is less than the impact fee paid, the city shall refund the difference if such difference exceeds the impact fee paid by more than ten percent. If the difference is less than ten percent, no refund shall be due.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990)

The city shall update its land use assumptions and capital improvements plans and shall recalculate the maximum allowable impact fees based thereon not less than once every three years from the effective date of this subchapter in accordance with the procedures set forth in the Tex. Govt. Code Ann., Chapter 395, or in any successor statute.

The city may review its land use assumptions, capital improvements plans and other factors such as market conditions more frequently than provided in division (A) of this section to determine whether the land use assumptions and capital improvements plans should be updated and whether the maximum allowable impact fee per service should be recalculated accordingly.

§ 52.087 Agreement for capital improvements.

The city may, by ordinance, following a public hearing, amend the amount of impact fees collected under this subchapter and contained in Appendix B of this chapter.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990)

An owner of a new development may construct or finance a capital improvement or facility expansion designated in the capital improvements plans, if required or authorized by the city, by entering into an agreement with the city prior to the issuance of any building permit for the development. The agreement shall be on a form approved by the city and shall identify the estimated cost of the improvement or expansion, the schedule for initiation and completion of the improvement or expansion, a requirement that the improvement be designed and completed to city standards and any other terms and conditions as deemed necessary by the city. The agreement shall provide for the method to be used to determine the amount of the offset to be given against the impact fees due for the development or may reimbursement to the owner for construction of the facility.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990)

§ 52.088 Use of other financing mechanisms.

The city may finance capital improvements or facility expansions designated in the capital improvements plans through the issuance of bonds, through the formation of public improvement districts or other assessment districts, or through any other authorized mechanism, in such manner and subject to such limitations as may be provided by law, in addition to the use of impact fees.

Except as otherwise provided herein, the assessment and collection of an impact fee shall be additional and supplemental to, and not in substitution of, any other tax, fee, charge or assessment which is lawfully imposed one and due against the property.

§ 52.089 Impact fee as additional and supplemental regulation.

The city may pay all or part of impact fees due for a new development taking into account available offsets and credits pursuant to duly adopted criteria.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990)

Impact fees established by this subchapter are additional and supplemental to, and not in substitution of, any other requirements imposed by the city on the development of land or the issuance of building permits or certificates of occupancy. The fee is intended to be consistent with and to further the policies of the city's Comprehensive Plan, the capital improvements plan, the zoning ordinance, subdivision regulations and other city policies, ordinances and resolutions by which the city seeks to ensure the health, safety and welfare of its citizens through the provision of adequate public facilities in conjunction with the development of land.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990)

§ 52.090 Relief procedures.

Any person who has paid an impact fee or an owner of land upon which an impact fee has been paid may petition the City Council to determine whether any duty required by this subchapter has not been performed within the time so prescribed. The petition shall be in writing and shall state the nature of the unperformed duty and request that the act be performed within 60 days of the request. If the City Council determines that the duty is required pursuant to this subchapter and is late in being performed, it shall cause the duty to commence within 60 days of the date of the request and to continue until completion.

The City Council may grant a variance or waiver from any requirement of this subchapter, upon written request by a developer or owner of property subject to the subchapter, following a public hearing, and only upon finding that a strict application of that requirement would, when regarded as a whole, result in confiscation of the property.

§ 52.091 Wastewater facilities impact fees.

If the City Council grants a variance or waiver to the amount of the impact fee due for a new development under this section, it shall cause to be appropriated from other city funds the amount of the reduction in the impact fee to the account for the service area in which the property is located.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990)

Wastewater service area.

There is hereby established a wastewater service area constituting the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction, the description of which is hereby adopted and incorporated by reference.

The boundaries of the wastewater service area may be amended from time to time, or new wastewater service areas may be delineated pursuant to the procedures in section 52.086.

Wastewater Capital Improvements Plan.

The Wastewater Capital Improvements Plan entitled "Water and Wastewater Impact Fee Update - 2024 to 2034" prepared by Brikhoff, Hendricks, & Carter, L.L.P., is hereby adopted and incorporated by reference.

The Wastewater Capital Improvements Plan may be amended from time to time pursuant to the procedures in section 52.086.

Wastewater facilities impact fees.

The maximum impact fee per service unit for wastewater facilities are hereby adopted as established in section 51.077.

