Metropolitan Builders Association of Greater Milwaukee v. Village of Germantown

1 This case involves a dispute over the use of impact fees that the Village of Germantown assessed on developers. The Village collected these fees for an Aquatic Center/Youth Center. Originally, it had contemplated a regular swimming pool, but decided to build a spray ground--a playground with water--after voters rejected the swimming pool proposal. The Metropolitan Builders Association of Greater Milwaukee (MBA), an organization whose members include developers that paid the impact fees, challenged the permissibility of applying the fees to this new purpose. They want the money returned to the current owners of the affected lots. We hold that MBA has standing to make this challenge on behalf of its developer members based on the association standing rule our supreme court announced in Wisconsin's Environmental Decade, Inc. v. PSC, 69 Wis. 2d 1, 230 N.W.2d 243 (1975) (hereafter WED). We further hold that a spray ground is within the intended purpose of the impact fees: to build some sort of recreational or youth facility. Finally, we conclude that the Village may apply the collected funds only to the proportion of the cost attributable to development. It must return any excess to the current lot owners. 2 In April 1992, the Village resolved to prepare a preliminary study of potential impact fees to defray expenditures required for capital improvements that would be necessary to maintain the level of current municipal services for a rapidly growing population. The following month, the Village administrator sent a memorandum to the Village president and trustees, observing that Village staff had met on numerous occasions to discuss potential impact fees. One category for which the Village contemplated such a fee was a recreational facility, possibly including a municipal swimming pool.