Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
ACHD presents draft 2025 CIP, proposes two-service-area impact-fee model
Summary
Ada County Highway District presented a draft 2025 capital improvement plan that would split the county into two service areas for impact fees, producing substantially different fees by area and prompting a planned November commission work session and possible December adoption.
Justin Lucas, chief of operations and infrastructure for the Ada County Highway District, briefed the Star City Council on ACHD’s draft 2025 Capital Improvements Plan and an accompanying update to the agency’s impact-fee program. The draft would move ACHD from a single, countywide service area to a two-service-area model that keeps fees collected in each area largely local to projects in that area.
Lucas said the change reflects travel-pattern analysis and a fresh inventory of roadway projects. “For this update…we used a two service area approach,” Lucas said. He told council that estimated fees differ markedly between the service areas: a single-family home in the West service area was estimated at about $8,900 compared with about $5,300 in the East, a gap Lucas attributed to the number and cost of anticipated projects in each area.
He also warned that state law limits how impact fees can be used: “Impact fees have to be connected to the growth that is, essentially, required,” Lucas said, adding that fees cannot be applied to remedy past deficiencies but must fund growth-related capacity. The draft CIP lists roughly 149 roadway projects countywide, including intersections and corridors ACHD analyzed to calculate fees.
ACHD plans a November commission work session on the draft and, if the commission approves, would prepare an adoption ordinance in December. Lucas said Idaho law requires a 30-day minimum period after adoption before new fees may be charged; ACHD is likely to offer a longer transition (potentially three to four months) because the proposed increases are substantial and because internal system changes will be needed to map addresses to the new service areas.
Why it matters: the plan and fee change affect development costs and project priorities across Ada County and will shape when and where major arterial projects get funded and built. If adopted, some Star-area projects — including Star Road between Highway 44 and Chinden Boulevard — are scheduled to move faster into design, though right-of-way acquisitions and environmental work remain.
Next steps: ACHD will solicit public comment on the draft, take the plan to its November work session and expects a commission decision by December; the city and residents can submit comments while the draft is open.
