Summary: Growth is good but also adds a big economic burden. For every new resident in Kingman, we have less dollars for road maintenance, police, firemen, and parks per capita. Development impact fees help to maintain the current level of service on those items.

Growth is good. It is a sign of a healthy community. It brings in more retail options for residents and is generally a good economic sign. However, residential growth can also be problematic. These new roads become a future economic obligation for the city. New homes require more police and firemen. New residents should require parks. Any city has to find ways to pay for these four things as it grows. 

Currently, Kingman has no city property tax and no development fees. This means simply that with residential growth, we as Kingman citizens have less dollars for road maintenance, firemen and parks per capita (per current resident). As we grow now, and we are growing(!), we have less of these vital services available.

Development impact fees are charges assigned to a developer to pay for the increased obligation the city takes on for any new development. These are most often baked into the total cost of the house and passed on the buyer in the form a long term mortgage. By law, these fees cannot be used to increase amenities, only to maintain the level of service currently available. Impact fees are only one of a number of tools a city can use to pay for itself. Studies have shown that impact fees don’t negatively impact development.

The process to implement impact fees is long.  Kingman city staff have worked for 2 years to bring it to this point.  An outside consultant worked on the calculation assumptions to determine what level of services were currently being provided. Local developers have had opportunities to challenge those assumptions. Workshops open to the public have been held. It's a very transparent process.

Our city is only able to maintain a fraction of the roads currently with very limited funds. If you look around, you will see our roads are in poor repair with potholes abounding.

We have a very limited revenue stream - especially since the TPT was reduced. As part of that proposition, any new tax revenue (think sales or property tax) has to go to a popular ballot for a general vote. This circumstance is unusual to say the least and it means opportunities for the city to collect revenue are extremely limited. Impact fees are one of the only ways to address this, and even then it will only cover a fraction of the increased obligation that development causes.

I’m grateful for developers who have risked much and provide many jobs.  They provide a valuable service to the citizens.  They are entitled to any and all profit they generate. And it’s OK for them to participate in maintaining the roads that make their business model possible.  Please sign this petition to let the Kingman City Council know that you support development impact fees.