City Hall

New Fulshear rule would give builders a credit for saving water

Ordinance 2026-1555 would credit builders who save water, up to 5 percent of Fulshear's water impact fee and 5 percent of the sewer fee per service unit.

By Fulshear Local Staff

A wooden rain barrel under a downspout beside a house, in a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency photo from October 27, 2014. This barrel is not in Fulshear, and the ordinance does not require rain barrels.
A wooden rain barrel under a downspout beside a house, in a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency photo from October 27, 2014. This barrel is not in Fulshear, and the ordinance does not require rain barrels.Photo: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency / Public domain / Source

Key facts

  • Who: The Fulshear City Council. Assistant City Manager Kelsee Jordan Lee prepared the memo and will present it. The city attorney has reviewed the ordinance.
  • What: Ordinance 2026-1555 would create a conservation credit against water and wastewater impact fees for qualifying water-saving facilities, systems, or products. A developer under the ordinance includes a builder.
  • When: It is on the consent agenda for Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, at 6 p.m. Senate Bill 14, the state law behind it, took effect Jan. 1, 2026. The ordinance would take effect when it passes and is published.
  • Where: The credit would apply to impact fees the city charges on new development. The meeting is at the Fulshear Municipal Complex, 6611 W. Cross Creek Bend Lane.
  • What it means for residents: The credit is capped at 5 percent of the water impact fee per service unit and 5 percent of the wastewater impact fee per service unit, figured separately. The ordinance keeps the fee amounts adopted in 2022.

Builders in Fulshear could get a credit on water and sewer impact fees when a project saves water. City Council will consider Ordinance 2026-1555 on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026. The ordinance is Item VIII.J on the consent agenda.

The city already charges one-time water and wastewater impact fees on new development. Council adopted them on Oct. 15, 2019, in Ordinance 2019-1313, and updated them on Sept. 20, 2022, in Ordinance 2022-1386. Ordinance 2026-1555 supplements the 2022 ordinance. The fee amounts, service areas, land-use assumptions, and collection procedures stay as they are.

Why this is on the agenda

Senate Bill 14, from the 89th Legislature's second special session, added Section 395.0231 to the Texas Local Government Code. It was signed Sept. 17, 2025, and took effect Jan. 1, 2026. Cities that charge water or wastewater impact fees must credit facilities, systems, or products that reuse, conserve, or save water.

The ordinance says the word "developer" includes a builder. A measure can qualify when it cuts water use or the pipes and plants needed to supply it, cuts wastewater, reduces demand on stormwater and drainage facilities, or beats the usual efficiency rules. Each of those is measured per service unit. The city withholds a credit when the fee study already assumed that savings, or when another credit already covers it. The savings have to affect projects in the city's water or wastewater capital plan.

How a builder would apply

The application has to arrive before the impact fee is paid. It needs a description of the measure, engineering calculations, plans, and a report signed and sealed by a Texas professional engineer. The city can ask for more. The city manager, or a designee, approves the request, approves part of it, or denies it in writing within 30 days after the application is complete. The letter states the credit per service unit. Credits use the city's existing service-unit method and come off the bill when the fee is collected.

The percentage is supposed to match the documented drop in demand. The ceiling is 5 percent of the water impact fee per service unit and 5 percent of the wastewater impact fee per service unit, figured separately. The Oct. 20 packet does not print the current fee table, so it does not turn that cap into a dollar amount.

The credit is applied before the city collects the fee. After the fee is paid, the ordinance allows no credit and no refund. The builder still has to install the measure. The city may require as-built drawings and may inspect the work. If, within two years after the verification date in the ordinance, the measure was not installed as approved or does not deliver the savings, the city can revoke the credit and collect the difference.

A builder can appeal in writing to the city manager within 10 business days. The appeal goes to City Council, whose vote is the city's final administrative step. Council may later adopt standard credits for common products, including stormwater measures, and those requests can skip the engineer's report.

The ordinance would take effect when it passes and is published. The city attorney has reviewed it. Staff recommends approval. Kelsee Jordan Lee prepared the item and will present it. The memo lists no expenditure. Consent items pass together unless a council member pulls one. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at the Fulshear Municipal Complex, 6611 W. Cross Creek Bend Lane.

The text of Ordinance 2026-1555 is Item VIII.J in the city's Oct. 20, 2026 agenda packet, pages 235 through 240.

Questions and answers

What would Ordinance 2026-1555 do?

It would add a process for crediting water and wastewater impact fees when a project includes a facility, system, or product that reuses, conserves, or saves water. It supplements Ordinance 2022-1386 and leaves the existing fee amounts, service areas, and land-use assumptions in place.

How large could the credit be?

The draft ordinance limits the credit to 5 percent of the applicable water impact fee per service unit and 5 percent of the applicable wastewater impact fee per service unit. The two limits are calculated separately from the documented savings for each utility. The Oct. 20 packet does not print a dollar amount for that credit.

What does a builder have to file?

An application before the impact fee is paid, with a description of the measure, engineering calculations, plans, and a report signed and sealed by a professional engineer licensed in Texas. The city manager, or a designee, answers in writing within 30 days after the application is complete.

Can the city take the credit back?

Yes. The credit is applied before the fee is collected, and the ordinance allows no credit and no refund after the fee is paid. If within two years after the verification date the measure was not installed as approved or does not deliver the savings, the city can revoke the credit and collect the difference.

Sources

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