ABSTRACT

This chapter illustrates the decision steps necessary to consider whether impact fees are needed. It reviews a wide range of approaches to craft impact fee programs for a variety of public facilities. The decision charts for specific facilities that follow are designed to help practitioners make rational decisions on potential funding mechanisms and consider if impact fees meet their needs. The most common use of impact fees is for physical infrastructure, which applies to any public facility but not its operation or maintenance (O & M). The chapter presents the case studies to represent very different approaches to calculating impact fees for very different facilities, but they also show a common theme. Rational nexus and proportionate-share concepts are robust and can apply broadly. There are several important contributions the Albuquerque program makes to impact fee practice.