Parkland fees start to roll in

While looking through City Council’s budget questions (What? How do you celebrate Labor Day?), the Austin Monitor noticed a fun follow-up to the city’s recent parkland dedication fees saga. The new fees were established at the end of January, and Council Member Leslie Pool asked for information about how much has been collected since then. The answer from staff explains that, because the fees are collected at the end of a very long development process, the changes have not yet had a huge impact. The four cases that have been completed, however, have raised $46,902 in fees, which is much more than what would have been collected under the old fee structure: $27,300. The staff response also notes that two new hotels on the horizon will net the city “more than $600,000 in parkland fees it would not have received prior to the ordinance change.”