IPFNA_Growth Analysis Memo_Jan_06

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Introduction Hawai i County is currently undertaking an impact fee st udy to determine the fe asibility of implementing an impact fee program. An impact fee is a one-time charge on development, designed to cover the cost of growthÔs impact on infrastructure. Impact fees are designed to ensure that new development contributes a fair share of the cost of the capital improvements needed to serve growth. The purpose of this memorandum is to provide land use and demogr CountyÔs impact fee study. This memorandum consis ts of a comprehensive analysis of the CountyÔs growth patterns and trends. Existing land use data is a key building block for im pact fee analysis, since it is necessary for determining current levels of service. For most types of facilities, the existing level of service is, in some form, a ratio of existing capital facilities to ex isting development being served by those facilities. Most communities have reasonably accurate estimates of existing housi ng units, but many lack reliable data on existing nonresidential development. One of the best sources of such data is the local property tax assessor's office. Significant useful information on residential development is available from the US census. In particular, these data sources provide valuable in formation on average household size by housing type, number of bedrooms, and other characteristics that can be used i This memorandum describes existing residential and nonresidential development from the local tax assessor's database, summarizes available census in formation on dwelling units and average household size by housing type and number of bedrooms, es timates existing residential development based on census data, building permits and other local data , summarizes local population estimates and growth projections, and estimates existing nonresidential development. H C \I N A ÐG A M January 5, 2006, Page 1 AWAI I OUNTY NFRASTRUCTURE EEDS SSESSMENT ROWTH NALYSIS EMORANDUM