This section contains policy reports and public programs that explore the use of value capture as a revenue source for transportation. Additional information, including project examples, can be found on the Center for Innovative Finance Support website.
The Case of TH-610 in Maple Grove, Minnesota
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This report demonstrates the application of value-capture strategies to supplement transportation funding for the completion of TH-610 in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Using spatial and regression analysis, we estimate that the completion of TH-610, with two additional exits, would lead to a significant growth in assessed property value, including about $12 million in land value and $5 million in buildings. The growth would result in about $4.3 million in property tax capacity, and about $1 million in annual property tax revenue. With multiple scenarios of hypothetical value-capture designs, we estimate the revenue potential of value capture would range from about $12 million to about $37 million, which could be used to supplement project finance to expedite the completion of TH-610.
Access for Value: Financing Transportation Through Land Value Capture
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The worsening financial straits of governments at all levels pose a significant challenge to discretionary programs, such as transportation. The United States transportation system must become more efficient if it is to provide the same level of services with less money at all levels of government. At the same time, the competitive forces in the global economy require an increasingly effective U.S. transportation network, able to support a changing American economy. This study examines accessibility and its importance in assessing transportation performance and in creating a sustainable transportation funding source. It first delineates the concept of accessibility through a comparison with the common transportation performance metric of mobility. The paper then explains how accessibility can help fund transportation through a virtuous circle of access, land value, and transportation infrastructure. Local, state, and federal governments must better understand the structure and characteristics of value-capture policies if they are to develop their full potential as a sustainable funding source.
Financing Transit Systems Through Value Capture: An Annotated Bibliography
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This 2009 paper by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute summarizes the findings of nearly 100 studies concerning the impacts of transit service on nearby property values, and the feasibility of capturing this additional value to finance transit improvements. The results indicate that proximity to transit often increases property values enough to offset some or all of transit system capital costs.
Capturing the Value of Transit
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This 2009 paper was written by Reconnecting America's Center for Transit-Oriented Development. The paper summarizes the findings of previous studies that measure the impact of transit on nearby property values; provides a detailed discussion of the role of property owners and developers in value capture strategies; offers examples of tools currently used by transit agencies to capture the value of transit to help defray capital costs; and provides a framework for thinking about what kinds of value capture strategies are possible in a given situation.
Unlocking Land Values to Finance Urban Infrastructure
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This 2009 World Bank publication examines the various ways in which land values can be used to help pay for investment in urban infrastructure, in addition to their role as part of the property tax base. It focuses on the principles that underlie different land-based financing techniques, their efficiency in theory, and, above all, what we can learn from practical attempts to convert principles about land-based financing into practice in developing countries. Much of this practical application involves innovative use of public-private partnerships.
Value Capture for Finance
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This 2009 report conducted by the University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies identifies eight policies involving value capture. These policies include land value taxes, tax increment financing, special assessments, transportation utility fees, development impact fees, negotiated exactions, joint development and air rights. Each policy is evaluated according to the following four criteria: efficiency, equity, sustainability, and feasibility. Legal and administration issues as they relate to implementation in the state of Minnesota are also examined.
Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington: Impact Fees
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The Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington is a private, non-profit organization based in Seattle, Washington. Under planning resources, impact fees are defined and related resources for ordinances, articles, statutes, studies and surveys are made available.
The 2009 National Impact Fee Survey
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This paper summarizes the results of a detailed survey of impact fees that individual jurisdictions across the country are charging. The results of the survey reveal where impact fees are most common, how much jurisdictions in various states are charging, and the types of facilities (single-family detached, multi-family, retail, office and industrial) for which fees are being charged. Comparisons with surveys from previous years also show how fees have changed over time.
FTA Policy on Transit Joint Development
Appendix B of the Federal Transit Administration's joint development policy contains guidelines for undertaking joint development projects as part of the policy announced in the Federal Register on March 14, 1997. Frequently asked questions and responses to those questions can also be found in this document.
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Public-Private Joint Development Program
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The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority has a very active public-private joint development program that promotes transit-oriented development, attracts new riders to the transit system, creates new sources of revenue for the Authority to maintain the transit system and assists metro local area jurisdictions in recapturing a portion of their past financial contributions. This website provides links to local TOD project examples as well as joint development policies and guidelines which were approved in 2008.
City of Bozeman Transportation Impact Fee Study Final Report
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This 2008 report was prepared for the City of Bozeman, Montana as part of the Street Impact Fee Ordinance adopted in 1996. The Ordinance was imposed to assist the City in providing adequate transportation facilities needed to accommodate roadway capacity used by new development, particularly for emergency-response vehicles. The report provides details of the transportation impact fee calculation and a proposed transportation fee schedule.
Value Capture and TIF Options for Streetcar Construction
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This 2009 report, commissioned by DC Surface Transit, Inc. analyzes the options for using value capture as a source of revenue for the build out of the H Street Streetcar Corridor. The report found that it is possible to use three forms of value capture, including TIF, special assessment district, or sharing of private property value increases, to pay for 100 percent of construction costs without federal funding. The paper was written by a consortium of policy and transportation engineering experts from HDR, Reconnecting America, and The Brookings Institution.
Transportation Value Capture Analysis for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning Region
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Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) commissioned this study to analyze the potential for using value capture techniques for roadway and transit projects in the region. The study analyzes value capture mechanisms and their feasibility in the Chicago area, evaluates economic and development impacts to determine the value of the mechanism, and provides recommendations on the success of value capture across multiple types of transportation projects and development scenarios.
