1 / 21

It’s All About Fairness

It’s All About Fairness. National Impact Fee Roundtable Denver – October 2005 Dr. Arthur C. Nelson, FAICP Professor & Director Urban Affairs & Planning Virginia Tech – Alexandria Center. One Fee Does Not Fit All. Florida County “A” School impact fee per unit = $5,443

hamlin
Download Presentation

It’s All About Fairness

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. It’s All About Fairness National Impact Fee Roundtable Denver – October 2005 Dr. Arthur C. Nelson, FAICP Professor & Director Urban Affairs & Planning Virginia Tech – Alexandria Center

  2. One Fee Does Not Fit All Florida County “A” • School impact fee per unit = $5,443 • Assumes 0.31 students per unit • Actual apartment rate is 0.12 per unit • Proportionate share should be = $2,057 • Apartments charged in excess of their proportionate share • Public safety & parks  same problem fees based on 2.38 persons per unit but apartments average 1.81

  3. Proportionate Share Equal protection • Similarly situated people must be considered similarly • Some argue that each residential unit is similar to the other, hence equal impact fees acceptable • Constitution addresses people not residential units • If the average person is charged 3 times their school impact, equal protection may be violated

  4. `

  5. Density Matters • Impacts fall when density rises for: • Public safety • Utilities • Transportation

  6. Persons Per Unit

  7. Insert ABQ water

  8. Location Matters • Distance to public transit • Distance to schools • Location in “fully served” versus “partially served” areas • Atlanta reduces road fees by 25% if within 1,000 feet of rail station • DeKalb County, GA to reduce road fees based on rail and bus access

  9. Configuration Matters • Integrated office, retail and residential reduces road impacts by 30%+ • Connected to multi-modal can reduce road impacts by 50%+ • Few impact fee programs recognize these reductions on fee schedules

  10. Assessment Base Matters • Fees usually assessed on only residential: • Parks & recreation • Libraries • schools • What is the source of impact? • New jobs = new households • Jobs = impact • Fairness • Broaden the base to include all development

  11. Credits Matter • External revenue credits • Account for non-local government revenues • “Double-Tax” revenue credits • Several Florida counties give dedicated school construction property tax credits based only on residential share, not all development • At least two counties give no such credit • Residential pays once for impact fees and again for paying off bonds for schools used by existing residents

  12. Parks and Recreation • Questionable Practices • 2 Georgia counties assess the same fee on all residential units. • Fees on apartments 36% to 51% higher than proportionate-share • Best Practices • Manatee County, FL • Fees vary by type of unit and by size of unit based on bedrooms

  13. Fire & EMS • Questionable Practices • 1 California city and 1 Georgia county assesses the same fee on all residential units. • Fees on apartments 33% to 45% higher than proportionate-share • Best Practices • West Valley City, UT uses Functional Population • Fees based on four residential categories Almost Missoula, MT has density-distance-based fees that vary from $91 to $1,354 per unit

  14. Roads • Questionable Practices • 2 California cities use same trip rate and length to charge fees in all residential units. • 1 California city gives no credit. • Best Practices • Manatee County, FL • 4 residential categories with 3 sizes in each, and different impact figures for each • Albuquerque, NM • Fees based on 7 service areas, type and size of unit and is $0 in several service areas

  15. Water & Wastewater • Questionable Practices • Common to assess based on meter size and equivalent units. • Emerging evidence suggests apartments overcharge by 2 to 5 times • Best Practices • Scottsdale, AZ 1 du/2.5 ac = $5,492 1 du/ac = $3,382 2-4 uncluster = $2,203 2-4 cluster = $1,802 4-8 du/ac = $1,585 9+ du/ac $1,337

  16. Next Steps • Need to vary impact fees by type and size of residential unit • Refine definitions of “proportionate share”, “pro rata” and “reasonable relationship” • Base size on bedrooms (census) or square feet • Encourage fee schedules to use automatic impact reductions for location, configuration benefits • Adopt legislative finding that all development creates impacts on and benefits from facilities  all development needs to be assessed.

More Related