The City of Irving is examining the idea of enacting Impact Fees that will enable new growth to help pay its fair share of city utilities and services.
Historically when a new development is constructed, it receives the benefit of the city's existing streets, water delivery, waste water and storm sewer systems that were installed and paid for by existing tax payers and water rate payers. New residents and businesses often add additional service demands on these systems. For instance, an industrial manufacturer may use large amounts of water in their process and then have increased truck traffic and employees that may need improved roads. These increases may not have been planned for when funding was set for those services.
The City of Irving is completing a study and considering establishing impact fees as allowed by Chapter 395 of the Texas Local Government Code. If impact fees are adopted, the city would be allowed to collect fees for the cost of new infrastructure needed to serve increased demand created by new developments. These impact fees would be assessed based on the number of units or size of the business. The funds would be used for projects such as installing larger water or sewer lines or building new road lanes due to the new demand.
A more detailed explanation of Impact Fees can be found in the Impact Fee 101 presentation by Freese and Nichols as provided to the Capital Improvement Impact Fee Advisory Committee.
Information about the Impact Fee discussion, including review of the Land Use Assumptions, Capital Improvement plans, the advisory committee and scheduled public hearings, may be found on the Impact Fee webpage.