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Land Use Unit Current Rate Proposed Rate Government Office 1,000 gsf $2,249 - $5,799 $8,047 Jail bed $39-$102 $131 Day Care Center 1,000 gsf $936 - $2,413 $2,944 Hospital 1,000 gsf $284-$733 $1,829 Veterinary Clinic 1,000 gsf $1,115 - $2,876 $1,168 Church 1,000 gsf $242-S625 $873 Movie Theater w/ Matinee screens $5,004 - $12,904 $7568 School (Elementary) student $18-$45 $39 School (High) student $18-S45 $149 School (College) student $18-$45 $297 Fire Station (w/o beds) 1,000 gsf $1494385 $385 $329 While the proposed fee schedule changes will increase traffic impact fee rates, these will be the first traffic impact fee rate changes since 1989. During that 10 year period, inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, has affected the value of the traffic impact fee. Since the aggregate inflation rate from 1989 to 1999 was 35% (as measured by the CPI), the value of impact fees assessed today under the current fee schedule is 35% less than the value of those fees in 1989. Consequently, a 35% across the board increase would be wan -anted just to bring the fees to their 1989 level. As proposed, the revised traffic impact fee schedule will substantially increase fees in districts VII and VIII, where fees are extremely low. In districts I, 11, and V, however, fee increases will be low. In fact, the revised fees will be lower than the 1989 fees for those districts when considering the effects of inflation based on changes to the CPI. ANALYSIS The purpose of amending the county's traffic impact fee ordinance is to ensure that persons affected by the ordinance get assessed a fair fee and receive a proportional benefit from that fee. Over time, various factors affecting the traffic impact fee program have changed. These factors include: the financial cost to maintain the established minimum level of service standards for the county's transportation network; the type of land uses being developed in the county; and the driving characteristics of the users of the county's transportation network. This amendment to the traffic impact fee ordinance addresses those and other factors; consequently, the amendment presents an efficient and equitable traffic impact fee program for Indian River County. As proposed, the amendment will reduce the number of benefit districts from nine to three. With a smaller number of benefit districts that are geographically large in size, as shown in figure 2, the impact fee program can be managed more efficiently. Not only will there be fewer accounts to maintain, but projects can be done more expeditiously since more money will be available in a shorter period of time. By modifying the land uses in the fee payment schedule, the amendment reflects changing circumstances. Some of these land uses did not exist when the traffic impact fee ordinance was originally adopted Updating the land uses listed in the fee schedule will ensure that the proper land uses are listed and assessed appropriately. Unlike the existing traffic impact fee program that has separate fees for each of the nine benefit districts, the proposed amendment has one countywide fee. A countywide traffic impact fee will simplify the fee calculation requirements for both staff and applicants. As Table 1 in the Descriptions and Conditions section illustrates, the amendment will increase traffic impact fee rates in many areas of the county. Two factors contribute to this increase in fee rates. First, the amendment revises the value of the demand variables of the traffic impact fee formula for many land uses. The value of these demand variables (trip rate, trip length, and percent new trips) has not been updated since development of the original ordinance. Consequently, the formula derived impact fees for many land uses are not appropriate. For some land uses, rates are now too low; others are too high. By using the most up-to-date sources for trip rate, trip length and percent new trips, impact fee rates will be fairer and more consistent among land uses. MAY 119 1999 W 0 0