CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The City of Corpus Christi is looking at potentially adopting an impact fee to help with growing infrastructure in the area.
Impact fees are payments developers must make that help offset the cost of public infrastructure, basically ensuring that developers are paying their fair share.
"Impact fees are used in many cities," Director of Development with the City of Corpus Christi Albert Raymond said. "It's a certainty for development. It modernizes how we extend infrastructure in the city."
Raymond said that the fee will help with budgeting on a grand scale, especially when it comes to future projects.
"When they require an extension of infrastructure, now they're paying their fair share, so that way you and I don't carry the full burden in a bond project or a CIP project," he said.
So what does the proposed impact fee mean for Corpus Christi?
At-Large Corpus Christi Councilman Jim Klein said that it's all about having balance.
"Same time our population really has not grown, that just means we're adding more and more infrastructure and that has to be payed for some how," Klein said.
He said that paying attention to placement is paramount when dealing with infrastructure, both existing and planned.
"Greenwood and Old Brownsville Road there's already waterlines underneath there, there's already wastewater lines underneath there as well," he said. "So the amount of additional infrastructure needed to develop in that area is considerably less than if we were going to develop as we are right now out in London."
Raymond said that they've been crunching the numbers and looking at data from other cities.
The impact fee is set to go before city council on Tuesday where they will vote on whether to officially adopt the procedure.