St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana

Feasibility Study and Multi-Facility Impact Fee Study
   

St. Tammany Parish, located across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans, was one of the most rapidly-growing areas of the country in the 1990s. The Parish retained Duncan Associates in 2003 to conduct a feasibility study to determine if impact fees were a legal and practical option. The study concluded that the Parish had the authority under its home rule charter to impose impact fees, and that road and drainage impact fees would be the place to start, because of the magnitude of the needs and revenue potential. Public safety fees were also recommended as worth consideration.

The study did not recommend development of fees for open space and trails, schools, fire protection or water and wastewater facilities, due to the multi-jurisdictional nature of open space and schools, the complications posed by 14 separate fire districts and the lack of sufficient data for utility fees. The Parish decided to have the firm develop impact fee studies for roads, drainage and public safety facilities. Three separate studies and ordinances were prepared, and all three ordinances were adopted by the Parish.