The Regional Development Impact Fee program was adopted by the Transportation Agency Board of Directors and each of the jurisdictions, and went into effect in August 2008. As part of the Joint Powers Agreement that established the program and state law, the Agency is required to conduct a major update the fee program once every five years.
Consultant expertise is needed to conduct technical work to update the regional fees to reflect any changes that may have occurred in the past five years, such as: updates to population, employment and housing projections utilized in the regional travel forecast model, the expected pace of development, changes in land use plans including general plan updates, project need and cost, and population growth projections.
This process will also include an evaluation of incorporating the Fort Ord Reuse Authority zone into the regional fee program. Currently, development projects located within the FORA boundary only pay the FORA Community Facilities District fee and are exempt from payment of the Regional Fee. With the planned sunset of FORA in 2020, the Transportation Agency has been coordinating with FORA staff and the FORA Transition Task Force on the potential transfer of impact fee responsibilities to the regional fee program.
To complete the five-year update to the regional fee program, staff conducted a competitive bidding process and received bids from five firms. The firms were Kimley-Horn, Wood Rodgers, Mott MacDonald, Willdan, and TJKM. A review committee of Agency staff reviewed the proposals and ranked them based on the following criteria:
- Qualifications of the consultant team members
- Ability of the firm to provide the specified services
- Evaluation of references
- Understanding of the project and proposed approach
- Firm price quote
- Committee degree of participation for key personnel
- Familiarity with the local conditions of Monterey County
After reviewing the proposals, based on these criteria, the review team recommends Wood Rodgers be selected to perform the work. The Agency has worked closely with Wood Rodgers on other important projects, including the 2013 Nexus Study Update, and cost estimates for Measure X, demonstrating their knowledge of the Agency and regional fee program and competency to complete the update. In addition, Wood Rodgers provided the most competitive cost proposal and proposed a project timeline that is within the schedule for the Transportation Agency to complete the regional fee update by next August. Finally, Agency staff received positive feedback regarding Wood Rodgers through reference checks.
The project is scheduled to kick-off with Board approval of the scope of work and consultant selection at the August 2017 Board meeting. The update is expected to be completed by the five-year deadline of August 2018. Agency staff will be providing presentations to each of the jurisdictions, as well as to other stakeholder groups, throughout the update process.