A GIS Solution for Calculating Utility Impact Fees: A Case Study for Grapevine TX

1
A GIS Solution for Calculating Utility Impact
Fees A Case Study for Grapevine TX

• Julie Paine
• GIS Masters Project
• Fall 2007

2
What are Impact Fees?

• One-time charges collected by local government to
  offset the cost of new infrastructure to newly
  developed areas
• Paid by the land developer, and may include fees
  for water and sewer, facilities, roads, schools,
  libraries, parks and recreation
• Texas State Legislature, in 1990, required local
  accountability both when setting the fees and
  administering them

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Why Charge Impact Fees?

• Allows cities to schedule infrastructure
  improvements so services are in place when needed
• Re-coup a portion of the cost of infrastructure
  to provide services to new growth areas
• Existing residents do not have to pay the costs
  of infrastructure for new development
• Providing access to necessary City services
  benefits the entire community

4
Challenges to Local Government
Planners
Accountants
Engineers
Fees
Fee Study
Public Hearings
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Challenges to City of Grapevine

• This project addresses communities that set fees
  by
• intended land use
• impact on the infrastructure
• previous development history
• As the payment schedule grows in complexity,
  calculation of the fees becomes more cumbersome
• Using customized programming in a GIS mapping
  environment will assist local officials to
  calculate charges due

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Objective

• Develop a template using visual basic and
  ArcObjects for any City to automate the
  calculation of impact fees, and then customize
  this template for the City of Grapevine using
  their data, schedules and fees

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Literature Review

• The relationship of Impact fees vs. land values,
  new home prices, existing home prices, job growth
  local economic development have been explored
• new residential lots
• undeveloped land
• existing residences (Anderson, 2005)
• job growth
• economic development

Anderson, John E. Taxes and Fees as Forms of
Land Use Regulation The Journal of Real Estate
Finance and Economics, 314, 413427,
2005 Evans-Crowley, Jennifer E. Forgey, Fred A.
Rutherford, Ronald C. The Effect of
Development Fees on Land Values Growth and
Change Vol. 36 No. 1 (Winter 2005),
p100-112 Jeong, Moon-Gi and Feiock, Richard C.
Impact Fees, Growth Management, and Development
A Contractual Approach to Local Policy and
Governance Urban Affairs Review 2006 41 pp749
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Literature Review (cont.)

• Identifies why impact fees are adopted in a
  community (Jeong, 2006)
• Communities will adopt impact fees as more
  neighboring communities adopt them
• Rapid growth promotes fee adoptions
• Population growth is linked to impact fee
  adoptions

• Jeong, Moon-Gi Local Choices for Development
  Impact Fees Urban Affairs Review 200641338

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Literature Review (cont.)

• Examines local factors when setting impact fees
• Recommends the use of conservative methods
  correlating impact and benefit (Mazilia, 2006)
• Repetitive urban planning tasks can be performed
  by non-GIS users through automation
• A GIS approach using Cellular Automata and
  ArcObjects used to model urban growth within
  mapping software (Stevens, 2007)

• Malizia, Emil Best and Worst Methods of
  Calculating Impact Fees Public Management
  September 2006 pp.23-27
• Stevens,T., Dragicevic, S. and Rothly, K. iCity
  A GISCA Modeling Tool for Urban planning and
  Decision Making Environmental Modeling and
  Software, 22 (2007) 761-773

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Data Sources

• City of Grapevine GIS data layers converted to
  personal geodatabase
• Parcels, Zoning, Land Use, Plats TIF
• Shapefiles created for this project
• Exempt Area
• High Use Commercial District
• SQL Server view joining plats feature class and
  database table
• Excel spreadsheet of water sewer impact fees
  paid from 1986 - 2007
• Records compiled by City of Grapevine Utility
  Billing Dept.

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Visual Basic using ArcObjects
ArcObjects
VB
ArcMap
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Methodology I
Template for automated tool

• Determine impact fee calculation method based on
  location GIS layer information available, who
  updates it and how often
• Other input linked databases, flat files or
  registries, and how it can be converted for GIS
  use
• Programmatically categorize data based on local
  ordinances fee schedule
• Offer user flexibility to change input data
• Consider special geographic areas

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Methodology

• Template of inputs/outputs for Impact fee
  automation

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Methodology II
Customized for Grapevine

