Seeking money for street projects, Tacoma to hit developers with new impact fee
Certain new developments will soon be more expensive to build in Tacoma after the City Council voted to implement new fees to account for the impact those projects will have on the city’s transportation system.
Called “transportation impact fees,” the fees are a way for cities and localities to require that developers help shoulder the burden on local infrastructure that results from new developments like housing or businesses – having “growth pay for growth,” as city leaders often say. The city of Tacoma has not imposed such one-time fees, but the Tacoma City Council voted 6-3 at its Dec. 9 meeting to implement them effective June 1, 2026.
City officials have estimated the fees will raise about $16 million annually, or about $164 million in 10 years. Per state law, the city can only use the money for “capacity building projects,” city staff said earlier this month. That includes projects like pedestrian crossing safety improvements on Sixth avenue, according to the city. The move comes after voters in Tacoma rejected a tax hike in April that sought to renew and make permanent the city’s existing streets levy.
The fees come with certain exemptions. The demolition or relocation of structures or alterations of structures that don’t add more housing units would be exempt from the transportation impact fees. Developments for certain types of low-income housing and early-learning facilities would be eligible for a partial exemption from 80% the fees, according to the city. The exact dollar amount that developers would be charged for depends on the number of new trips a development would create.
“For example, a single-family home would have much less impact than a large grocery store, so the fee would be substantially less for a home,” the city’s website on transportation impact fees states. “The greater the impact a new development would have on our transportation system, the higher its rate would be.”
The exact fee rate depends on the part of Tacoma, but the citywide average is $4,885 per trip, according to the city.
Council member Kristina Walker said at the Dec. 9 meeting that Tacoma’s transportation impact fees will be among the lowest of its kind in the region. Several jurisdictions like University Place and Pierce County have already implemented impact fees, she said.
“I really think we’ve found a proposal that is a good fit for our community and our goals,” Walker said.
Some on the City Council disagreed about whether the fees would have a positive impact, making the case that they might dissuade developers from building more housing in Tacoma. Deputy Mayor Kiara Daniels and council members Sandesh Sadalge and Jamika Scott voted against the proposal.
“I will be voting nay tonight simply because we have not talked about the cost,” Daniels said at the meeting. “I don’t know that any council member here or the community is aware of how much it actually costs to build housing or to support infrastructure in our community.”
The Master Builders Association of Pierce County wrote to the council on Dec. 2, warning that the implementation of transportation impact fees would get in the way of the city’s efforts to make housing more affordable.
“Unfortunately, each additional fee increase, while leveraged on construction, eventually becomes a fee paid directly by residents seeking stable and attainable housing,” the organization wrote to the council.
