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Commission receives briefing on fiscal-impact tool and when additional staff should attend hearings
Summary
City staff outlined the parcel-level fiscal-impact tool used to estimate 40-year revenues and costs, noting it's one of several approval criteria and uses a 2.4% growth factor; commissioners also discussed when to request departmental experts at public hearings for complex projects.
Charlie Rosenthal, interim director of development services, presented the city's fiscal-impact tool and explained its purpose and limits: it's an Excel-based model that uses parcel-level GIS data, historical rates and assumptions to project revenues and general-fund costs over a 40-year horizon and is one of multiple approval criteria for projects.
Rosenthal described revenue inputs (property-tax estimates, permit fees, historical retail-sales proxies) and cost assumptions tied to departmental expense categories and a density factor; he said "it has a growth factor of 2.4% based on historical growth" for general fund growth. He emphasized the model is a planning tool, not the sole decision metric, and that the city updates parcel and budget inputs annually.
Commissioners asked about modeling for very large developments. Rosenthal said for complex, large-scale projects the city typically hires consultants and sets escrow agreements so developers reimburse the city for specialized studies: "we set up escrow agreements with the developer where they cover the cost of not just the fiscal study, but other studies that have to be done," he said. The commission also discussed whether additional department experts (CFO, utilities, transportation) should attend certain hearings and asked staff to consider a clearer process for requesting and publishing advance answers to commission questions.
