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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApprove Resolution 4498, Establishing Goals & Policies for use of Impact Fees for Intersection Improvement Commission Memorandum REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor and City Commission FROM: Rick Hixson, City Engineer Craig Woolard, Director of Public Works SUBJECT: Intersection Improvement Funding AGENDA ITEM TYPE: Action MEETING DATE: December 16, 2013 KEY ISSUES: Adoption of the latest Street Impact Fee Study prepared by Tischler Bise (TB) has required the city to change the way in which impact fees are used to fund intersection improvements. This memo:  Provides necessary background information on intersection funding, which affects the Street Impact Fee CIP, and  Introduces and discusses proposed Commission Resolution No. 4498. RECOMMENDATION: Adopt Resolution No. 4498. Adoption of the Resolution as written will establish the Non-growth share (NGS) of intersection improvement projects at 40% and will direct the City Manager to recommend a FY 15 and FY16 budget that includes 5.19 mils for Intersection Funding. BACKGROUND: On July 8, 2013 the City Commission met with Public Works and Planning staff to discuss intersection funding, specifically, the implications of the TB recommendation to use impact fees to fund only the growth related share of an intersection improvement project. TB suggested that the "non-growth share of the cost of improvements (i.e., using revenue other than impact fees) be determined by the current design capacity divided by the design capacity of the intersection after improvements. In other words, when intersections are improved, impact fees should only fund the increase in design capacity". 169 The primary focus of the discussion on July 8, 2013 was to determine 1) where should money to pay for the non-growth share (NGS) come from, and 2) how should the NGS be calculated? Commissioners identified the following guiding principles: A. Impact fees should be invested strategically, that is, in such a way as to provide the greatest possible benefit to the community at large. B. Impact fees should be used to fund only the minimum improvement necessary to provide an acceptable level of service. For example, if installation of a signal were to cost $500,000.00 and a roundabout at the same intersection were to cost $750,000.00, impact fees could not be used to pay for the additional $250,000.00 involved. C. A ranking criteria should be used to prioritize proposed projects. D. The NGS may be a set percentage based on recent project cost data. E. The NGS should be updated regularly to reflect changes in the market. F. A special fund should be created under the City's General Tax Authority to pay for the NGS of impact fee intersection improvement projects. Those guiding principles were used to draft Commission Resolution 4498. Section 1, Goals, first formalizes the Commission’s desire to invest impact fees strategically by ranking projects based on the breadth of their benefit to the community at large. It then limits the use of transportation impact fees to the lowest cost alternative which achieves the required level of service. If it is the desire of the community to install a more expensive alternative, another source of funding must be used to pay for the difference. Finally, Section one states that wherever possible transportation impact fees should be used to further the City Commissions adopted goals. Section 2, Policies, addresses the specific calculations and requirements attendant to the use of transportation impact fees for funding intersection improvement projects. The resolution first states that impact fees may only be used to fund the growth related share of the improvement. The NGS must be paid for with funds from a source other than impact fees. The resolution furthermore states that while they are a number of other sources of funding available for use by the Commission, the preferred source is to be a special intersection funding account to be created using the City Commission's general tax authority. The reason the policy allows for the use of other funding sources is because there may be special cases where it makes sense to use a source other than the special intersection fund. This will provide flexibility for the Commission. The resolution requires that the NGS will be calculated by the City's Engineering Division and will be updated at least every 2 years. It describes how the NGS will be calculated, that is, as the ratio of the design capacity of the worst leg of the intersection before improvement to the design capacity after improvement, stated as a percentage. The policy allows for rounding of the expressed percentages to convenient whole numbers. 