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Title: Regional Transportation Impact Fees as a Viable Financial Strategy in Growing Communities
Accession Number: 01043947
Record Type: Component
Availability: Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street, NW Abstract: San Joaquin County (SJC) is the gateway from the valley to the San Francisco Bay area. The regional transportation system is in high demand and is experiencing great congestion. There are seven incorporated cities in SJC. The City of Stockton is designated as a large urban area and three of the cities are small urban areas with populations of 50,000-250,000. Three cities have populations less than 50,000 and the population of the unincorporated area is 134,600. As one of the fastest growing regions in the state, it is evident that the regional transportation system will likely fail without additional revenue to respond to challenges new growth creates. Regional Transportation Impact Fees (RTIF) are one-time charges placed on new residential and/or commercial development to finance the cost of new or improved public transportation infrastructure. Literature supports the notion that impact fees provide for a more efficient means to pay for regional infrastructure improvements versus general taxes. As a revenue source, RTIF programs are very common in some parts of the nation. However, until recently, the RTIF phenomenon has been slow developing in California. Specific to California, state law commonly known as AB 1600 created a regulatory scheme that places limits on development fees and exactions. The legislation mandates that before a fee can be established, increased, or imposed, the local agency shall: 1) identify the fee’s purpose; 2) identify the use of the fee; 3) determine how there is a reasonable relationship between the fee’s use and the development project; 4) determine how there is a reasonable relationship between the need for the public facility and the development project; and 5) determine how there is a reasonable relationship between the amount of the fee and the cost of the public facility. One of the first “true” RTIF programs in California was established in the Coachella Valley region in 1989. Since then, over the last decade in various regions throughout California, failed attempts were made to establish an RTIF program. However, over the last three years, the momentum to establish RTIF programs has increased significantly. An AB 1600 analysis and efforts to package a permanent RTIF program began 2½ years ago by the San Joaquin Council of Governments (SJCOG) for the San Joaquin region. To avoid the common pitfalls associated with establishing any type of impact fee program, the following was established: 1) economic necessity; 2) reasonableness; 3) fairness; 4) full and open public process; and 5) financial accountability. In lieu of the efforts to adhere to these principles, this process has been subject to an extreme amount of scrutiny from different constituencies. Nevertheless, the consensus building effort continues to this date. San Joaquin County, as well as other larger regions in California such as Riverside and Contra Costa, has a one-half cent sales tax measure in place for critically needed transportation projects. Based on polling results, citizens are more willing to support a sales tax measure when they know that development will also pay their “fair” share. Therefore, there seems to be a direct correlation between sales tax measures and the evolution of RTIF programs in California. Are RTIFs a viable funding financial strategy? The answer is yes, as evidenced in a discussion paper prepared for the Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy in June 2003. In short, impact fees generate millions of dollars of essential funding for vital transportation infrastructure improvements while increasing the supply of land for development, improving predictability in development process, and indirectly promoting local employment.
Monograph Accession #: 01043941
Language: English
Corporate Authors: Transportation Research Board 500 Fifth Street, NW Authors: Swearingen, Michael APagination: 12p
Publication Date: 2004
Conference:
9th National Conference on Transportation Planning for Small and Medium-Sized Communities
Location:
Colorado Springs Colorado, United States Media Type: CD-ROM
Features: Figures
TRT Terms: Geographic Terms: Subject Areas: Finance; Highways; I10: Economics and Administration
Files: TRIS, TRB
Created Date: Mar 9 2007 1:46PM
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