Fort Worth Capital Improvement Advisory Committee Meeting - May 20, 2026
Fort Worth Capital Improvement Advisory Committee Meeting - May 20, 2026
The Fort Worth Capital Improvement Advisory Committee met on May 20, 2026, to approve previous meeting minutes, receive staff comments, and review the semi-annual transportation impact fee report for October 2025 through March 2026. The committee discussed fee rates, eligible costs, bond interest payments, and future allocations. The semi-annual report was accepted unanimously, and a decision was made to add a public comment period to future meetings.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes (February 25, 2026): Motion by Mr. Edmonds, second by Ms. Cranz. Voice vote passed unanimously.
Discussion Items
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Staff Comments by Kamal Cruz (Senior Capital Projects Officer):
- Service Area Changes: Updated presentation to reflect service areas that transitioned from fee to no-fee status, primarily through neighborhood empowerment zones (NEZ). Projects outside NEZs require council determination of fee waivers for public benefit.
- M&C Actions: Clarified that M&C actions primarily authorize fund allocations to projects within service areas; service area limits and rates are set by city council through the transportation impact fee study.
- Comparison with Sister Cities: Staff will include a comparison of Fort Worth's impact fee rates with other cities in the upcoming 2027 transportation impact fee study update, which is expected to be procured soon and completed by late 2027.
- Eligible Costs: Impact fee dollars can be used for hard construction costs, soft costs (e.g., engineering), and bond interest/debt service, but not for general project management staff costs. A 20% soft cost assumption is used per project.
- Funding Mechanisms: Fees are used to fund projects either by topping up bond-funded projects (paying for eligible portions) or by paying debt service on previously bonded eligible projects. Independent fee-only projects (e.g., Cantrell Sansom) are possible but use general fund for staff costs.
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Review of Semi-Annual Report (Q1 & Q2 FY2026):
- Collection Rates: Currently 40% of maximum assessable rate for non-residential, and 60% for residential (increasing to 65% on June 1, 2026). No further increases authorized. Future rate changes will be informed by stakeholder feedback (DAC, real estate council, public) and determined by city council.
- Land Use Assumptions: Three full-purpose annexations occurred in the period, bringing total annexations to 31 (approx. 2,600 acres) since program start. Annexations after 2022 will be included in the next study update (anticipated October 2027).
- Audit Update: 2024 audit completed June 2025; target completion of action items by June 30, 2026. Three recommendations addressed: (1) FMS amended policy to prioritize expenditure of impact fee dollars (most restrictive funds) in August 2025; (2) TPW, FMS, and Development Services established process to use fees for eligible costs including bond interest, with M&C approved May 12, 2026; (3) Semi-annual report updated to include appropriated, encumbered, and expended/spent fees – requirement met as of this meeting.
- Collections: Total $20.2 million collected in the six-month period (Oct 2025 – Mar 2026), bringing cumulative collections to $285.5 million. Service Area C highest at $43.4 million, Service Area Z second at $37.4 million. Service Areas L and W are now no-fee areas.
- Allocations: Only two projects received allocations totaling $696,000 during the period (e.g., Northwest Traffic Signal Project). Future allocations expected to reach approximately $78 million, including $32.4 million for 2026 bond projects, $17.1 million for public-private partnerships, $21.9 million for debt service (authorized May 12, 2026), and $0.75–0.8 million for the 2027 study consultant contract. Of this, $23.3 million is anticipated from Service Area Z.
- Expenditures: Of $163.8 million allocated cumulatively, $140 million (86%) is encumbered, and $126.9 million (77%) is expended (paid invoices). The committee confirmed that the 10-year spend-down requirement is measured by expenditures, not encumbrances.
- Compliance: The program has expended more than the $65 million collected as of January 17, 2017, and is in compliance with state law (Texas Local Government Code 395). Staff tracks aging by service area, with a process to be completed by June 30, 2026.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to Accept Semi-Annual Report: Committee member Edmonds moved to accept the transportation impact fee semi-annual report through March 31, 2026, as presented, with a finding of no perceived inequities in implementing the capital improvements plan or imposing the fee. Seconded by the vice chair. All in favor; motion passed.
- Public Comment Addition: The committee discussed and formally recorded a decision to add a public comment section after the report in future meetings. Staff will implement this change.
Meeting Transcript
... Alright, we're gonna go ahead and get started. May 20th. Fort Worth Capital Improvement Advisory Committee meeting. Our first order of business is going to be the approval of our previous meeting minutes from February 25th, 2026. Are there any questions? No questions. Alright. I'll second that motion. We have a motion by Mr. Edmonds and a second by Ms. Cranz. Motion is approved. Moving on to staff comments. Come on. I'll take a voice vote. All in favor? Any opposed? Motion passes. Staff comments. Mr. Kamal Cruz. Testing. All right. I learned from the last time I need the mic to be a little bit taller for me. So hopefully everybody can hear me this time. Alright, again, I'm Kamal Cruz, Senior Capital Projects Officer with the Development Services Department. I oversee the transportation impact fee program. So for the staff comments, we wanted to run through a few of the items, not specifically in the presentation, but a few items that came up from our discussions last meeting that we need to address. Item number one, there was a request that there be uh updates to the presentation to reflect the the changes over time of service areas from fee to no fee service areas. So we have included those revisions within the presentation that we're going to see today. And currently this is primarily addressed through the neighborhood empowerment zones, and those specific um projects, they they go through uh an application process through our neighborhood uh services department, and those projects are uh it is codified that those uh projects are exempt from the the um transportation impact fees now for projects that are outside of the neighborhood empowerment zones, they have a similar process. Uh basically for for those projects, um they will need to um council will need to determine how much of those uh fees will be eligible for waiver or exemption, um, and they would also apply through the neighborhood services department um to be uh to have those fees essentially waived. Um, and that application and MNC would also be initiated with the neighborhood services department. Any any questions on that item? We leave that subject. Um I'm just wondering what what can you give us some idea of what the breadth of these exceptions are and credits and how they're deserved. Yeah, so they they truly are for uh a public purpose, public benefit, um, and that is determined by by city council uh to determine whether or not they they meet that criteria and there are adequate protections in place to be able to ensure that they meet the requirements that that they have stated that they would meet for the public's uh benefit. Uh so that is a part of the um the MNC um process that that is uh detailed what their uh public benefit truly is, and is and that is ultimately taken to to council for uh approval and authorization of that um exemption or or waiver. Um, you know, these these don't happen very often. Um they truly must um meet the criteria that's very similar to what we see in the in the for the uh the NES, the neighborhood empowerment zone applications. Um so that's really the standard that um is currently followed. All right, so it's a small percentage. That's correct. That's correct. All right. Um next item was the request to clarify how MNC actions affect service areas and um identify associated projects and ensure maps reflect those updates. So, for for that particular request, um the MSC actions, they typically impact the service areas by really authorization of the funds that that are applied to projects within those service areas. That's really the primary function of the MNC in reference to the transportation impact fee program. Other than that, our transportation impact fee study, of course, is uh adopted by uh city council, uh and which also defines really the limits of the service areas themselves and uh the associated collection rates for those as well.
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