Franklin, Tennessee

Road Impact Fee and Facility Tax Studies 
   

Duncan Associates drafted the City of Franklin’s first innovative infrastructure financing tools. In 1987, the City of Franklin obtained authority from the Tennessee legislature to prepare and enact development impact fee and facility tax studies. That same year, the City commissioned Duncan Associates to calculate the maximum impact fees and facility taxes that the City could charge. Ordinance 1037 enacting road impact fees was adopted by the City in June 1988. Fees were adopted at 60 percent of the maximum fees calculated in the original study. In 1999, the City

rehired Duncan Associates to update the original fee and tax studies. The update of the road impact fees was especially timely, since the City had just completed an update of its Major Thoroughfare Plan. The road impact fee update indicated that revised fees could be increased significantly for most land use categories. The study update indicated that developers should be given offsets against the fees for the value of all contributions toward the major thoroughfare system, up to the full amount of the impact fees. Duncan Associates was retained to update the road fees for the second time in 2007.