City eyes higher impact fees

COEUR d’ALENE — For the first time in nearly 20 years, the city is considering increasing its development impact and annexation fees.

A workshop with the City Council and Planning Commission is scheduled at noon Monday in the Library Community Room.

The existing development impact fee study was completed in 2004 and neither the fees nor study have been adjusted since, according to a staff report. The annexation fee was last adopted by resolution in 1998.

According to a report in the city's preliminary financial plan for 2022-23, a goal was to "Seek every remedy for growth to pay for itself through an increase in annexation fees, increase in impact fees, and low tax increases."

The city, along with the FCS Group, Iteris and Welch Comer, developed a 38-page impact fee study.

Impact fees, which are one-time fees, help pay for fire, police, park and transportation needs to keep up with growth.

The population of Coeur d’Alene is expected to grow by 13,000 to 72,000 residents from 2024 to 2034. That means the city will need more money as service demands increase.

The city has identified $11.3 million of fire department needs to service future growth, according to the "Police, Fire, Park and Transportation Development Impact Fee and Annexation Fee Methodology" draft report.

Planned park expansion projects through 2034 total $14.4 million.

The transportation project list for the next 10 years is estimated as high as $91 million, with the impact fee eligible cost up to $33.5 million.

Police needs, per the police capital improvement program from 2024 to 2034, are estimated at $8.4 million.

The city’s current development impact fees on a single-family home and multi-family building per unit are $138 for fire; $70.31 for police and $755.97 for parks.

Larger homes could pay higher impact fees.

The city “may adopt a methodology for charging single-family impact fees based on their floor-area size,” according to a city report.

"Residential impact fees are generally charged based on increases in dwelling units," the draft report said. "However, larger homes generally have a greater amount of trip generation (and occupancy) than smaller homes."

In the 2022 fiscal year, the city collected about $1.2 million total in impact fees.

According to the city’s financial plan for 2022-23, the impact fee fund contains about $5 million.

The city assesses an annexation fee of $750 per dwelling unit.

Some argue that while impact fees help pay for growth, they also increase the cost of housing, because the fees are generally passed on to the consumer.

A hearing to adopt the study and update fees is tentatively scheduled for early December. City staff and Welch Comer staff are scheduled to update the executive committee of the North Idaho Home Builders Association on Oct. 19.