T1.7 Climate impact fee
Investigate and implement options for creating a regional impact fee structure that would incorporate climate impacts of new construction in urban and rural areas, which would be used to fund regional climate mitigation projects.
According to the Municipal Research Service Center‘s overview of current impact fees in the state:
RCW 82.02.050 – .110 and WAC 365-196-850 authorize counties, cities, and towns planning under the Growth Management Act (GMA) to impose impact fees for:
- Public streets and roads
- Publicly owned parks, open space, and recreation facilities
- School facilities
- Fire protection facilities
These impact fees may only be imposed for “system improvements” – public capital facilities in a local government’s capital facilities plan that are designed to provide service to the community at large (not private facilities), are reasonably related to the new development, and will benefit the new development (WAC 365-196-850).
Impact fees cannot exceed a proportionate share of the cost of the system improvements, and municipalities must have additional funding sources and may not rely solely on impact fees to fund the improvements (RCW 82.02.050).
The MRSC says the law’s unclear, but it’s probably acceptable to use transportation impacts fees for improvements within the right-of-way – such as bus lanes, sidewalks, or bike lanes – if there is a strong transportation-related justification. However, they say it’s doubtful they could pay for buses, vanpool vehicles, recreational trails, or other projects outside the right-of-way. (A few cities, including Tukwila, collect park impact fees from commercial and industrial developments, as well as residential ones, since employees can directly benefit from nearby parks and recreational facilities.)