170 We believe that this is reasonable given the assumptions and uncertainty inherent in the calculations and will serve to make administration of the policy easier. The Resolution states that the average of the six most recent intersection projects built in the city are to be used for the NGS calculation. Finally, it establishes the NGS for 2014 and 2015 at 40% and it further directs the City Manager to recommend a FY15 & FY 16 budget that includes 5.19 mills for Intersection Funding. This levy would raise approximately $440,000.00 per year. UNRESOLVED ISSUES: The primary unresolved issue of concern is how will the community fund the NGS of needed intersection improvements in the period before the special intersection fund has a chance to accumulate money? Assuming the average cost of signalizing an intersection is $750,000.00 and using 60% for the growth related share, each intersection will require $300,000.00 for the NGS. As discussed above a 5.2 mil levy will raise approximately $440,000.00, enough for one intersection. FISCAL EFFECTS: Engineering and Planning Staff suggest that the following intersection improvements will likely be needed in the near term (3-5 years): Baxter Lane and Davis Lane $750,000.00 (estimated) Main Street and Broadway $750,000.00 (estimated) Cottonwood Road and Main Street $750.000.00 (estimated) Oak Street and 27th Avenue $750,000.00 (estimated) Ferguson Road and Babcock Street $750,000.00 (estimated) Ferguson Road and Durston Avenue $750,000.00 (estimated) $4,500,000.00 (estimated) The following intersections are likely to be needed in the middle term (6-10 years): Haggerty Lane and Main Street $700,000.00 (estimated) Babcock Street and Fowler Lane $500,000.00 (estimated) Bridger Drive and Story Mill Road $750,000.00 (estimated) Babcock Street and Cottonwood Road $750,000.00 (estimated) $2,700,000.00 (estimated) An intersection that costs $750,000.00 will require $300,000.00 for the NGS. This means that initially there will only be enough money available for one impact fee intersection project per year. ALTERNATIVES: As suggested by the City Commission. Attachments: Impact Fee Eligibility Comparison of 6 Intersections 171 Resolution 4498 Page 1 of 5 COMMISSION RESOLUTION NO. 4498 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BOZEMAN, MONTANA, ESTABLISHING GOALS AND POLICIES FOR THE USE OF IMPACT FEES TO FUND INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS. WHEREAS, the City of Bozeman is committed to addressing the community’s expressed needs and desires for services; and WHEREAS, the City of Bozeman is committed to meeting those desires and demands for services in a fiscally responsible manner; and WHEREAS, the City of Bozeman is committed to meeting those desires and demands for services in a manner which recognizes the fiscal and legal interests of all of the system users now and in the future and not a limited subset of users; and WHEREAS, the City of Bozeman has developed and adopted a transportation facility plan which examined current and future needs and provides a lawful, logical, balanced, operationally sound, and cost effective basis upon which to maintain and develop the City’s transportation system; and WHEREAS, the City Commission has chosen to utilize impact fees as one element of an integrated approach to fund and provide transportation services; and WHEREAS, on March 30, 2013 the City Commission adopted a Transportation Impact Fee Study prepared by Tischler Bise, Inc.; and 172 Resolution 4498 Page 2 of 5 WHEREAS, the adopted Transportation Impact Fee Study made recommendations relative to the funding of intersection improvements; and WHEREAS, that study recommended that only a portion of the capital cost of an intersection improvement should be funded by means of impact fees; and WHEREAS, the portion to be funded from sources other than impact fees is referred to as the non-growth share (NGS); and WHEREAS, the city commission held a public hearing on July 8, 2013 to consider the options available to fund the NGS of future intersection improvement projects; and WHEREAS, having considered the information presented by staff and the public input received, the city commission directed staff to return with a policy for funding the NGS of future intersection improvement projects. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Commission of the City of Bozeman, Montana to wit: SECTION 1 GOALS The following goals are hereby established for the consideration of the financing with impact fees of intersection improvements in the City of Bozeman. 1. It shall be a goal of the City of Bozeman to invest street impact fee monies strategically by: A. Applying the ranking criteria as contained in the city's Capital Improvements Plan to all proposed impact fee projects. This criteria scores projects based on seven elements of community benefit. 173 Resolution 4498 Page 3 of 5 B. Using Impact Fee monies to fund only the lowest cost alternative for a given project, for example, at an intersection where both a roundabout and a signal are viable options the eligible amounts will be based on the project with the lowest estimated life cycle cost. C. Using impact fees to further the City Commission's adopted goals, for example, encouraging infill. SECTION 2 POLICIES The following policies are hereby established for impact fee financing of intersection improvements in the City of Bozeman. 1. Only the growth related share of an intersection improvement project is eligible for impact fee funding . 2. The non-growth share (NGS) of an intersection improvement project must be paid for using funds other than impact fees. These may be developer contributions, funds derived from Special Improvement Districts (SID's) or Payback Districts, Urban Funds, Street Maintenance Assessment money, Street Reconstruction money, bonds or a special NGS intersection fund established by the City Commission to pay for NGS related intersection improvements. 3. The City's preferred method of financing the NGS of intersection improvement projects will be the special NGS intersection fund. The City Commission will establish this fund using its general tax authority. 4. Both the use of these funds and the amount to be levied for this fund shall be at the City Commission's discretion. 