KILLEEN, Texas — The city of Killeen worked on a new impact fee ordinance for most of 2019 and council members moved it through every hurdle until the final vote on Dec. 17. The process cost the city $70,000 for a study from Kimley-Horn & Associates, Inc. and many hours of work from staff.
The impact fee ordinance died in a 4-3 vote. Councilman Butch Menking voted to move the ordinance forward in the past but switched sides in the final vote to defeat it.
Now, however, Councilwoman Shirley Fleming is working with citizens to bring the measure back to council with a petition.
"I went to the city manager, to him this is what I wanted to do," Fleming said. "I got the petition forms, which is 950 signatures."
Fleming told 6 News Sunday she and other citizens have been collecting signatures since Jan. 15 and they already have at least 400 of the needed 950. She said people have been signing up quickly because they are so unhappy with the council's actions.
"The citizens that come in, they are so angry that this was not passed," Fleming said. "Some of them are in district 2 and district 3. They are very upset. They said they will call their council members on this."
Fleming said any citizens wishing to sign the petition can do so any Wednesday or Saturday at 1808 East Rancier Ave in Killeen from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Fleming said she would also take the petition around to local church groups and Harris would circulate the petition as well.
If passed, the impact fees would shift some of the costs of infrastructure improvements near new developments from the city's rate payers to builders and, in some cases, developers.
According to the ordinance the city is drafting, "Impact fees shall be collected at the time of application for and in conjunction with the issuance of a building permit. The city reserves the right to enter into an agreement with a developer for a different time and manner of payment of impact fees in which case the agreement shall determine the time and manner of payment."
The city ordinance states the fees would cost developers several thousand dollars per single-family detached living unit, though the exact amount would depend on where the development was in the city and the amount of traffic it would add.
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