CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The City of Corpus Christi met with building developers Friday to discuss a new way to fund infrastructure.
The City has a Development Services Task Force. Their goal is to find a cost-effective solution to pay for things like water and wastewater lines to support new developments.
Let's say a company wants to build a new subdivision. Currently, developers use a trust fund they pay into to pay for the utility connections for that development.
"We have operated under the trust fund agreement that we have now for thirty-something years," Braselton said. "We think it has been working pretty good."
That's where the City disagrees. They said the process hasn't been updated since 1982 and that's not a good thing.
"The revenues generated by the trust fund are not enough to carry the infrastructure that is needed for the 21st century," Braselton said.
But how does this impact you at home? Al Raymond with the City of Corpus Christi said your utility bill pays for what the developer doesn't.
"The average ratepayers have to carry some of the cost of growth and development. Impact fees shift a lot of that cost to the new development," Raymond said.
Raymond says the city met with a consultant who suggested moving to impact fees which is a fee set by the city that developers have to pay so that their structures can have things like running water.
Braselton doesn't know what an alternative solution would be but impact fees aren't it.
"And then the City gets into a situation where they're involved in the financing of it, and that's a whole new world for Corpus Christi, not just the development community," Braselton said.
According to Raymond, the topic will be discussed further with the planning commission on Jan. 22.