TIF rates vary throughout area
Published 10:21 pm Monday, March 9, 2009
The wide range in the area’s traffic impact fees may discourage fast-food eateries from locating in different cities throughtout the area.
A comparsion of Piece County and six area cities – Auburn, Bonney Lake, Buckley, Enumclaw, Puyallup and Sumner – shows how one city may discourage fast-food restaurants such as McDonald’s and Burger King from building in their city.
The data was compiled by Bonney Lake and presented during a March 3 City Council workshop.
Buckley’s fees total more than $210,000 for a 1,000-square foot fast-food restaurant, while Auburn’s are $3,827 for a similar business.
Bonney Lake’s fees for the same project are $30,275 and $7,391 for Sumner. The county fees are $11,660.
A high-quality restaurant, based on an hour and more for dining, could most likely locate to Sumner with the city’s traffic impact fees of $4,829. Fees for the other five cities range from $20,180 (Enumclaw) to $39,038 (Buckley). Bonney Lake’s fees are $20,401 and the county has the lowest at $4,890.
Fees for high-turnover restaurants (1,000 square feet) such as Applebee’s or Mazatlan show a high of $56,568 for Buckley and a low of $7,391 for Sumner.
Fees for single-family residences range from $4,913 in Bonney Lake to $1,177 a few miles away in Sumner. Most other cities are comparable to Bonney Lake. There is a fee of $1,602 in the county.
Sumner’s $15,612 traffic impact fee for fast-food restaurants without drive-through service is the lowest among the cities with Auburn and Buckley data was not available.
