
According to the Midland Reporter-Telegram, the City Council of Midland, Texas recently approved impact fees to help fund water, wastewater. and roadways needed for the city's future growth. Developers, real estate agents, and home builders have expressed concerns about the new fees which are designed to raise money to pay for $575 million in needed improvements. Of that, almost $215 million is related to the city's expected growth over the next 10 years.
City leaders believe the plan put forward will help the city collect as much as $5 million to $10 million annually to deal with development needs related to growth. Two residents spoke during the meeting, including home builder Lance Friday, who told the council that a better way to raise the money needed for growth was to raise the tax rate on all property owners by 15 cents per $100 valuation. Friday said impact fees will be passed along to those who buy new homes and that will keep people from homeownership.
Developers, builders and Realtors wanted to see exemptions from impact fees, specifically those fees related to the building of single-family homes, which was mentioned by the two residents who spoke Tuesday. “Saddling the home builders would not be the right thing to do today,” Friday said.
Developer Mark Payne previously told the council that he doesn’t expect impact fees will be revenue neutral and that he wanted more assurance from city leaders that the money raised would go toward projects that are proactive for future development. He did not speak Tuesday.
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