Washington needs more than 1 million new homes by 2044, and more than half of them need to be affordable for residents at the lowest income levels, according to the State Department of Commerce.

At the same time, the Sumner City Council is fast-tracking a new park impact fee that will increase fees on new single-family homes in their city, nearly doubling the fee for families needing the most space to close to $6,500 per home, increasing to over $6,700 by 2025.

That’s on top of other impact fees charged by both the city and Pierce County.

“Policy makers say they want to fix the housing crisis, but their actions are a direct contradiction to those words,” said local home builder Kurt Wilson of Soundbuilt Homes. “If we really want families to be able to afford homes in Sumner, we must stop adding costs to the bottom line of building those homes.”

New fees $2,700 more than Pierce County average

A report at a January 13 City Council Study Session showed Sumner’s park fees were already the third highest in the area. The new fee schedule spikes Sumner’s park fees for larger homes to the top of the list, more than $1,000 higher than the city with the next highest fees and more than $2,700 higher than Pierce County.

“Nobody voting to adopt these added costs is without a home or struggling to afford housing,” Wilson said. “The essential and basic need for shelter continues to be politicized. People need homes first. Then we can talk about how to fund new parks. Once people own a home, they may be able to afford an incremental tax to build more parks.”

Pierce County homebuyers can't afford to pay more

According to the 2024 National Association of Home Builders "Priced-Out" Report, the median price of a new home in the Tacoma/Pierce County area is $703,710. At that price, 83% of households can’t afford to buy.

“It’s very simple,” Wilson said. “Every dollar added to the cost of a home is one step closer to pricing someone out of the American Dream.”

Scenarios such as this are one reason the Building Industry Association of Washington is asking the legislature to pass new laws, increasing the transparency of such fees at the city and county level and limiting impact fee increases.

The City of Sumner has placed the park impact fee increase on its Jan. 21 Council Agenda. They’ve scheduled public testimony beforehand.

Per the City of Sumner: Members of the community who wish to give public comment are strongly encouraged to join the meeting via the ZOOM link or by telephone. If unable to join the meeting, please submit public comment in writing via email to the City Clerk at Michellec@sumnerwa.gov no later than 4 pm on the day of the meeting. Any written comments received will be provided to the City Council and attached to the meeting minutes. Please contact the City Clerk at 253-299-5590 with any questions.

‍