Uncategorized

Transportation Systems Development Charges

Guest Post by Frank Dufay
Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood resident,
reporting on the Open House held by the Portland Office of Transportation
on May 16, 2007.

(bold emphasis added by Amanda)

Transportation System Development Charges (SDCs) are fees assessed against new development, and restricted to funding transportation capacity improvements. For the ten year period 1997-2007, the City had some $38.6 million in Transportation SDC revenues and expenditures.

There are several issues that Portland Office of Transportation (PDOT) laid out at their open house.

One, the rates are too low to fund the “potential projects” currently under consideration. $350 million in SDC funds could leverage $520 million for 43 projects, but current rates would bring in only about $120 million. The “key question,” as PDOT puts it, is if we don’t raise rates, do we reduce the number of projects, or increase “leverage,” which is to say require projects to increase funding from other sources?

Personally, I don’t have an issue with raising rates. The City’s rates rank low in comparison to most other jurisdictions. For example, the SDC charge for a single family dwelling in Portland ranks 17th at $1,883, versus $3,995 in Lake Oswego, or $5,006 in Happy Valley. Portland ranks 16th for Single/Multi-Tenant Office (67,500 sq ft building): $224,775 in Portland versus $304,956 in Beaverton/Hillsboro/Tigard/Tualatin, or $638,852 in Gresham – Springwater.

The larger issue for me, and for PDOT –and it’s good to see them openly addressing this– is “geographic equity.”

While PDOT says they see the transportation system as a “whole,” the reality is SDC spending is not in line with where those funds are coming from. For example, in the 10 year period (1997-2007) while only 11% of SDC Funds came from the Central City, fully 43% of all available SDC funds were spent there. North Macadam (South Waterfront) is up there at $6.4 million (unfortunately the analysis provided by PDOT doesn’t give SDC fees generated by project area).

What this translates to, though, is while SE Portland brought in $6.4 million in SDC revenues, or 15% of the total, only $1.8 million, or 15%, was spent here. More troubling to me, as a close-in SE resident, is while we continue to see and anticipate extraordinary population growth — there are currently at least three new projects within blocks of my home comprising over 150 housing units — that may bring in new SDC revenues, they won’t be spent here, to help build capacity for the new development. There isn’t much of a nexus or connection between where money is generated and where it’s spent, and when we have capacity needs –unimproved streets and sidewalks, dangerous arterials to cross without marked crosswalks or signals– it’s hard not to worry that we’re shortchanging neighborhoods by directing these SDC resources to newer developments like South Waterfront, or $6 million for the Eastside Streetcar, as proposed. That’s SDC spending where the intent is to create new neighborhoods, not support the ones that already exist, that are also adding density, and then not funding the infrastructure to support that added density.

On my comment card I wrote that I’d like to see more of a connection between revenue and spending, and looking at this at the neighborhood level. I think that’s a difficult challenge, but maybe what’s needed is a de-emphasis on the big ticket items, in favor of simple things like sidewalks, marked crosswalks, improved streets and signalized intersections that can substantial improve neighborhood livability and all modes of transportation capacity.

Comments Off on Transportation Systems Development Charges