Cities and towns in the Southwest have long relied on development fees to fund their growth. Now a new law in Arizona restricts how much development money cities can collect, and what they can use that money for. From Phoenix, Devin Browne reports.

DEVIN BROWNE: It used to be that developers paid impact fees for whatever a city determined a necessary public service. That could have meant money for water or roads or it could have meant money for arts facilities or tennis courts. Now, all cities have to use the state’s much narrower definition of a necessary public service. Many cities expressed outrage over this last year, but Spencer Kamps with the Central Arizona Homebuilders Association said cities have been collecting too much from developers for too long.

 SPENCER KAMPS: If they were making a lot of money off new home subdivisions, that’s kind of our point. We were paying more than our fair share.

 DEVIN BROWNE: Under the new law, Gilbert might have to scrap a riparian preserve and two large parks. And any money Yuma gets from developers will be nearly half of what it used to be.

 Listen to the story.