Vacaville staff rework transportation projects, outline big parks fee increases and developer credit rules

City of Vacaville staff told developers, builders and residents at a Development Impact Fee (DIF) update meeting that they have rescoped three large transportation projects to reduce the Transportation Improvement Fee (TIF) exposure by tens of millions of dollars and that Parks & Recreation cost updates — including added soft costs and facility expansions — are the main drivers of a large proposed parks fee increase.

The changes were discussed Aug. 12 in the fourth DIF update meeting. Brian, a city staff member leading the DIF project update, said staff has “reworked” scopes for three projects that were driving large TIF charges. He said the California Drive overpass exposure was reduced “from what’s in currently in the DIF, approximately $16,000,000 down to $2,500,000. It’s a $13,500,000 reduction,” and that change lowers the per‑EDU calculation by $684. He said a similar re‑scoping reduced the Baca Valley (back of Valley Extension) exposure from about $13,400,000 to $2,500,000, an almost $11,000,000 drop and roughly a $550 per‑EDU reduction. The Midway Road widening was reduced from about $60,700,000 to $45,600,000 — a $15,000,000 reduction and about a $762 per‑EDU reduction, Brian said. Together, he said, those changes amount to roughly a $39 million reduction in TIF exposure and lower the transportation component of the proposed DIF matrix.

Why it matters: DIF calculations translate capital projects into per‑unit charges developers pay when building new housing or commercial space. Developers at the meeting said the overall proposed fee increase — staff described the citywide fee change as an average increase of roughly 64% across all categories, with parks alone showing the largest jump — could make smaller, workforce and entry‑level homes uneconomic.

Parks fees, soft costs, and credits

Nima, a park planner for the City of Vacaville Parks and Recreation Department, explained that the proposed 2025 DIF update includes more park projects than the 2022 calculation and now captures soft costs that were omitted previously. Nima said the Parks and Recreation Master Plan (adopted in 2021) lists 14 facilities; the 2022 DIF included five. The 2025 update includes all 14 facilities and adds a 40% markup to hard construction costs to capture “soft costs” (design, environmental work, materials testing, construction management, inspection and contingencies).

Nima said the city collected recent, real project data from peer agencies and contractors to produce the updated park cost figures and that the 40% soft‑cost assumption reflects that work. To illustrate how credits would work, Nima said, “If the developer is providing a neighborhood park… we would credit them 100% of the hard cost for [a] neighborhood park. We would credit them the 100% of the neighborhood park portion of land acquisition, and then we would credit them a partial amount of the soft cost.” The city staff said they expect a portion — roughly 26% of the soft‑cost allowance in their example — could be credited back to a developer who delivers a turnkey park, because the developer performs many tasks the city otherwise would pay for.

Staff also noted policy and program differences with peer cities. Nima said Vacaville does not have a Quimby ordinance (an ordinance that allows cities to require land dedication or in‑lieu fees specifically for parks), so the city’s parks land acquisition obligation is collected via the DIF; many peer agencies collect park land fees separately, so direct DIF comparisons can be misleading.

Concerns from developers and builders

Multiple developers and consultants warned that a large fee increase would reduce the supply of smaller homes. Tom (no last name given), who identified himself as long‑active in local parks projects, said the combined proposed changes were “a war on families, in my opinion,” arguing that sharply higher fees would push builders away from smaller, workforce housing projects. Another meeting participant noted the proposed park fee for a typical single‑family unit was about $27,000 in the draft and emphasized the need to reconcile that number with school district, county, and other fees when evaluating total development costs.

Staff timetable and next steps

Brian and other staff described a stepped public process. Staff will present an informational DIF 101 for City Council on Aug. 12, hold a fifth public outreach meeting Aug. 25 (10 a.m.–noon), and bring a policy discussion before council in a later session (staff said that could be September or October). Staff said they will present multiple options to council — for example, removing projects from the DIF, phasing projects across years, or further reworking project scopes — rather than a single, final fee schedule. The mayor has agreed to extend podium time at the council policy discussion for developer presenters, staff said.

Other technical points covered

- Staff said the transportation fee matrix’s current fee baseline is $16,020 per EDU and that, after the recent re‑scoping, an updated per‑EDU transportation component is closer to $25,000 per EDU in the draft posted to the project website. Staff also noted an April draft figure in briefing slides shown at the meeting.

- Parks and trails: staff described a trail project (Stupan/Whole Canyon) whose 2020 bid was used as a benchmark and adjusted for inflation, contractor pricing and soft costs; after adjustments staff reported an updated per‑linear‑foot benchmark of about $1.54 for certain trail components.

- Facilities and soft costs: city staff said many Rec facilities are “serving everybody” (existing and future residents), and therefore they allocate roughly 30% of those facility costs to future development and 70% to the existing population when calculating developer fees.

What’s next: public comment and council decisions

Staff committed to publishing the meeting slides and FAQs on the DIF project page and to provide council with comparative bar charts showing Vacaville fees alongside county and school district fees. Staff also agreed to one‑on‑one meetings with developers (several attendees requested follow‑up meetings) and to bring options to council that would change fee timing, scope and project lists rather than present a single, final package.

Ending: A city staff member closed the meeting by reiterating that staff will present multiple options to council and publish the slide deck on the DIF update webpage for review ahead of the policy discussion.