Milton staff present update on impact-fee methodology and timeline for fee decisions

Jackie Lim, a planner in Milton's Community Development Department, and consultant Paige Hatley of Ross & Associates presented a technical update to Milton's impact-fee program Tuesday, outlining the methodology report, a revised Capital Improvement Element (CIE) and an amended development impact-fee ordinance.

Lim said the work started in October and aims to update Milton's 2015 impact-fee program so the city can identify capital projects needed to serve growth over the next two decades. Hatley said the methodology report is the technical foundation for the CIE (which catalogs capacity-expanding projects such as new fire stations, additional police space, parks and road widenings) and for calculating a legally required "maximum fee" under the state's Development Impact Fee Act.

The presenters emphasized two legal limits: impact fees may be used only for capital projects that add capacity, not for staffing or routine maintenance; and the CIE must be reviewed by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) before local adoption of the ordinance and fee schedule. Hatley said DCA reviews the projected capital needs (the CIE) while the municipality decides whether to adopt all or part of the maximum fee schedule the methodology produces.

During council questions, staff clarified that impact fees are not recurring taxes but one-time fees triggered by building permits for new development. Lim said the city's current single-family fee adopted in 2015 is about $7,500 per dwelling unit; the consultant noted some older studies in other communities have resulted in much higher maximums, though the transcript record of those example figures was garbled. Staff said they will return to council in a future dedicated work session with materials that compare the current fees, the methodology's maximum-fee schedule and options to mitigate fees (for example by adopting a lower schedule, using appeals, or applying other ordinance mechanisms).

The consultants described next steps: DCA review of the CIE (about two months), adoption of the CIE by city council, then two public hearings and a local ordinance adoption process for any fee changes. Staff said the analysis will present per-unit residential calculations (single-family and multifamily) and square-footage/land-use approaches for commercial uses so council can consider targeted policy choices.

The council did not take any vote on the impact-fee items at this meeting; staff will return with the methodology report, proposed maximum-fee schedule and a schedule for future work sessions and public hearings.