Development Impact Fees
Learn more about how fees are assessed and used.
Introduction
When the City grows through new development, our community grows. This can come with many benefits, such as local amenitites, jobs, and improved quality of life for our community. To ensure that the City can provide adequate services for this growth, it is important that we grow the necessary facilities and services for the development proportionately. The City funds that growth of services through the collection of Development Impact Fees.
The Development Impact Fees cover the proportionate cost of necessary facilities and services for the related new development. Read on to learn more about what Development Impact Fees are, how they are assessed, what they can be used for, and how much is collected and spent in the City of Tucson.
What are Development Impact Fees?
When new development comes to the City, all of the related costs of the development are considered during the permitting process. While the obvious costs, such as construction of a building or licensing and permitting, are generally well understood, there are other less obvious costs that must also be considered. This includes the cost of necessary services, like recreation facilities, streets, and emergency services.
The City collects this Fee as a one-time payment from developers to cover the costs of infrastructure and service needs directly related and proportionate to the new development. The City is authorized to collect Impact Fees under Arizona Revised Statute (ARS ยง9-436.05).
Development Impact Fee collection and use are managed through the City's Infrastructure Improvments Plan (IIP).
How are Development Impact Fees Assessed?
The amount of Impact Fees the City collects is based on what development-related capital improvements are needed and what types of development are happening. The City uses two main methods to calculate costs: Incremental Expansion and Plan-Based.
Incremental Expansion focuses concurrent improvements and is based on understanding the current level of service, determining the needed level of service, and assessing fees to cover the cost of the growth.
Plan-Based focuses on future improvements and is based on needed improvements and proposed development defined in long-range and land use plans.
Learn more about how the fees are calculated in the City's Infrastructure Improvments Plan (IIP).
Impact Fee Service Areas
Previous IIP Service Areas
The City's IIP determines what types projects Impact Fees can be used to fund. These Fees can only be used to fund infrastructure expansion or debt service for development related facilites for Parks and Recreational, Police, Fire, and Streets and can not be used to fund operations, maintenance, replacement, or remediation of facilities.
Traditionally, Impact Fees have been used as a funding mechinism to support projects aligned with the IIP.
Current IIP Service Areas
The facilities and services Impact Fees fund benefit the whole city and, as a result, are calculated on a city-wide basis. However, Impact Fees are allocated based on the type of service needed. For example, police and fire services are used city-wide, and therefore police and fire Impact Fees are allocated on a city-wide basis. Streets and parks and recreation facilities largely benefit the area directly around the development and therefore those Impact Fees are allocated within the service area of where the Impact Fee was collected. The map below reflects the Streets and Parks and Recreational Facilites Service Area Map.
Impact Fee Collection and Allocation
How much the City collects in Impact Fees is highly dependent on the amount, type, and size of new development and the needed services for that development. Impact Fees can be calculated with the Impact Fee Calculator. Impact Fees are allocated according to needed infrastrucutre and service improvements and service area. Explore this interactive map to learn more about how much the City collects in Impact Fees, where the fees are collected, and where the fees have been spent.