TischlerBise was retained by the City of Bozeman, Montana to update impact fees for the City’s fire, water, streets, and sewer infrastructure. Over the next decade, Bozeman is expected to experience an increase of approximately 3,800 housing units and 2.7 million square feet of non-residential floor area. Most impact fees decreased for residential land uses, in large part because of access to more detailed data and practical considerations in the impact fee methodology. For example, TischlerBise calculated Bozeman’s residential fees utilizing a tiered fee structure which accounted for the size of each housing unit. Persons per housing unit were derived from a logarithmic trend line fitted to U.S. Census data. TischlerBise recommended a minimum fee based on a unit size of 1,400 square feet and increasing in 200 square foot intervals to a maximum fee based on a unit size of 3,100 square feet or larger. This tiered approach results in a more equitable fee, as smaller housing units typically have fewer persons per household and generate fewer vehicle trips than larger units.
For the sewer fee, TischlerBise isolated and considered data for homes constructed within the past 20 years, which were built with more efficient plumbing systems than older units. This enabled TischlerBise to calculate a significantly lower residential sewer fee, because new home construction will feature these more efficient systems. For the streets fee calculation, TischlerBise was able to more accurately reflect commuter patterns in the City and also accounted for decreased construction costs since the Great Recession. For the average 2,400 square foot home on a 6,000 square foot lot, total impact fees decreased by $2,500.
City Commissioner Chris Mehl and Assistant Planning Director Chris Saunders praised the study conducted by TischlerBise, saying that the proposed fees are better targeted, taking into onsideration new components such as the number of people who occupy a housing unit and the size of the lot a home sits on. The Bozeman City Commission adopted all impact fees at 100% of the proposed fee amounts in early 2013.