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DATE: |
December 11, 2024 |
04 |
SUBJECT
Title
RECEIVE INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENT FEE PROGRAM (BOARD POLICY J-25) FISCAL YEAR 2023-24 COMPREHENSIVE ANNUAL AND FIVE-YEAR MITIGATION REPORT AND RELATED CEQA FINDING (DISTRICTS: ALL)
Body
OVERVIEW
The County of San Diego’s infrastructure improvement fee programs are designed to equitably distribute the costs associated with new development by charging fees that correspond to the impacts of development projects. These programs help fund necessary infrastructure improvements while alleviating the financial burden on taxpayers. This approach ensures that the growth in the community is sustainable and that essential public services are maintained. By linking fees directly to development impacts, the County aims to create a balanced framework that supports both growth and community needs.
The State of California’s Mitigation Fee Act (Act) (Section 66000-66025) establishes requirements that jurisdictions must follow when imposing fees on developers that are intended to mitigate impacts from those developments. The Act requires agencies collecting these types of fees to review them annually and provide an annual report to the public that accounts for the agency’s development of the fees. The Act also requires that agencies find that fees collected more than five years ago are still needed for the improvements for which the fees were collected. An annual report and five-year findings are required by the Act to be consolidated into a single report made available to the public within 180 days after the last day of each fiscal year, which is December 28, 2024, for the current reporting period.
This letter describes a mitigation fee that the County of San Diego (County) collects and is accompanied by a report required by the Act in Attachment A. These fees are collected from developers to mitigate impacts from traffic associated with their development projects. The County also maintains traffic impact mitigation fee programs which include the Traffic Impact Fee (TIF) and the Regional Transportation Congestion Improvement Program (RTCIP). Those fee programs differ from the one discussed in this letter mainly in that the TIF and RTCIP fees are set by a fee schedule. By contrast, the subject fee in this letter is collected on an ad hoc basis according to the level of traffic impact a development project is expected to cause. This letter and accompanying report describe the TIF and RTCIP fees and includes reporting information required by the Act.
On June 19, 1973 (94), the County Board of Supervisors (Board) adopted Board Policy J-25, Participation by Individuals, Organizations, Private Developers, or other Jurisdictions in the Implementation of Intersection Betterments (J-25). The policy created a local program to implement State law, which allows local jurisdictions to collect and allocate funds for intersection improvements, including traffic signals, roundabouts, additional traffic lanes, and turn lanes, that are needed to mitigate the impacts of new developments. Fees imposed in accordance with J-25 pay for improvements needed to mitigate project-related traffic impacts. The program ensures that the costs of new development on public infrastructure are fairly distributed, protecting taxpayers from bearing the full burden while also ensuring that the fees charged are reasonable and directly related to the impacts of development projects.
The J-25 fee program provides a means for developers to mitigate the traffic impacts of their development projects proportionally. Fees are designated for improvements at specific intersections where the County of San Diego (County) will construct intersection improvements once sufficient fees are collected. The program also allows developers to voluntarily contribute funds to accelerate the implementation of intersection improvements at locations near their development.
Today’s request is for the Board to receive the required Intersection Improvement Fee Program (Board Policy J-25) Fiscal Year 2023-24 Comprehensive Annual and Five-Year Mitigation Report which contains the Mitigation Fee Act annual report and five-year findings.
RECOMMENDATION(S)
CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER
1. Find that the receipt of this report is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per 15060(c)(3), because it is not a project as defined under Section 15378 of the CEQA Guidelines and Public Resources Code Section 21065.
2. Receive the Intersection Improvement Fee Program (Board Policy J-25) Fiscal Year 2023-24 Comprehensive Annual and Five-Year Mitigation Fees Report and adopt the findings included therein.
EQUITY IMPACT STATEMENT
Fees collected in accordance with Board Policy J-25 fund improvements needed to mitigate traffic impacts arising from private development. These fees help fund improvements that ensure a transportation system that is safe and accessible for all road users and modes of transportation, and for people of all income levels, races, ethnicities, ages, and abilities.
SUSTAINABILITY IMPACT STATEMENT
The proposed actions in today’s request support the County of San Diego’s (County) sustainability goals to align the County’s available resources with services to maintain fiscal stability. The fund balances are used to help ensure the County can provide road improvements that maintain safe, reliable, and efficient travel for all modes of transportation in the unincorporated areas of the county. As funds are used for projects, the improved roads and intersections will incorporate features that reduce storm runoff, enhance pedestrian and cyclist safety, and improve operations to reduce idling and emissions, which aligns with the County’s sustainability goal of reducing greenhouse gasses. Additionally, staff are exploring practical strategies for facilitating residential development in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) efficient and infill areas. If directed by the Board following the report out of the Development Feasibility Analysis in early 2025, staff will evaluate the future use of fee program funds to support these initiatives and associated findings.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with these recommendations. There will be no change in net
General Fund cost and no additional staff years.
BUSINESS IMPACT STATEMENT
N/A
Details
ADVISORY BOARD STATEMENT
While the recommendations today are administrative in nature, the Department of Public Works regularly engages with Community Planning and Sponsor Groups and the public to help determine community needs for transportation improvements. For example, Department of Public Works staff are currently conducting a series of outreach meetings throughout the unincorporated area to discuss current and planned capital improvement projects. Additionally, project-specific outreach is conducted when sufficient fees are collected to initiate a capital improvement project.
