AOT study finds Act 181 exemptions would cut modest impact-fee revenue and shift mitigation to local governments

Marcela Dent, a planning coordinator at the Agency of Transportation, told the Senate Transportation Committee that the agency commissioned a transportation support study to assess how Act 181’s tiered mapping and exemptions could change the state’s role in development review and affect revenues historically collected through Act 145.

Consultant Jonathan Slicin of RSG summarized the study’s scope and findings. He said Act 145 (the statewide transportation impact fee established circa 2014) has produced limited revenue: roughly 53 projects and about 156 land-use applications have paid the fee, concentrated in Chittenden County. “The revenue itself has not been substantial, about $160,000 per year,” Slicin said. He noted that one large project, the Colchester Diverging Diamond Interchange, generated about $309,000 in total fees for that facility.

Why it matters: Act 181 creates standardized tier mapping and exempts many Tier 1A and 1B land-use applications from Act 250 review. Because Act 145 fees commonly are assessed through that development-review pathway, Slicin told…