Oswego village trustees approve interim development impact fees

Oswego village trustees have agreed to establish interim development impact fees that are expected to remain in place until Oswego School District 308 completes its master facilities plan in the next year.

The interim fees reflect an increase in fees for the Oswego fire and library districts, a flat fee for the village and Oswegoland Park District and a reduced fee for District 308. The village will collect a development impact fee in the amount of $11,650 per detached single-family unit and $6,407.50 per attached single-family and multi-family unit.

Of that amount, the village will collect 48.45% of the fee and the school district will collect 27.39% of it, a decrease from 38.02%. The fire protect district in turn will collect 11.77% of the fee, an increase from 3.46%.

The Oswegoland Park District will continue to receive 6.50% of the fee and Oswego Public Library will receive 5.89%, an increase from 3.57%.

Trustees approved the interim fees at their Dec. 10 Village Board meeting. Development impact fees help support the cost of new capital needs attributed to growth, said Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo.

At the same time, Oswego School District 308 officials are working to find out the district’s current and future facility needs. At the Oct. 7 Oswego school board meeting, board members unanimously approved a $380,000 contract with Wight & Company to develop a master facility plan for the district.

The district covers about 68 square miles, with students not only in Oswego, but also Aurora, Joliet, Montgomery, Plainfield and Yorkville. Plans are for the school board to adopt the master facility plan by December 2025.

Last May, village trustees approved an intergovernmental agreement with the other taxing bodies for David Taussig and Associates to conduct an impact fee distribution analysis in an amount not to exceed $36,500. As a result of the school district’s master facilities plan not yet being completed, Di Santo said the district did not yet have accurate data to share with DTA.

“DTA provided their initial recommendations,” Di Santo said. “And as you can expect, without a capital plan from the school district, those initial recommendations showed a dramatic cut to the school district’s impact fees. It also showed a dramatic increase to the village’s impact fee, a significant increase to the fire district’s impact fee, a slight increase to the park district and an increase to the library.”

Following those recommendations, staff from each of the taxing bodies agreed to a compromise interim percentage that reflected an increase in fees for the fire and library districts, a flat fee for the village and park district and a reduced fee for District 308.

He said the fees would only apply to developments that are approved in 2025. Di Santo said upon completion of the school district’s master facility plan, the taxing bodies can reengage with DTA for an update to its study and the Village Board would then be presented a final recommendation to adopt.

“Once the final fee structure is adopted, staff would recommend that the impact fees are reviewed periodically every five years or so,” Di Santo said.