BACKGROUND
The State of California’s Mitigation Fee Act (Act) (Section 66000-66025) establishes requirements that jurisdictions must follow when imposing fees on developers that are intended to mitigate impacts from those developments. The Act requires agencies collecting these types of fees to review them annually and provide an annual report to the public that accounts for the agency’s development of the fees. The Act also requires that agencies find that fees collected more than five years ago are still needed for the improvements for which the fees were collected. An annual report and five-year findings are required by the Act to be consolidated into a single report made available to the public within 180 days after the last day of each fiscal year, which is December 28, 2024, for the current reporting period.
This letter describes a mitigation fee that the County of San Diego (County) collects and is accompanied by a report required by the Act in Attachment A. These fees are collected from developers to mitigate impacts from traffic associated with their development projects. The County also maintains traffic impact mitigation fee programs which include the Traffic Impact Fee (TIF) and the Regional Transportation Congestion Improvement Program (RTCIP) fees. Those fee programs differ from the one discussed in this letter mainly in that the TIF and RTCIP fees are set by a fee schedule. By contrast, the subject fee in this letter is collected on an ad hoc basis according to the level of traffic impact a development project is expected to cause. A letter and accompanying report submitted to the County Board of Supervisors at the December 11, 2024, hearing describes the TIF and RTCIP fees and includes reporting information required by the Act.
On June 19, 1973 (94), the Board of Supervisors (Board) adopted Board Policy J-25 (J-25), Participation by Individuals, Organizations, Private Developers, or other Jurisdictions in the Implementation of Intersection Betterments. The policy created a program to collect and allocate funds for intersection improvements, including traffic signals, roundabouts, additional traffic lanes, and turn lanes.
During the County permitting application process, County staff determine if the private development project will generate substantial traffic at a specific intersection. If there will be an impact, the County will require a contribution, or fee, from the developer toward the cost of implementing an intersection improvement as required by J-25. The fee amount is based on an analysis of the traffic that will be generated by the development. After collection, fees are held in interest-bearing trust accounts for each intersection for which they were collected. The County will initiate the improvement project when there is sufficient traffic to warrant a traffic signal or other improvement and when there are sufficient funds to pay for the project.
There were no J-25 fees collected in Fiscal Year 2023-24 because no developments were required to make contributions to intersection improvements and there were no voluntary contributions. A total of $29,087.68 of J-25 fees were used to construct intersection improvements in Fiscal Year 2023-24, leaving a remaining balance of $3,633,797.91. The remaining balance is distributed across 132 accounts with a mean average balance of $27,529 and median balance of $5,685. Fees in each account are restricted for use on the improvements for which they were collected, so while the need for improvements remains, it can take several years before sufficient fees are collected to make those improvements in a particular account.
The County initiates intersection improvements once it is determined that the improvement is required to mitigate congestion, convey the traveling public safely, and sufficient funding is available from collected fees and supplemented with other funding sources when required. The County uses a holistic approach to prioritize intersection improvements that considers collision and health equity data (i.e., Local Road Safety Plan), in conjunction with community input and available funding.
The attached report includes a list of incomplete projects and approximate dates of when funding is expected to be available to develop and construct those projects. Staff are also exploring practical strategies for facilitating residential development in vehicle miles traveled (VMT) efficient and infill areas in four areas (Buena Creek, Valle de Oro/Casa de Oro, Lakeside/North El Cajon, and Spring Valley) as part of the Development Feasibility Analysis (DFA). If directed by the Board following the report out on the Development Feasibility Analysis in early 2025, staff will evaluate the future use of J-25 fee program funds to support these initiatives and associated findings.
The Act requires that agencies annually review and make available to the public a report accounting for the development fees held by the agency. The Act also requires that the agency review to confirm that fees collected more than five years ago are still needed for the improvements for which the fees were collected. Staff has reviewed the balance of the program funds and determined that the improvements for which the funds were collected are still necessary. An annual report and five-year findings are required by the Act to be consolidated into a single report made available to the public within 180 days after the last day of each fiscal year, which is December 28, 2024, for the current reporting period. The required report is included in Attachment A and was made available on the Department of Public Works website before December 28, 2024.
Today’s request is for the Board to receive the Intersection Improvement Fee Program (Board Policy J-25) Fiscal Year 2023-24 Comprehensive Annual and Five-Year Mitigation Fees Report. The report includes the information required to be included in an annual report by Government Code §66006(b) and the findings required to be included in the five-year report by Government Code §66001(d). The information included in Attachment A regarding each of the findings required by Government Code §66001(d) will be adopted by the Board by today’s action.
ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT
This report is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per 15060(c)(3), because it is not a project as defined under Section 15378 of the CEQA Guidelines and Public Resources Code Section 21065. The proposed action includes the receipt of an annual report and five-year findings required by the Mitigation Fee Act to account for traffic mitigation funds under Board Policy J-25. The action does not include the approval of any specific construction projects. As this action solely involves a government funding mechanism without any physical impact on the environment, and it is not a project as defined by Section 15378(b)(4) of the CEQA Guidelines and Public Resources Code Section 21065.
LINKAGE TO THE COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO STRATEGIC PLAN
Today’s proposed action supports the Sustainability and Community Initiatives in the County of San Diego’s (County) 2024-2029 Strategic Plan Sustainability, Community, and Equity initiatives in the County’s Strategic Plan by providing infrastructure and building safe communities to improve the quality of life for all residents and all modes of transportation in the unincorporated areas of the county.
Respectfully submitted,
Dahvia Lynch
Deputy Chief Administrative Officer
ATTACHMENT(S)
Attachment A: Intersection Improvement Fee Program (Board Policy J-25) Fiscal Year 2023-24 Comprehensive Annual and Five-Year Mitigation Fees Report