The Durango Fire Protection District is asking Durango City Council to approve a 61% increase in impact fees on new residential and commercial developments.
The additional revenue collected from the fees would be spent on capital improvements for the fire district..
The proposed increase in fees would raise the cost of $819 for residential construction in 2022 to the proposed amount of $1,317; and from $1.64 per square foot for commercial construction in 2022 to $2.32 per square foot.
An impact study completed in August says an average of 5,920 residential units and 3,220 commercial units are projected to be built over the next 20 years. Over the next 30 years, projections say 8,880 residential units and 4,830 commercial units will be built.
Impact fees are typically passed from developers to homeowners or end-project owners and are determined by 20- to 30-year projections of expected growth in the fire district’s service area, relevant because any amount of development increases the demand for fire services, Fire Chief Hal Doughty said on Friday.
But despite many development projects over the past year, construction over the last three years is “significantly down” because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. At the same time, the costs of future capital construction projects for the fire district have shot upward. The fire district needs to keep up with its long-term growth projections, and because there are fewer projects all around to distribute its costs to, impact fees have to rise.
The fire chief summarized the findings of the impact study in a report to City Council on Tuesday ahead of another upcoming meeting where City Council is expected to make a decision to approve or deny the rise in fees.
The study was timely for the fire district in that a legal agreement with the city requires the study to be performed every two to three years. It was time for a new study anyway, but La Plata County also requested a study before it agreed to the same impact fee rates Doughty pitched to the city, he said. The study confirms fee rates reflect current growth trends while also ensuring that builders and project owners aren’t being charged “exorbitant” fees.
Doughty said La Plata and San Juan counties approved the proposed fee increases. If Durango joins in consensus, impact fees across the entirety of Durango Fire Rescue’s service area will be consistent.
“Which is important because the fire trucks go everywhere that we serve and the ambulances go everywhere that we serve,” he said. “So everybody within the district should be paying an equivalent fee to help support that.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
