TIM fees lowered

By Mountain Democrat
From page A4 | February 22, 2012 | Leave Comment

Last week the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors lowered the Traffic Impact Mitigation fees on new construction. The changes range from about 13 percent to 18 percent, with the biggest change in the Highway 50 corridor. The average is almost 15 percent.

What the assistant county CAO presented last week was essentially the same as former Department of Transportation Director Jim Ware presented in December after working with the Economic Development Advisory Council. EDAC, under the leadership of Jim Brunello and the amazing list of experts who have volunteered to do the technical detail work, has been reshaping not just TIM fees but road standards among other things.

The total reduction was $138.6 million compared to the 2008 total traffic improvement program of $942.8 million. The 2010 adopted program figure was $995 million. Though the latter figure would drop $191.5 million, cost increases add up to $52.9 million since the TIM fees were set in 2008 and have remained unchanged. The difference is $138.6 million. The new total for 2012 is $804.3 million.

The $52.9 million cost increase since 2008 is based on using construction cost estimates published in the Engineering News Review, which has so far been less than figures published by Caltrans.

The county Department of Transportation divides the county up into eight TIM fee zones, with Zone 8 being El Dorado Hills. The reduction recommended by Ware in December and approved last week by the board versus 2008 TIM fees will be 14.1 percent in zones 1 through 7 and 13.3 percent in Zone 8. Highway 50 TIM fees will be reduced 18.1 percent. The reductions take effect April 13.

Undergirding this reduction is the substantially lower cost of acquiring rights of way.

The planned reductions in December were praised by developer representative Mike McDougal, who said the reduction will help Carson Creek development in El Dorado Hills take off.

"What we're seeing is an uptick in activity" with communities that have reduced their fees, John Costa of the North State Building Industry Association said in December.

The latest 10-year residential permit forecast by DOT shows a total of 2,628 building permits over that decade.

Ware's forecasts have been very close so far, with 68 total permits in 2010-11 and close to the predicted 67 for 2011-2012.

Under way is a more sophisticated traffic model that will be based on GPS and can show detail for individual intersections and turn lanes. This model, once completed can be updated annually by the county.

The next challenge for the county is to stop requiring developers to buy water and sewer hookups until a building permits is actually issued.

There also is a movement afoot to eliminate TIM fees and school impact fees entirely for granny flats. School impact fees on homes should be eliminated in schools districts that are showing a loss of students. Fire departments also need to scale back their claims on new construction. Take a cue from the Board of Supervisors, who just gave the local economy a boost.