Cities, builders in standoff over impact fees

A contentious impact fee bill making its way through the Legislature has generated a high-stakes standoff between cities and home builders, said House Speaker Kirk Adams, a Mesa Republican. He and other southeast Valley lawmakers are pushing for a compromise on Senate Bill 1525. They are meeting this week with Chandler Mayor Jay Tibshraeny and Mesa Mayor Scott Smith to discuss alternatives. The bill would drastically change the way impact fees are levied on construction, and city officials have said it would all but eliminate their ability to impose the fees. Although cities are united in their opposition, state lawmakers are divided and not always along party lines. Some have said impact fees are adding too much to the cost of houses and may be harming the recession-plagued construction industry. Others say the bill would increase financial burdens for cities and their residents. The charges, which cities base on the cost of growth-related projects like roads and fire stations, amount to $8,532 for each new single-family home in Mesa, $19,684 in Gilbert and $22,079 in Chandler. Developers typically roll the cost over to the homebuyers. "There's a game of chicken going on . . . and no true compromise," Adams said of the fight over SB1525. After years of defeating repeated attempts at impact fee reform, cities may have gotten complacent, he said. Rep. J.D. Mesnard, a Chandler Republican, agrees. "It was miscalculated by cities; they thought it (the legislation) wouldn't have legs, and it does.

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