City’s routine project refund totals $188K
Published 12:40 pm Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Approximately 180 Federal Way residents and businesses received checks from the city in September, with amounts ranging from about $34 to more than $23,000. In total, Federal Way paid out approximately $188,000 in September, as part of a routine process for property mitigation projects that were unable to be completed by the city within a five-year time frame.
Chris Carrel, spokesman for the city, said this is something that happens about once or twice a year, and is prompted mostly by the fact that the city itself often ends up being short of funding for these mitigation projects.
“We collect transportation impact mitigation fees on a regular basis, and refund fees on a regular basis,” Carrel said. “The refunds happen one to two times a year, typically. We’re allowed to collect the fees for projects that are part of the city’s six-year Transportation Improvement Plan. If a project doesn’t go forward…there’s not enough money to fund the project, or any other reason, we have to refund the fees from the parties we collect them from.”
The transportation improvement plan is used by the city to identify needed projects for “future traffic demand and plan for street improvements to accommodate that traffic.” It includes things like paving projects and signals, according to the city.
Carrel said the state allows for five years for these mitigation projects. In 2011, that five-year mark was reached for many projects. For the most part, Carrel said, the projects were unable to be completed because of financial shortfalls.
City finance director Tho Kraus echoed Carrel’s comments, saying the money paid in September was for projects that were unable to be completed.
“The city collects fees to mitigate the impacts of development,” Kraus said. “The refunds totaling (approximately) $190,000 were made to current property owners due to the city not being able to spend the mitigation fees collected within the five-year window for specific transportation projects. Because the fees were not spent, per state law, the city must return the fees with interest.”
The city has a six-year Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) for determining where best to put its resources when it comes to local streets and arterials. Even with the recent budgetary shortfalls the city has experienced, the city is bound by its own laws, and state laws, to keep local roads usable and safe for residents. According to the city’s Frequently Asked Question webpage about the TIP, these projects are needed because “without investment in capital projects, such as street improvements and traffic signals, the city would not be able to maintain these mandated standards, and congestion would worsen in the city, and would be in violation of city and state law.”
One of the most illustrative examples of the city’s TIP in action, and the mitigation fees needed, is the long and extensive work that has been taking place on Pacific Highway South for a number of years.