• Fee schedules of utility impact fees for water
  sewer
• Determine GIS layer information availability and
  its currency Zoning, Land Use, Plats
• Programmatically categorize data per the
  schedule
• uses multiple land use categories
• uses 6 categories by plat date
• Consider special cases including exempt areas,
  TIF districts and High Use Commercial areas
• Offer user flexibility to change land use,
  acreage or units built
• Geocode impact fees already paid and associate to
  selected parcel

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Methodology
Customized programming for Grapevine
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Begin Program
User selects a parcel and clicks the Impact Fee
button
Click the Impact Tool
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Results
Form displays parcel information, including an
past fees paid
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Results

• Multiple forms display as user chooses options
  and makes choices regarding the developed property

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Results

• Calculated fees display in a form and print
  in a map layout

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Conclusion

• Emerging problems associated with impact fee
  calculation can be addressed using programmed
  automation of GIS tools, methods and analysis
• A generic template to implement this automation
  was outlined. Also, a customized tool for the
  special circumstances unique to the City of
  Grapevines assessment of impact fees was created
  and put into use

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Future RD

• Public internet access to fee calculation tools
  would enable land developers to plan ahead for
  fees due
• Impetus for municipalities to customize their
  approach to impact fee charges
• Future research could examine whether it is
  beneficial for cities to customize impact fees or
  continue with a generic structure

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References

• Anderson, John E. Taxes and Fees as Forms of
  Land Use Regulation The Journal of Real Estate
  Finance and Economics, 314, 413427, 2005
• Burge, Gregory The Effects of Impact Fees on
  Multifamily Housing Development Journal of
  Regional Science Vol 46, No. 1, 2006, p5 -23
• Chang, Kang-Tsung(2005) Programming ArcObjects
  with VBA CRC Press 2000 N.W. Corporate Blvd Boca
  Raton, FL 33431
• Columbo, Louis Implementing the Vision Impact
  Fees and the Albuquerque Metropolitan Planned
  Growth Strategy Natural Resources Journal
  Summer 2003, Vol. 43 Issue 3, p887-901, 15p, 1
  chart, 4 maps
• Evans-Crowley, Jennifer E. Forgey, Fred A.
  Rutherford, Ronald C. The Effect of Development
  Fees on Land Values Growth and Change Vol. 36
  No. 1 (Winter 2005), p100-112
• Freese and Nichols, Inc. Update of Water and
  Wastewater System Impact Fees, prepared for City
  of Grapevine, December 2006

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References (cont.)

• Jeong, Moon-Gi Local Choices for Development
  Impact Fees Urban Affairs Review 200641338
• Jeong, Moon-Gi and Feiock, Richard C. Impact
  Fees, Growth Management, and Development A
  Contractual Approach to Local Policy and
  Governance Urban Affairs Review 2006 41 pp749
• Kolo, Jerry and Dicker, Todd J. Practical Issues
  in Adopting Local Impact Fees State and Local
  Government Review Vol. 25, No.3 Fall 1998
  197-206
• Malizia, Emil Best and Worst Methods of
  Calculating Impact Fees Public Management
  September 2006 pp.23-27
• McClain, Lewis F. Impact Fees and the Finance
  Official Texas Government Finance September
  1999 Volume 13, No. 9
• Stevens,T., Dragicevic, S. and Rothly, K. iCity
  A GISCA Modeling Tool for Urban planning and
  Decision Making Environmental Modeling and
  Software, 22 (2007) 761-773

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Tool Demo

• Questions

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Methodology Categorize Data
Back

• Plat date categories as set by adoption of City
  Council ordinance
• Before 4/21/1998 1
  
• 4/22/1998 thru 4/21/1999 2
• 4/22/1999 thru 4/21/2000 3
• 4/22/2000 thru 9/3/2002 4
• 9/4/2002 thru 12/19/2006 5
• After 12/19/2006 6
• Schedule recognizes these land use categories
• Single Family 1
• Multifamily 2
• Commercial-Industrial 3
• Hotel or corporate office user chooses 4 or
  5
• Government Use 6
• Mixed Use user chooses Residential,
  Restaurant and Retail
• Central Business District Within the High
  Use Commercial District

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Methodology
Water Impact Fee Schedule
Back
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Data Sources
Back
Past Fees Paid

• Essential to identify fees already paid on a
  property
• In Grapevine, impact fees are entered in a ledger
  by date, payee, and parcel address
• These fees, dating back to 1986, were entered
  into Microsoft Excel and geocoded in ArcView

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Data Sources
Special Areas
Back
These areas are exempt or carry specific impact
fees based on their location