It\u2019s about to cost more to build housing in Anaheim Hills after City Council members unanimously voted to raise sewage fees on new developments in a town that\u2019s grappling with rocky budget projections.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It comes after Disney-backed Anaheim City Councilwoman Natalie Meeks opposed a proposal for a 3% gate tax on Disneyland last month, arguing that the city should look at ways to attract more businesses to the city\u2019s canyon area to help generate revenue instead.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can we promote the canyon area to bring in more businesses? How can we drive some better sales tax revenues? Those are the types of things that we need to do and once again, that\u2019s not what this policy does here,\u201d said Councilwoman Natalie Meeks, who represents Anaheim Hills and much of the canyon area, at the Oct. 28 meeting.<\/p>\n
[Read: Anaheim Officials Put Disneyland Gate Tax Proposal on Ice<\/a>]<\/p>\n A week later, Meeks along with the rest of the city council voted unanimously to raise sewer impact fees in East Anaheim for new developments the same night as the Prop. 50 election.<\/p>\n \u201cI am always reluctant to raise fees. I do think it\u2019s important that when a new development or new project comes in that they pay their fair share of their impact on the infrastructure of our city so that the people already here don\u2019t have to carry that burden,\u201d Meeks said at the Nov. 4 meeting.<\/p>\n Now, developers looking to build in the Canyon and the Hills will have to pay 36% more on sewer impact fees than current developments.<\/p>\n The current sewer fee for a single family home is $491. Under the increase, the fee for a new single family home would be $667, according to a staff report<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fees will fund capital improvements needed due to new development, and will be adjusted annually,\u201d said Rudy Emami, director of Public Works, at last Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n