174 Resolution 4498 Page 4 of 5 5. The NGS of an intersection improvement shall be calculated by the City's Engineering Division. The NGS will be updated at least every two years. 6. The growth related share of an intersection improvement will be expressed as a percentage based on the ratio of the design volume of the intersection before improvement to the design volume of the intersection after the improvement. The ratio will further be based on that leg of the intersection which starts with the worst level of service. 7. The party applying for impact fee reimbursement is required to submit a design report prepared and stamped by a Professional Transportation Engineer registered in the state of Montana which clearly identifies the current and future design volumes of the intersection. 8. The NGS calculation will be the rolling average cost of the six most recent intersection projects built in the city and may be rounded for simplification, e.g., 60- 40 rather than 57-43. 9. The NGS calculation will be reviewed and approved by the City Commission at the time of the adoption of the Street Impact Fee Capital Improvement Plan. 10. The NGS for the two year period 2014 and 2015 is 60% impact fees, 40% NGS. 11. The City Manager's annual recommended budget shall include the levy for the Special NGS Intersection Improvement Fund. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the City Commission of the City of Bozeman, Montana, at a regular session thereof held on the _________________2013. ___________________________________ 175 Resolution 4498 Page 5 of 5 SEAN A. BECKER Mayor ATTEST: ________________________________________ STACY ULMEN, CMC City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: ___________________________________ GREG SULLIVAN City Attorney 176 Impact Fee Eligibility Comparison of 6 Intersections Please note that I have greatly simplified the capacity analysis of these intersections in order to illustrate the effect of the Tischler Bise recommendation on page 15 of the study. I am confident that the following calculations are accurate for the purposes of illustration. If their recommendation for intersection reimbursement is adopted I believe a good deal of work will have to be done to define exactly which element of intersection capacity is being used for the reimbursement calculation. That discussion will be very technical and lengthy and hence is well outside of these examples. College & 11th The existing condition was 4-way stop control. The traffic was very evenly distributed across all 4 legs of the intersection making this a very straightforward example. This was a City installed improvement. Design 2008. The worst Level of Service (LOS) was Eastbound (EB) afternoon (PM) peak hour. Existing capacity 470 vehicles per hour (vph) Installed improvement Roundabout Improved Capacity 1086 vph Non-Growth Share per Tischler Bise(TB) 470/1086=0.43 TB Impact Fee eligible 0.57 Cost Breakdown Professional Services • Pre-Design: $8,212.00 • Preliminary Design: $62,594.65 • Final Design: $32,847.00 • Reimbursable Expenses: not to exceed $8,378.00 • Construction Phase Services: not to exceed $94,187.00 • Total not to exceed: $206,218.65 Right of Way $154,050.00 (this includes a $53,670 credit for consideration of MSU use of Center Island) Construction • Bid Price: $652,747.35 (see attached bid tab for itemized unit prices/costs) • Change Order 1: ($1,200) • Change Order 2: pending, but estimated around $15,000 177 Total project cost: $1,026,816.00 Kagy & 11th Existing Condition was 2 way stop control. In this case the LOS on the major leg (Kagy) was A, the LOS on the minor leg was F. In this case a signal was warranted and installed. The project reimbursed for this installation was Town & Country Grocery. Design 2009. The worst condition was the PM peak hour southbound left turn. Existing capacity 64 vph Improved capacity 241 vph TB Non-growth share 61/241= 0.27 TB Impact Fee eligible 0.73 Rouse & Griffin Existing Condition was 2 way stop control. LOS on the major leg (Rouse) was A. This intersections design was more complicated than usual due to non-cruciform geometry. The project reimbursed for this installation was Legends Subdivision. Design 2005. Existing capacity 140 vph Improved capacity 321 vph TB Non-growth share 140/321=0.44 TB Impact Fee eligible 0.56 Oak & Rouse Existing Condition was 2 way stop control. Oak Street east of Rouse has the character of a driveway rather than a street. Again, the LOS on the major leg starts out at A. The project reimbursed for the improvement was Northside PUD. Existing capacity 92 vph Improved capacity 200 vph TB Non-growth share 92/200=0.46 TB Impact fee eligible 0.54 178 Durston & North 15th In this case North 15th Avenue did not exist north of Durston and was being built as part of the Walton Homestead Subdivision. All of the existing traffic was on Durston and the LOS was A. LOS in this case is based on engineering design of the intersection. The development reimbursed for this improvement was Walton Homestead. Design 2002. Design capacity without signal for worst case movement 217 vph Design capacity with signal for worst case movement 469 vph TB non growth share 217/469= 0.46 TB impact fee eligible share 0.54 Oak & 15th Existing Condition was 2 way stop control. Development reimbursed for this improvement was PT Land Development. Design 2007. Existing capacity 164 vph Improved capacity 301 vph TB Non-growth share 164/301=0.54 TB Impact Fee eligible 0.46 179