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8/14/2019 Ph 2009cfp Att2
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ATTACHMENT 2
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fi{jiJjjJj]HOLDINGS LLC
Dave Smith, Transportation Project Engineer II
City of Olympia Public Works Department
POBox 1967Olympia, WA 98507-1967
We are writing in concern of the proposed Transportation Impact Fee Schedule
Cost Options for 2009, as proposed by City of Olympia's Public Works
Department, to be included in the 2009-2013 Capital Facilities Plan (CFP).
We received notification of the proposed 2009 Transportation Impact Fees onSeptember 24, 2008 as members of West Olympia Business Association. Otherthan possibly through WOBA and the three other business organizations on the list(Olympia Master Builders, Washington Realtors, and the Chamber of Commerce),
no private developers were notified. Many architects were notified, but they wouldnot pay the proposed Impact Fee increase, unless they chose to build a building
they designed. We know that City staff have worked or are working with a number
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increase, keeping the Cost per Trip current to today's rates, and eliminating the
necessity for an additional increase. The current cost escalator has increased thefees at a rate of 4.3% per year higher than the previous 4-year update. The
current cost escalator is more than sufficient in keeping the Transportation ImpactFees current. Second, the increase disputes Public Works comments on this
process, as it is in contrast with their claim on page 2 of the informational flyer theydistributed to stakeholders entitled, "Get the Facts: 2009 Impact Fees," where it
states, "Olympia last updated Transportation Impact Fees in 2006." If this is the
case, then the increase to Impact fees would not be 81 %, but 108.5% (27.5% from2006-2008 + 81 % proposed for 2009). Third, per the flyer, "Factors contributing to
the increase of Transportation Impact Fee's," handed out by Public Works at the
Open House on October 1, 2008, 41 % of the proposed 81 % current increase isdue to, "Re-estimated projects plus new projects." The impact fees for re-
estimated projects should've been calculated at the time those projects were
estimated and added to the 13.8% per year increase for the projects from 2006 to2008. The practice of charging future developments for past miscalculations onthe part of City staff is not only unethical, but could be legally challenged for
collecting twice for a single project.
In addition, the City of Olympia's previous and current proposed cost increases to
their Transportation Impact Fees represent an imbalance to other local jurisdictions. Currently, the City of Tumwater's transportation impact fees arebased on $928.00 Cost per New Trip Generated (per the City of Tumwater's
Resolution No. R2008-003, pg. 4. This is 103.8% less than the City of Olympia's
current Cost per Trip rate, and 269.0% less than the proposed Cost per Trip rate.
Similarly, the City of Lacey's 'rule of thumb' Cost per New PM Peak Trip generated
is approximately $1,000.00. Lacey currently does not have a set Impact Feeschedule, and instead bases its impact fees on a specific project's proximity to
capital facilities improvement projects and its specific impact, and uses the
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As you can clearly see in the example of our project above, the proposed 2009
Rate is irreconcilable with the both the City of Olympia's past rate increases, as
well as the other comparable jurisdictions in Thurston County (namely, Tumwater
and Lacey; Thurston County itself employs a different fee method (SEPA), and
therefore has not been included). To increase the Transportation Impact Fees by
the proposed 81% for this year alone would make it extremely cost-prohibitive todevelop in the City of Olympia, due to an inability in the market to re-capture the
cost increases. This will cause potential Olympia developments to re-Iocate to its
neighboring Cities, as well as unincorporated Thurston County.
We ask you to please carefully consider the disproportionate fees proposed by the
Public Works Department and vote to increase the fees by the methods currently in
place, such as the formulaic cost escalator, and not the proposed 81% (actually
102.6%) increase. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
Donald A. Pettie, President
MPH Holdings, LLC
Cc: Dave Riker, City of Olympia Public Works
Subir Mukerjee, City of Olympia Assistant Manager
Steve Hall, City of Olympia Manager
Olympia City Council