§ 6106. Transportation impact fee; formula

(a) When assessing a transportation impact fee to a land use project, the Secretary shall apply a formula that reflects the performance standards for the TID, and the District Commission shall apply a formula that reflects those performance standards or the mitigation that the Commission determines is required to address the transportation impacts of the development or subdivision. In either case, the formula shall account for each of the following:

(1) the vehicle trips generated by the land use project estimated pursuant to a generally accepted methodology;

(2) the capital costs of highway infrastructure, pedestrian and bicycle facilities, public transportation, and other transportation infrastructure that benefit or mitigate the transportation impacts of the land use project;

(3) conditions not attributable to the transportation impacts of the land use project including forecasted growth in background traffic and existing infrastructure and capacity deficiencies;

(4) the proportional share of the capital costs of transportation infrastructure that provides benefit to or is attributable to the transportation impacts of the land use project and determined pursuant to a reasonably accepted methodology; and

(5) other funding sources available to finance the capital transportation project.

(b) When determining a transportation impact fee under this section for a land use project, the Secretary or the District Commission may adjust the result of the formula to account for one or more of the following:

(1) a traffic allocation, if any, set for the land use project by a prior permit;

(2) the net change in vehicle trip generation of a proposed land use project considering pass-by-trips and the amount of traffic already generated by the tract of land on which the land use project is to be located;

(3) municipal traffic impact fees paid by the applicant to the extent that those fees fund improvements on which the transportation impact fee is based;

(4) the fair market value of dedications of land, interests in land or transportation infrastructure improvements provided by the developer to mitigate offsite traffic impacts;

(5) TDM programs offered by the applicant that reduce vehicle trips; and

(6) the siting of a proposed land use project in a downtown, village center, new town center, growth center, Vermont neighborhood, or neighborhood development area designated under 24 V.S.A. chapter 76A.

(c) A transportation impact fee for one or more capital transportation projects in a TID shall not exceed the portion of the cost of each capital transportation project that is required to mitigate the transportation impacts of the land use project and shall not include costs attributable to the operation, administration, or maintenance of the capital transportation project.

(d) An applicant may choose to fund the entire cost of a capital transportation project. An applicant for a permit under this chapter who chooses to fund the entire cost of a capital transportation project may request and the District Commission may authorize reimbursement in accordance with subsection 6104(a) of this title.

(e) In assessing a transportation impact fee to an applicant under this subchapter, the Agency or District Commission shall require the applicant to pay the transportation impact fee prior to commencement of construction of the applicant's land use project and shall not require the applicant to delay commencement of construction of that project until construction of each capital transportation project for which the fee was assessed, unless the Agency or District Commission determines that the capital transportation project must first be built to address a transportation safety issue caused or exacerbated by the land use project. If a land use project is to be constructed in stages, the Agency or District Commission may approve payment of a proportionate amount of the fee prior to commencement of construction on each stage. (Added 2013, No. 145 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)