The Brookings City Council on Nov. 10 adopted Resolution 25-R-1285 to enact a new system development charges (SDC) methodology for water, wastewater, stormwater, transportation and park systems and voted to freeze current SDC fee amounts.

City staff explained the city hired Donovan Enterprises (Steve Donovan) to review the existing SDC methodology and produce a final report and proposed methodology. Tony told the council the consultant’s deliverable included four options for council direction on fees and emphasized that adopting a methodology provides a consistent framework for assessing future fees.

Councilors questioned when SDCs were last changed; staff said the city froze increases in 2018 and had not revised the methodology since. Council discussion focused on trade-offs: one councilor said Brookings’ SDCs are “among the highest in the state” and expressed concern about raising fees for single-family dwellings (one councilor estimated about $2,000 for a single-family dwelling), while others urged adoption of the methodology now and postponed setting new fee levels so staff and council could pursue targeted incentives or further analysis.

Mayor Isaac Hodges moved to adopt the resolution enacting the new methodology and to freeze SDC fee amounts; the motion carried on a roll call voice vote. Tony noted the capital improvement plan underlies the recommended fee adjustments and that differing capital plans explain much of the variation among cities’ SDCs. The council discussed possible mechanisms to bring the fee question back for review; staff suggested options such as revisiting in one year or initiating a periodic review, but the adopted motion does not specify a mandatory review timeline.

The public hearing record was closed and no additional oral or written testimony was accepted; the public hearing was closed at 06:06 PM. The council’s action adopted the methodology while keeping the current fee schedule in place pending future council direction.