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1. What is an Impact Fee?

An impact fee is a charge on new development to pay for the construction or expansion of off-site capital improvements that are necessitated by and benefit a new development.

2. Why did the City of Cleburne Council decide to collect impact fees?

Before these fees were authorized, the costs associated with expanding Cleburne’s facilities were borne by all of the customers. Now, through the use of impact fees, the developers who create the additional demand are paying a larger share of the cost of meeting that demand. This will ensure that those who place additional demand on the roadway, water, and wastewater systems help pay the costs required to meet that demand.

3. Who pays Impact Fees?

Any developer who is seeking a building permit for a new development (residential or non-residential) that will generate additional use of roadway and/or utility resources will be responsible for paying impact fees.

As it pertains to impact fees, “developer” shall mean any person, company, agency, or entity that is undertaking a project. This includes non-profit entities, churches, and individuals subdividing land for family members as well as those whose primary business is developing land or constructing homes or businesses for profit.

School districts are not required to pay impact fees imposed under Chapter 395 of the Local Government Code.

4. When must Impact Fees be paid?

For residential and non-residential developments, a building permit will not be issued until any and all impact fees have been paid.

 

Temporary Exemption:

Properties that receive final plat approval on or after February 13, 2018, and before July 1, 2018, will not be assessed impact fees if a valid building permit is issued before July 1, 2018.

Effective July 1, 2018, Cleburne will be collecting roadway, water, and wastewater impact fees for all new building permits for properties that received final plat approval on or after February 13, 2018.

One Year Exemption:

Properties that receive final plat approval before February 13, 2018, will not be assessed impact fees if a valid building permit is issued within one (1) year of the effective date of this Ordinance (February 13, 2018). 

If a building permit issued between February 13, 2018, and February 13, 2019, subsequently expires, and no new application is made and approved within such period, the new development shall be subject to the payment of the impact fees adopted in this Ordinance.

Effective February 14, 2019, Cleburne will be collecting roadway, water and wastewater impact fees for all new building permits.

5. What are Roadway Impact Fees?

A roadway impact fee is a charge imposed against new development to pay for the off-site construction or expansion of roadway facilities that are necessitated by and benefit the new development. These roadway facilities may be adjacent to the new development or within the same service area as the new development.

Roadway impact fees are assessed in proportion to the anticipated traffic generated on roadway facilities by the new development in the service area. In other words, impact fees are assessed as a proportion of the development’s impact on the system.

For roadway facilities, a service area is limited to an area within the corporate boundaries of the political subdivision and shall not exceed six miles.

For the facilitation of roadway impact fees, the City of Cleburne is divided into nine service areas.

Roadway impact fees collected in a service area may only be expended in that service area.

A map of Cleburne’s nine service areas is available below:

Roadway Service Area Map

Impact fees may not be enacted or imposed in the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) for roadway facilities.

6. What are Utility Impact Fees?

A Utility Impact Fee is a charge imposed against new development in order to generate revenue for funding or recouping the costs of capital improvements or facility expansions necessitated by and attributable to the new development.

Utility impact fees help pay the cost of building or expanding facilities in order to provide the adequate service that a new development requires.

Maps of Cleburne’s water and wastewater service areas are available below:

Water Service Area Map

Wastewater Service Area Map

7. Must I pay impact fees for irrigation meters?

Irrigation meters must pay the water impact fee, but the wastewater impact fee does not apply.

8. What is the difference between an impact fee and a tap fee?

An impact fee is charged to new development to offset new or increased demands on existing water and wastewater systems. Impact fees are used to fund expansion on the water and wastewater systems. A tap fee is a service fee that is charged for connecting the public water or wastewater main to the private plumbing.

9. What are Land Use Assumptions?

Land Use Assumptions project growth over a 10-year period. They project population growth by using the number of housing units and non-residential growth by using building square footage and then spatially allocates this growth to designated service areas.

These projections are used in the Capital Improvements Plan to determine the necessary expansions needed to accommodate the increased impacts on infrastructure resulting from new development.

10. What is a Capital Improvements Plan?

A Capital Improvements Plan is required under Chapter 395 of the Local Government Code and must identify the capital improvements or facility expansions for which impact fees may be assessed.

A capital improvement is defined as water supply, treatment, and distribution facilities; wastewater collection and treatment facilities; storm water, drainage, and flood control facilities; and roadway facilities with a life expectancy of three or more years.

The Capital Improvements Plan for Roadway Impact Fees (known as the Roadway Improvements Plan) identifies and estimates the cost of all roadway improvements projected for each Service Area for a ten-year period.

The Capital Improvements Plan for Utility Impact Fees identifies and estimates the cost of all water and wastewater infrastructure improvements projected for a ten-year period.

The needed improvements identified in the CIP are based on the Land Use Assumptions for the City Limits and ETJ.

The CIP for Roadway Impact Fees is developed by transportation planning professionals. The CIP for Utility Impact Fees is developed by engineering professionals.