Conway, Arkansas

Road and Park Impact Fee Study
   

Duncan Associates developed road and park impact fees for Conway to ensure that future development pays a fair share of the cost of infrastructure needed to serve it. The study was prompted by the need to find alternative sources of revenue to fund capital improvements necessitated by the community's rapid growth. The city traditionally funded major roadway and park capital improvements primarily on a pay-as-you-go basis, largely with Sales and Use Tax Capital Improvements Bonds, but due to the City's rapid growth this primary source of funding had

become inadequate. The calculated road and park impact fees could generate about $1.5 million annually. An alternative calculated in this report was to charge single-family units based on a cost per square foot. Under this approach, a 3,500-square-foot single-family unit would be assessed $1,700, whereas a 1,500-square-foot single-family unit would pay a lower fee of only $1,244. While fees increase with unit size, they do not increase proportionately to size. The City Council adopted the fees as calculated in the study, including the variable single-family fees.