Planning For Growth In Cities And Metropolitan Regions: An Empirical Study Of Impact Fees And Choice

This research examines what city factors relate to the likelihood of adopting impact fees by local governments within metropolitan regions using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. More and more cities are adopting different types of impact fees for financing public facilities and infrastructure to accommodate their cities' growth without full understanding of issues, public and private criticisms of impact fees, and the empirical information needed. This dissertation investigates a random sample of 278 cities out of 827 cities populations over 25,000 located within 97 MSAs to understand what variables within their settings relate to impact fee adoptions using five categories such as forms of local government, geo-demography of city, housing, local financial conditions, and local economic conditions. Statistical associations indicate that: impact fee adoption relates to 1) forms of local government, 2) geo-demographic characteristics of cities; 3) housing policies; 4) local financial conditions; and, 5) characteristics of local economic conditions. Each statistical result supports the overall characteristics of cities that adopt impact fees. Conclusions add to the debate and help clarify the importance of different city characteristics tending toward adoption of impact fees.