Tooele council to consider waiving up to $10,000 per unit for housing authority's Harvey subdivision

Tooele City staff and the Tooele County Housing Authority told the City Council on Feb. 18 that a temporary waiver of development impact fees could make six self‑help homes in the Harvey subdivision affordable to very‑low‑income buyers.

Matthew Johnson, the city attorney, introduced Resolution 2026‑08, saying the impact fees at issue are about $16,000 per dwelling unit under Tooele City Code section 4‑15‑5 and that the code allows the council to waive up to $10,000 per unit. "We're offering for council's consideration a request from the Tooele County Housing Authority to waive the impact fees associated with the Harvey subdivision," Johnson said.

Tooele County Housing Authority Executive Director Karen Kuipers described the mutual self‑help program, run with USDA Rural Development, in which qualifying low‑income households contribute sweat equity (roughly nine to 12 months of work) and receive low‑interest loans to purchase newly built homes. "This is a program that the housing authority is very proud of," Kuipers said, and she noted the Murdoch subdivision opened with 21 homes after a prior fee waiver.

Kuipers told the council there are six applicants for Harvey and that without the local waiver "we cannot make the numbers work" for households at or below 50% of area median income. She said those homes are being finished and invited council members to an open house the next day.

Mayor Manzio cautioned council members that waiving the fees would not remove the city’s obligation to cover the waived amount: "if we waive the impact fees, we do still have to pay those impact fees... we'd have to take it out of fund balance," he said, noting it would not be picked up in the operating budget for the year.

The housing authority provided program-level figures: six units in Harvey, prior support for the Murdoch subdivision, and typical loan values reported around $360,000. Kuipers described monthly mortgage payments in a low-to-high band depending on subsidy and income, and she said Tooele City’s loss of rural status after Harvey would end eligibility for this USDA self‑help model in the city, making the request time sensitive for current applicants.

The council did not take a final vote at the work meeting; the item was scheduled for the business meeting for formal consideration. If the council approves the waiver, staff said roughly $60,000 would be covered from the city's fund balance (six units × up to $10,000 waiver).