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Receive the annual report and Capital Improvement Plan for the English Hills Transportation Impact Fee Program for FY2023/24; and Adopt a resolution approving the updated English Hills Transportation Impact Fee Area Capital Improvement Plan
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Published Notice Required? Yes __X__ No __ __
Public Hearing Required? Yes __X__ No _____
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Department of Resource Management recommends that the Board of Supervisors:
1. Receive the annual report and Capital Improvement Plan for the English Hills Transportation Impact Fee Program for FY2023/24; and
2. Adopt a resolution (Attachment A) approving the updated English Hills Transportation Impact Fee Area Capital Improvement Plan.
SUMMARY:
Each year, the Board is required by State law to review the English Hills Transportation Impact Fee program (“Program”), adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2001 (Attachment B - Boundary Map). The Board must adopt a resolution which approves the Capital Improvement Plan for the Program and must also include findings relative to expended and unexpended funds generated by the fee program. In FY2023/24, the Program did not fund any improvements, ending the fiscal year with a balance of $202,819 (Attachment C - Annual Report). Given the small existing fund balance, staff’s recommendation is not to fund any projects shown in the English Hills Transportation Impact Fee Area Capital Improvement Plan (Attachment D - Capital Improvement Plan) in FY2024/25 and to wait until the fund balance grows to a larger amount.
State law also requires the Board of Supervisors review the adequacy of the fee every 5 years. The last 5-year review was completed in 2021, with the County adjusting fees downward due to completion of improvements and to adjust the fee for secondary dwelling units.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Funds collected from the Program are placed in a separate fund for future improvements to specific roads as outlined in the English Hills Transportation Impact Fee Area Capital Improvement Plan. The fee amount was $7,846 per single family dwelling at the end of FY2023/24. It is anticipated that at build-out of the fee area, the total fees collected for the updated Capital Improvement Plan will generate $6,824,255 in funding, which is not sufficient to construct all road projects within the plan area. Other public funding, when available, is typically used to supplement Program funding to complete individual road improvements.
The costs associated with preparing the agenda item are nominal and absorbed by the Department’s FY2024/25 Working Budget. There is no impact to the General Fund.
DISCUSSION:
In 2001, the Board established a Transportation Impact Fee Program for the English Hills area. The intent of the Program is to collect funding from the construction of new residences in the English Hills area in order to mitigate the expected significant traffic impacts of development on the County’s Road System in that area (Attachment E - Fact Sheet). Funds can be expended on right-of-way acquisition and road improvements to bring the English Hills area public roads within the zone of benefit up to adopted standards. §66006 of the Government Code and §11-470 of the Solano County Code require that a report be prepared each year containing specific information regarding the fees.
The Board reduced the Program fee in FY2021/22 during the last 5-year review. Allowances for secondary accessory dwelling units in the County’s zoning ordinance and State law allow the Capital Improvement Plan costs for improvements to be spread over a larger number of units. Accessory dwellings that are built from 750 to 1,000 square feet in size have a proportionally reduced fee set to 75% of the primary dwelling fee. These smaller residences typically have fewer bedrooms, and thus generate less traffic than primary dwellings. In accordance with California’s SB 13 passed in 2019 (§65852.2 of the Government Code), accessory dwelling units smaller than 750 square feet cannot be charged impact fees. This exemption has not significantly impacted fee generation since passage, but it will need to be analyzed prior to the next fee review to determine Program impacts. Also, previously permitted homes that were damaged or destroyed during the LNU Lightning Complex Fire in 2020 are exempt from the English Hills Transportation Impact Fee as they repair and rebuild, since those structures were already accounted for in the fee program prior to the fire.
The Department reviewed the Capital Improvement Plan financial needs based on recent construction costs, construction inflation, right-of-way easement costs, current zoning, and eligible dwelling units. Per the ordinance, the fee is administratively adjusted every 6 months utilizing the Engineering News Record Construction Cost Index (CCI), as has been done since the impact fee area was created. This CCI includes inflation in the adjustments and has tracked reasonably well with actual road construction costs in Solano County. Historically, the CCI has increased each period; however, it remained relatively static in FY2023/24. The December CCI has not yet been released, so the exact change to the fee in January 2025 cannot be provided at this time.
With Board adoption of the Resolution, the Department will plan for and construct projects listed in the English Hills Transportation Impact Fee Area Capital Improvement Plan as future project funds become available.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board could choose to not adopt the resolution. This is not recommended since the proposed Capital Improvement Plan provides for the collection of fees to subsidize the road improvement costs needed to bring the road system within the zone of benefit up to County adopted standards.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
None.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION