I represent a township that is in the process of adopting a traffic impact fee ordinance.  I was asked whether the ordinance can contain language (similar to the bidding thresholds in the municipal codes) that the fees in the ordinance shall be increased annually tied to one or another cost index.  Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.

Joe Bresnan

[Dischell, Bartle & Dooley]http://dischellbartle.com/
Joseph E. Bresnan | Partner
Dischell, Bartle & Dooley, P.C.
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Joe,

Please allow me to weigh in belatedly.  I could only find one other response. Les Mlakr mentions the need for input from an advisory committee under the MPC.

As a general proposition, fees like the one you’re describing have to have a reasonable relationship to the municipality’s costs.  This would be the issue for the advisory committee.  Otherwise, the courts may treat the fee as a tax, and probably an impermissible one at that.  This comes up in the context of building permit fees on occasion.  So you first want to look at the current amount of the fee.  Subsequently, and once a fee that’s reasonably related to costs, as those costs rise, so should the fee.  An index, while convenient, would not necessarily reflect the municipality’s costs, and that’s the critical issue.  I agree with Les on this point.

You might find some kind of generally accepted guideline for traffic impact that you could rely upon.  Perhaps PennDOT could steer you there or one of the various transportation associations.  There is such a guideline for building permits found in the International Code Council’s Building Valuation Data, published twice annually.

William W. Warren, Jr.
Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr LLP
2 North Second Street, Suite 700
Harrisburg, PA 17101
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From: Pmlsolicitors [mailto:pmlsolicitors-bounces@lists.imla.org] On Behalf Of Joseph E. Bresnan
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Subject: [Pmlsolicitors] Built-in escalators in ordinances

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I represent a township that is in the process of adopting a traffic impact fee ordinance.  I was asked whether the ordinance can contain language (similar to the bidding thresholds in the municipal codes) that the fees in the ordinance shall be increased annually tied to one or another cost index.  Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated.

Joe Bresnan

[Dischell, Bartle & Dooley]http://dischellbartle.com/
Joseph E. Bresnan | Partner
Dischell, Bartle & Dooley, P.C.
P: 215.362.2474 | F: 215.362.6722
224 King Street | Pottstown, PA  19464
jbresnan@dischellbartle.commailto:jbresnan@dischellbartle.com
www.dischellbartle.comhttp://www.dischellbartle.com
This email may contain confidential or privileged information.  If you have received it in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message without copying or disclosing it.

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