Whitefish OKs full-blown study of impact fees

By LYNNETTE HINTZE

The Daily Inter Lake

Whitefish is forging ahead with its pursuit of impact fees for new development and will spend another $165,010 on consultant fees to figure out how much to charge developers.

The City Council on Monday voted to move forward with a consultant contract with Washington-based Henderson, Young and Co. for a full scope of work on impact fees for streets, sidewalks, bike paths, storm water, water and sewer. The council also agreed to pursue impact fees for parks, but doesn't know whether that will be extra or can be included in the $165,010 pricetag, city Finance Director Mike Eve said.

A portion of the money will go toward updating a 2000 feasibility evaluation completed by the Washington firm. Whitefish seriously broached the idea of impact fees six years ago and has spent $63,158 on studies that included a level-of-service study in 2002 by the same firm.

There's been renewed interest in impact fees since several new council members were elected last fall.

"The council is very concerned that development pay its own way," Eve said.

Several Whitefish residents have also approached the council recently to push for impact fees.

Legislation that took effect last year gave cities the enforcement muscle to impose impact fees to pay for public-facility improvements affected by new development. Senate Bill 185 mapped out the process of imposing fees on new development and defined which public facilities could be improved with fee revenue.

Still, until now, the council has been reluctant to jump in with both feet. Whitefish Planning Director Bob Horne, who worked as the planning director in Jackson, Wyo., a ski-resort town similar to Whitefish, told the council in June 2005 that Jackson had considered the staff and resources it would take to administer impact fees and decided it "would raise more hell than revenue."

There was concern from former council members that Whitefish, even with its hefty growth rate, might not have the "critical mass" needed to successfully impose impact fees.

Kalispell wasted little time in jumping into the impact-fee arena. It has set fees for water and sewer, and this week decided to add storm-water impact fees Dec. 1.

Eve said he's certain Whitefish will recoup its investment in consultant costs to study impact fees, but has not done an analysis of how long it would take to do that.

"These out-of-state consultants are expensive," he said.