Eagle Pass City Council Approves Water Impact Fee and Water Subscription Fee Increases

By: Miguel Munoz, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2018

The City of Eagle Pass, Texas City Council approved the second reading of an Ordinance imposing a water impact fee known as water capital recovery fee of $828 per living equivalent unit (per lot) and the third and final reading of an Ordinance increasing the water subscription fee from $188 to $300 per living equivalent unit (per lot) in new real estate developments within the City limits and extraterritorial jurisdiction, as well as other important matters, at their special meeting held on Tuesday, April 10, 2018.

The Eagle Pass City Council approved Agenda Item No. 2 calling for the second reading of an Ordinance imposing a new water impact fee known as a capital recovery fee of $828 per living equivalent (per lot) on all new real estate developments built in the City limits and extraterritorial jurisdiction.  The City of Eagle Pass Water Works and Sewer System is requesting this water impact fee of $828 per lot in new real estate developments to replace the current $526 wastewater impact fee per lot since the City of Eagle Pass does not currently have a water impact fee.  The proposed water impact fee of $828 per lot will eliminate the $526 wastewater impact fee per lot and rolled into just one fee for both.  According to Councilmember Luis E. Sifuentes, this $828 water impact fee will be passed by real estate developers to consumers who purchase real property lots in the new real estate developments that will be built within the City limits and extraterritorial jurisdiction by increasing the cost of a real property lot. This Ordinance requires a third and final reading by City Council at their next meeting for the new $828 water impact fee to take effect on the new real estate developments.

Another fee requested by the Eagle Pass Water Works and Sewer System approved by the City Council on April 10th is the increase of the water subscription fee per living equivalent unit (per lot) from its current $188 to $300 on its third and final reading.  This new increased water subscription fee will take effect within 30 days. Eagle Pass Water Works System General Manager Jorge Barrera in a previous meeting justified this water subscription fee increase as necessary to keep up with the rising costs of water rights from the Rio Grande River in the marketplace borne by the City of Eagle Pass. Barrera noted that a household uses approximately one-half acre foot of water per year while the City pays $3,000 per acre foot of water and that the fee increase is needed to offset the higher cost of water rights paid by the City of Eagle Pass.

The City Council also approved the third and final reading of Ordinances amending both the City’s 2018 Water Conservation Plan and the 2018 Drought Contingency Plan to be submitted to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Texas Water Development Board as required by law.

Another Ordinance approved on its third and final reading is amending the guidelines and criteria of the City’s Tax Abatements to businesses seeking to establish economic development projects and jobs within the City and its extraterritorial jurisdiction.

The City Council also approved two Resolutions, including the adoption and reaffirmation of Civil Rights Policies and Grievance Procedures in accordance with the Texas Community Development Block Grant Program and the naming of City employee Lorena Escontrias-Felan as the City’s Civil Rights Officer and the appointment of new members to the City’s Building Codes Council.