Multimodal Transportation Impact Fee Study

Introduction

In December 2023, the Wake Forest Board of Commissioners approved a resolution authorizing the Town Manager to execute a contract with Benesch to conduct a Transportation Impact Fee Study. In January 2024, Benesch begin working on the fee study.

Impact Fees Overview

Municipalities assess impact fees on property developers to pay for infrastructure improvements that must be built due to new property development. New development brings new residents, which can put a strain on a municipality’s infrastructure and services. Impact fees are designed to offset the additional cost of maintaining these services.

In 1989, the Town of Wake Forest received local legislation to enact facility (also known as impact) fees for various purposes – Chapter 502 – SB 576, including transportation. Development impact fees are one-time capital charges assessed to new development or new customers to recover a proportional share of the costs of capital facilities required to provide service to the new customers.

Specific methodology is required to compute the calculation and includes future growth projections along with planned capital resulting from growth (Capital Improvements Plan also known as CIP).

Draft Report

The Benesch report presents the study methodology, findings and the resulting multi-modal transportation impact fee schedule.

Draft Multimodal Transportation Impact Fee Study

Methodology

The methodology used for the multimodal impact fee study follows a consumption-based impact fee approach in which new development is charged based upon the proportion of Person-Miles of Travel (PMT) that each unit of new development is expected to consume of a lane-mile of the transportation network.

Included in this document is the necessary support material used in the calculation of the multi-modal transportation impact fee. The general equation used to compute the impact fee for a given land use is:

[Demand x Cost] – Credit = Fee

The “demand” for travel placed on a transportation system is expressed in units of Person-Miles of Travel (daily vehicle-trip generation rate x the trip length x the percent new trips [of total trips] x person-trip factor) for each land use contained in the impact fee schedule. Trip generation represents the average daily rates to provide a stable measure of new development’s impact. The number of trips tends to vary significantly throughout the day by time of day depending on activity levels; however, overall daily trips tend to be stable.

The “cost” of building new capacity typically is expressed in units of dollars per person-mile of transportation capacity.

The “credit” is an estimate of future non-impact fee revenues generated by new development that are allocated to provide transportation capacity expansion. The impact fee is considered to be an “up front” payment for a portion of the cost of building a person-mile of capacity that is directly related to the amount of capacity consumed by each unit of land use contained in the impact fee schedule, that is not paid for by future tax revenues generated by the new development activity. These credits are required under the supporting case law for the calculation of impact fees where a new development activity must be reasonably assured that they are not being charged twice for the same level of service.

The input variables used in the fee equation are as follows:

Demand Variables:

• Trip generation rate
• Trip length
• Percent new trips
• Interstate & toll facility adjustment factor
• Person-trip factor

Cost Variables:

• Cost per person-mile
• Capacity added per lane mile constructed

Credit Variables:

• Equivalent gas tax credit (pennies)
• Present worth
• Fuel efficiency
• Effective days per year
  
  

Public Hearing November 19

Benesch will present its findings to the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, Nov. 5, at 6 p.m. and to the Planning Board on Tuesday, Nov. 12, at 6 p.m. Both meetings will take place in the Board Chambers, located on the second floor of Town Hall, 301 S. Brooks St.

A public hearing on the impact fee recommendations is scheduled for the Tuesday, Nov. 19, Board of Commissioners meeting. The meeting will also begin at 6 p.m. in the Town Hall Board Chambers. Anyone wishing to speak during this meeting must complete and submit the Board of Commissioners – Sign Up to Speak Form by 3 p.m. on November 19.

Share Your Feedback

You're also invited to submit any questions or concerns you have using the "Share Your Feedback" form below.