LAKEPORT >> An annual update regarding the fees collected under AB 1600 was presented to the Lakeport City Council Feb. 3. The fees are used to mitigate the impact of development. When collected, the fees are deposited into special revenue accounts.
Separate accounts for each type of improvement funded by the development fees are required by state law.
“The primary purpose of the annual report is to show the necessity of the continued imposition of development impact fees,” Lakeport Finance Director Daniel Buffalo stated.
At the end of the 2013/14 fiscal year, the storm drainage fee account balance totaled a little less than $354,000.
A water expansion fee, as well as a sewer expansion fee, funds capital projects related to increasing the capacity and the delivery of service to residents resulting from new development and other projects that impact their respective system, according to Buffalo. Both fees ensures the city meets “the health and safety needs of its citizens as it grows and expands.”
In the City of Lakeport Municipal Sewer District (CLMSD) South the sewer expansion fee costs a little more than $10,000 per unit. However, the fee costs approximately $7,500 for each single family dwelling in CLMSD North.
As for the water expansion fee, an escalating scale is used to determine the fee’s amount, with a 3/4 inch water meter costing a little more than $6,000 and a 1 1/2 inch meter costing nearly $25,000.
The water expansion fee account balance totaled a little more than $345,000 at the end of the fiscal year, while the sewer expansion fee account balance totaled a little more that $912,000.
Within 180 days after the end of the fiscal year, agencies are required to publicly disclose the amount of the fees, interest earned on the fees’ balance, additional income and the amount of expenditure for each public facility or improvement made from the account during the year.
Lakeport currently collects three types of impact fees.
A storm drainage fee, which is also called an impervious surface fee, funds improvements to storm drains, which are usually associated with road maintenance and repair, according to Buffalo.
The collection of the fee and its use is “critical in maintaining an effective storm drainage system and meeting the capital improvement requirements” that the city is required to meet.
The fee is 10 cents per square foot of new impervious service, according to the report.
Contact J. W. Burch, IV at 900-2022.
