New home sites and developers may have to pony up a little more cash in order to build in Tomball after the city council voted to initially approve an increase in its impact fees.

At its May 18 meeting, the council voted 4-1 in favor of the first reading of a plan that will increase fees to connect to the city’s four drainage channels, as well as an incremental four-year hike to tap into the city’s water and sewer systems.

Councilmember Bill Webb was the only dissenting vote against the plan.

The council will vote on the second reading June 1. If the plan is approved, it will go into effect the following day.

Impact fees are utilized by cities to offset or cover the impact a new development will have on a city’s infrastructure, rather than put the cost onto taxpayers.

The previous water and sewer fees, set in 2003, were $1,107.60 for water and $1,377.69 for sewer. By the year 2013, those amounts if approved, would steadily increase to $1,329.12 and $1,653.23 respectively.

The increase in fees to connect to the drainage channels are as follows:

·         For the M118 drainage channel, an increase from $4,184.73 to $6,023.90.

·         For the M121E drainage channel, an increase from $4,747.57 to $6,828.71.

·         For the M121W drainage channel, an increase from $3,681.56 to $4,985.14.

·         For the M125 drainage channel, an increase from $444.42 to $574.40.

The increases to drainage channel impact fees would be the maximum allowable by law.

In March, the city’s Capital Improvement Plan Advisory Committee (CIPAC) met to review the 2007-2017 Infrastructure Master Plan and Impact Fee Determination. Following those meetings, CIPAC recommended that impact fees increase by 20 percent.

However, the city’s engineering department recommended that the council approve the maximum allowable fees.

City Manager Jan Belcher explained that the reason for impact fees is to alleviate the burden on the taxpayers.

“Anyone who lives in Tomball who pays for water and sewer, they have been helping maintain the system,” she said. “When someone new comes, they have to pay their fair share. When someone wants to build concrete where there was dirt that absorbed water, it has to go somewhere.”

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