SISTERS, OR -- Sisters City Councilors voted to increase transportation System Development Charges at Wednesday night's meeting. Those fees are paid by developers to fund road development and intersection improvements needed to accommodate the area's rapid growth.

City Manager Cory Misley says the price hike isn't immediate; Council wanted to give builders a chance to prepare, "The increase would go into effect January 1, 2020. We're cognizant that builders are in full swing right now, and we would not want to spring an increase like this on them in the middle of construction season."

It's been more than 10 years since Sisters raised its SDCs, and Misley says, "It's a balance, but our transportation SDC, if you look in relation to other cities in Central Oregon, was significantly lower." And, raising it to $2,270 is still comparatively low.

Misley acknowledges it's difficult to ask builders to pay more, especially when they're trying to keep costs low for affordable housing, "Increasing the transportation SDC has other considerations," he tells KBND News, "Nonetheless, we need these funds to build critical infrastructure projects to keep up with the growth that's occurring, and that is the central premise of SDCs, Systems Development Charges, that growth pays for growth."