Tacoma officials outline proposed transportation impact fees, cite affordability reductions and district-based rates

Tacoma staff and consultants briefed a city-council committee on a proposed transportation impact fee (TIF) program intended to help pay for 42 priority transportation capital projects and to limit how much growth shifts costs to existing residents.

The proposal would divide Tacoma into six fee districts, set per-person-trip rates that vary by district, and translate those trip rates into fees by development type. Staff said the modeling produced a citywide average cost of about $4,820 per PM peak-hour trip and that, when translated to single-family homes, fees would range roughly from $7,100 in Southeast Tacoma to about $1,600 in Northeast Tacoma; staff said the citywide average for a single-family unit in the model is approximately $5,900.

City consultant Kendra Braylen of Farr & Pears said the work narrowed an earlier project list and aimed to avoid large differences in rates between districts. "We modeled the eligibility of 42 capital projects in the program to identify TIF rates for each of the six districts," Braylen said. "The highest rates are in Southeast Tacoma, North Tacoma…