The City of Goodyear, Arizona, desired two sets of geographic-based development fees. The City wanted to update its existing development fees for current areas of the City as well as new development fees for the recently annexed 67 square miles in the Sonoran Valley area. Additionally, the City’s previous development fee updates had been tumultuous. TischlerBise was hired to help standardize the City’s development fee process.
To better meet the legal requirements of “rational nexus” and maximize the fiscal benefits of the development fees, TischlerBise calculated two separate sets of Infrastructure Improvement Plans (IIP’s) and Development Fees for these two areas of the City. The following categories of infrastructure were included in the analyses: water resources, water development, wastewater, reclaimed water, libraries, parks and recreation, fire, police, general government, public works, arterial streets, and regional transportation. For the Sonoran Valley area, the development fees reflected that solely new development created the demand for additional infrastructure capacity. The Sonoran Valley fees also included the additional financing costs the City would incur to build infrastructure in this area.