Laramie County Transportation Impact Fee Study

Summary of Project

The Cheyenne MPO retained TischlerBise, Inc. to calculate the impact fees to be imposed on new development to meet the new demands generated for transportation infrastructure in Laramie County, WY. It is the intent of the Cheyenne MPO and Laramie County to evaluate and establish impact fees for roadway expansion. This report presents the methodologies and calculations used to generate current levels of service and maximum supportable impact fees. It is intended to serve as supporting documentation for the evaluation and establishment of impact fees in Laramie County.

Impact fees are one-time payments used to construct system improvements needed to accommodate new development. An impact fee represents new growth’s fair share of capital facility needs. By law, impact fees can only be used for capital improvements, not operating or maintenance costs. Impact fees are subject to legal standards, which require fulfillment of three key elements: need, benefit and proportionality.
• First, to justify a fee for public facilities, it must be demonstrated that new development will create a need for capital improvements.
• Second, new development must derive a benefit from the payment of the fees (i.e., in the form of public facilities constructed within a reasonable timeframe).
• Third, the fee paid by a particular type of development should not exceed its proportional share of the capital cost for system improvements.