County Looks to Boost Road Work Funds

New home prices could rise by hundreds of dollars as Ventura County looks to raise development fees in its 10 cities to boost lagging road improvement funds.

Cities already impose fees for road maintenance and improvements--from $256 per new home in Simi Valley to $5,245 in Ventura. Such fees also are charged on new office and factory space, with developers passing on the costs to home buyers and business owners.

While the county imposes similar traffic fees on construction outside city limits, anti-sprawl policies have funneled development into cities. As a result, the county says it is falling short of money to maintain connector roads such as Harbor Boulevard between Oxnard and Ventura.

At about $11 million a year, the county’s share of state gasoline taxes covers maintenance and operation of local roads but doesn’t leave enough for needed improvements, said Butch Britt, deputy public works director. Meanwhile, the county is facing a budget shortfall of at least $17.6 million this year.

So the county has turned to cities with a proposition: It will charge more for any construction in unincorporated areas at the edge of cities and hand the extra fees--the amount over what is now charged--to those cities. In turn, the cities are being asked to levy a higher fee on development in city limits and forward the extra money--an estimated $45 million through 2020--to the county.

Thousand Oaks signed off on such a plan this week, adding a $55 county traffic mitigation fee to the $2,620 the city now charges developers for each new home built in the city. Simi Valley approved a plan last week, adding $33 to the city’s $256 traffic fee per new home. In Moorpark, the city manager was preparing to authorize an additional $156 above the $3,000 the city now collects per new home.

Fillmore’s agreement, approved in February, adds $101 for the county to the $766 the city now collects from developers for traffic.

Council members in Santa Paula and Ventura were considering similar plans. The fee formulas are based on county traffic engineering studies.

In Camarillo and Oxnard, officials have shared traffic fees with the county since the early 1990s, but both cities are considering adjustments to their formulas at the county’s request. Camarillo’s fees would change little, but Oxnard’s fees could increase by $200. Ojai and Port Hueneme, small cities where little construction occurs, have proposals under review. Port Hueneme could face the highest increase per home, at $584.

Although Fillmore moved quickly to approve its increase, city engineer Bert Rapp wasn’t happy about it. “The best way to pass on the true cost of anything in society is to let it be in the purchase price, not hidden somewhere,” Rapp said. “[Traffic fees] ought to be in the gas tax, not hidden in the price of a home, so that people have a real decision to make: ‘Should I ride my bike to work instead of buying gas?’

“The no-growth community sees anything they can tack onto the cost of development as a way to slow down development,” Rapp said. “But it just seems illogical to me that we’re going through this process, when the cost should be in the gas tax at the pump.”

Thousand Oaks Public Works Director Don Nelson sees it differently. “New development should pay for the impacts created by it, and this is consistent with that philosophy,” he said. “No one wants to pay more taxes, but the value of a quality infrastructure system is important. If you have pothole-ridden streets, the value of homes is less.”

Thousand Oaks stands to gain more than many other city through a reciprocal traffic mitigation agreement with the county.

That is because much of the remaining development is at the city’s unincorporated edges. While the city will charge developers $55 extra to help the county, the county will charge developers an additional $2,620 for each home at the city’s edge and pass that money to the city for traffic improvements.

While the Building Industry Assn. of Southern California isn’t generally supportive of fee increases, spokeswoman Rondi Guthrie said the group decided not to oppose Ventura County’s plans. For one, Guthrie said, county roads need to be well maintained.