Milwaukie staff outline how transportation system development charges are calculated, then-warn of revisions after new TSP

Milwaukie officials and consultants reviewed the basics of system development charges for transportation on Sept. 16 and presented preliminary calculations that use the city’s existing Transportation System Plan (TSP) and capital improvement plan (CIP). The city will recalculate the charges after adopting an updated TSP expected this winter.

Consultant John Guilarducci of FCS Group told the council that SDCs are “one-time fees paid at the time of development by new development,” and stressed the two-part legal structure used in Oregon: a reimbursement fee (for unused capacity in existing infrastructure) and an improvement fee (for planned, capacity-increasing projects). He cited the Oregon Revised Statutes sections the team used for guidance (ORS 223.297–223.316) and said the law also requires 90 days’ public notice before action on changes to SDCs and that a draft report be publicly available for the last 60 days of that notice period.

The consultants showed a preliminary calculation using three project lists (the city CIP, the draft TSP list and a combined list) and explained the numerator/denominator approach the city uses: the numerator is the dollar value…