DENISON, Texas (KXII) -Future developers or redevelopers will have to pay more to build in Denison.
This comes after a unanimous vote by Denison’s City Council.
“I think most folks see the need,” said Fanchon Stearns, Denison’s CIP/Engineering Manager.
Last July, the City of Denison got the ball rolling to push for an impact fee for water, waste water, and roadways.
“Impact fees are fees that cities can put in place to help offset the impact that new development and redevelopment have on existing systems,” Stearns said.
“When you have a city that’s 150 years old you’ve got to upgrade,” said Tony Kaai, Denison Development Alliance President.
Prior to these impact fees, Denison taxpayers had to foot the bill for any improvements the city needed, “all of those improvements had to be financed in other way which is mostly ratepayers, people who pay water and sewer rates were essentially paying for all of those improvements up until this point,” Fanchon added.
“So when you have a big large growth spurt that comes into the community then you’re gonna have to increase your capacity of water and sewer, so the impact fee is put on those new individuals that come into the community cause they should pay for it not the existing taxpayer,” Kaai said.
Kaai added that local redevelopers do have some concerns as they will have to raise their rates but that Denison will still look attractive to future developers amongst its competitors despite these new fees.
Sherman approved similar impact fees in 2020.
Denison’s new impact fees are effective immediately.
City officials say legally platted properties will have a year grace period.
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By Hannah Gonzales; Published: Apr. 4, 2023 at 5:31 PM CDT
