School District of Palm Beach County Impact Fee Update Study

With a population of 1.3 million, Palm Beach County is the third largest county in Florida. The County implemented its roadway impact fee in 1979, which was followed by the adoption of impact fees for six additional program areas, including schools, libraries, fire/EMS, law enforcement, parks, and public buildings. To comply with the legal requirements and reflect the most recent data, the County retained Benesch to update these fees.
Palm Beach County has a large population within several cities. At the time of the study, the County was interested in new and innovative approaches that reflected the full cost of providing infrastructure. The County has been challenged by large fluctuations in infrastructure costs over the past several years, fluctuations in available funding and changes in demand and service areas.
Benesch provided an evaluation of long-term trends in all cost-demand components and a review of available historical and projected funding to determine available non-impact fee funding in the future. We developed multiple scenarios as needed to address changing demographics, development patterns and policies and calculated student generation rates by residential category and home size.
Benesch also worked closely with the Impact Fee Advisory Committee during both updates, presented study results and addressed comments and questions. All fees were adopted, including the school impact fees.