The wastewater impact fees per service meter, which shall be paid at the time of building permit except those developments which submit or are required to submit technical studies as set forth in section 52.079, are hereby adopted as Schedule 2, (see Appendix B).

The wastewater impact fees per service unit and per service meter to be collected may be amended from time to time pursuant to the procedures in section 52.086.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990; Am. Ordinance 1958, adopted 2/1/1994; Am. Ordinance 2322, adopted 3/24/1998; Am. Ordinance 2677, adopted 4/16/2002; Ordinance 4240 adopted 2/4/2025)

§ 52.092 Water facilities impact fees.

Water service area.

There is hereby established a water service area constituting the city and its extraterritorial jurisdiction, the description of which is hereby adopted and incorporated by reference.

The boundaries of the water service area may be amended from time to time, or new water service areas may be delineated pursuant to the procedures in section 52.086.

Water capital improvements plan.

The water capital improvements plan may be amended from time to time pursuant to the procedures in section 52.086.

Water facilities impact fees.

The maximum impact fee per service unit for water facilities are hereby adopted as established in section 51.077.

The water impact fees per service meter, which shall be paid at the time of building permit except those developments which submit or are required to submit technical studies as set forth in section 52.079, are hereby adopted as Schedule 2, (see Appendix B).

The water impact fees per service unit and per service meter to be collected may be amended from time to time pursuant to the procedures in section 52.086.

(Ordinance 1648, adopted 8/7/1990; Am. Ordinance 1958, adopted 2/1/1994; Am. Ordinance 2322, adopted 3/24/1998; Am. Ordinance 2677, adopted 4/16/2002; Ordinance 4240 adopted 2/4/2025)

§ 52.093 Landscape water management.

Lawn and landscape irrigation restrictions.

A person commits an offense if he/she allows exterior plumbing leaks to exist.

A person commits an offense if he/she irrigates, waters, or causes or allows the irrigation or watering of lawn or landscape located on any property owned, leased, or managed by that person in such a manner that causes:

(a)

A constant stream of water onto a street or alley in excess of 50 feet from the property, or

(b)

Irrigating lawn or landscape during any form of precipitation. This includes automatic sprinkler systems, or

(c)

Irrigating lawn or landscape when the ambient temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

A person commits an offense if he/she operates a lawn or irrigation system or device on property that he/she owns, leases, or manages that:

(a)

Has broken or missing sprinkler head(s), or

(b)

Has not been properly maintained to prevent the waste of water.

Rain sensors and freeze gauges.

Any new irrigation system installed within the city's customer service area on or after October 1, 2005, must be equipped with rain and freeze sensing devices designed to prevent operation of the irrigation system during any form of precipitation or when the ambient temperature is below 32 degrees Fahrenheit.

A person commits an offense on property owned, leased or managed by him/her if he/she:

(a)

Installs or allows the installation of new irrigation systems in violation of subsection (B)(1), or

(b)

Operates or allows the operation of an irrigation system that does not comply with subsection (b)(1).

Variances.

The city manager or his/her designee may, in special cases, grant variances from the provisions in subsection (A)(1) or subsection (B) to persons demonstrating extreme hardship or need. Variances may be granted only under all of the following circumstances and conditions:

Applicant must sign a compliance agreement agreeing to irrigate or water the lawn and/or landscape only in the amount and manner permitted by the variance.

The variance must not cause an immediate significant reduction to the city's water supply.

The extreme hardship or need requiring the variance must relate to the health, safety, or welfare of the person making the request.

The health, safety, and welfare of the public and the person making the request must not be adversely affected by the requested variance.

Revocation of variances.

The city manager or his/her designee may revoke a variance granted when he/she determines that:

The conditions of subsection (C) are not being met or no longer apply,

The terms of the compliance agreement are violated, or

§ 52.094 through § 52.998. (Reserved)

The health, safety, or welfare of other persons requires revocation.

(Ordinance 2968, adopted 4/19/2005)

§ 52.999 Penalty.

A person who violates any provisions of this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction is punishable as set forth in section 10.99, for each act of violation and for each day or part of a day during which the violation is committed, continued or permitted.

In addition to proceeding under authority of (A)(1) above, the city is entitled to pursue all other criminal and civil remedies to which it is entitled under authority of statutes or other ordinances against a person continuing prohibited discharges.

In addition to sanctions provided above, the city is entitled to exercise sanctions provided for by the other ordinances of the city for failure to pay the bill for water and sanitary sewer service when due.