Salinas approves an increase for developer impact fees as infrastructure costs are rising.

Costs across many industries have climbed over the past year, and construction is no different. That includes costs for public infrastructure, and on April 26, Salinas City Council voted 4-1 to increase development impact fees the city charges by 8 percent.

Impact fees cover services the city provides connected to new developments – things like water and sewage infrastructure, roads and more. For commercial projects, developers must pay impact fees before they can get a building permit; for residential, fees are paid before buildings are occupied. Salinas Finance Director Mark Roberts said anything under an 8-percent hike would mean a negative impact for the city when it comes to absorbing associated costs.

The Central Coast Builders Association recommended a more modest 4-percent increase, arguing the 8-percent bump would make it more difficult to build affordable housing and other projects. Mayor Kimbley Craig, who cast the only dissenting vote, agreed the increase was too high.

Dana Cleary, director of real estate development at nonprofit housing developer CHISPA, says she understands the city has bills to pay: “It is just a cost of running a city,” she says.

City Councilmember Anthony Rocha said the increase will appropriately share the burden for providing essential services to city residents. “It’s a matter of quality-of-life issues for our constituents,” he said.

With the approved increases, a storm sewer line fee, for example, will be $646 per bedroom instead of $598. The same service for commercial/industrial will be $8,211 per acre instead of $7,603.

The updated impact fees are set to take effect on July 1.