Consultant Ben Platt tells Pflugerville advisory committee the roadway impact fee study will come back with slightly higher maximum fees

Ben Platt, a consultant with Kimley-Horn, told the Pflugerville Capital Improvements Advisory Committee that an updated roadway impact fee study is nearly finished and that staff will return March 2 with a final report and recommended maximum fees. "Growth pays for growth," Platt said, summarizing the study's purpose: to collect one-time fees from new development to fund capacity-adding roadway projects that serve future growth.

Platt gave the committee a short "impact fee 101," explaining that fees must be tied to improvements that add capacity for future development, that fee revenues must be spent within the collecting service area and within 10 years of collection, and that the study uses vehicle-mile-based service units derived from trip generation and trip length to allocate costs across land uses. "It's a way for growth to pay for growth," he said.

The presentation showed the capital improvement plan (CIP) costs by service area; Platt noted Service Area A lists total construction cost on the map of about $147,000,000, with the roadway-impact-fee-eligible portion estimated at roughly $60,000,000. He compared Pflugerville's current collection rates to neighboring jurisdictions and said the consultant expects the study's recommended maximum fees to rise slightly once consultants finish the financial and debt analyses that determine the maximum allowable charges.

Committee members pressed Platt on technical details, including which edition of the ITE trip-generation manual the study uses. Platt said the current draft relies on the 11th edition but that the 12th edition will be incorporated in the next formal update; he acknowledged some engineers in the development community already use the 12th edition. Asked whether that would confuse applicants, he said the city will provide an online calculator so applicants won't need to know which edition is in use.

Platt also walked through the role of CAMPO (Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization) travel-demand inputs, land-use assumptions adapted from the city's Mobility Master Plan, and how the maximum fee is calculated (total eligible CIP cost divided by projected future service units). "At the end of the day, what you're recommending on is the new max fees," he told members; council will later set the actual collection rates at or below that cap.

Platt said the draft report and supporting materials will be posted publicly and available online for 60 days before council adoption, per state public-notice requirements, and invited members to review materials before the March 2 meeting. "We are working to finalize that report right now," he said.

The committee did not take formal action on the study at this meeting; staff will present final maximum-fee figures and a recommendation request on March 2.

Sources: Presentation and Q&A with Ben Platt (consultant, Kimley-Horn) at the CIAC workshop.