Pasco County hears mobility‑fee study showing $6.9 billion need, options to close $2.9 billion gap

Pasco County on Nov. 18 heard a detailed mobility‑fee study that found roughly $6.9 billion in transportation capital needs over the next 25 years and an estimated funding shortfall of about $2.9 billion.

County Engineer Nick (presenting staff) told the board that, under current assumptions, the county’s five principal revenue streams — federal and state allocations, the Penny for Pasco sales tax, local option gas taxes, tax‑increment financing and mobility fees — would produce about $4.0 billion, leaving the county short of the study’s projected $6.9 billion need. "That total cost that we need to invest in our transportation system is $6,900,000,000," Nick said; "we have a shortfall of about $2,900,000,000." (presentation to the board).

Why it matters: the mobility fee pays for right‑of‑way acquisition, design and construction of roads and multimodal facilities (bike/pedestrian/transit). Staff emphasized that Pasco is unusually heavily unincorporated — a factor that concentrates the county’s responsibility for infrastructure — and that cost increases since the 2021 study and a larger population forecast have widened the gap.

What staff told the board: Nick reviewed the current fee structure for a typical suburban single‑family home (about $9,600 mobility fee; total impact fees just under $25,000 including schools, parks…