Leveraging Land Development Returns to Finance Transportation Infrastructure Improvements
Record Type: UTC

The United States faces a crisis in transportation finance with a majority of state and federal investment in transportation infrastructure financed via the gas tax. With an increase in the price of fuel driving decreasing consumer demand, in addition to consumer demand for fuel-efficient cars, the reliance on the gas tax to finance a majority of future transportation infrastructure is expected to decrease as transportation demand outpaces construction. At the same time, greater worldwide demand for transportation infrastructure is resulting in higher prices for asphalt, concrete and steel. Declining tax revenues coupled with higher construction costs lead to financing shortfalls for new transportation infrastructure and the maintenance of existing infrastructure. Texas House Bill 3588 authorizes the creation of Regional Mobility Authorities (RMAs), which have the ability to apply tax increment finance to capture land development returns associated with land development improvements. This research is working to identify the magnitude of property value increases associated with transportation infrastructure improvements, the assessment levels and investment horizon needed to recapture the costs of transportation infrastructure improvements, and how these revenue streams may be further leveraged to support local and regional investments in transportation infrastructure. Using a quasi-experimental design, property values in areas that recently underwent significant transportation infrastructure improvements are being compared against nearby control groups. The relative property value increases will determine the relative margin of benefit against which TIF revenues may be drawn against the transportation infrastructure capital costs. The outcomes of this study will be used to enhance ongoing efforts at the state level, including a forthcoming professional training course as well as an academic course on public-private partnerships and funding. The course will be offered within Texas A&M University’s Master of Science in Land Development Program and will be offered as a course in Texas A&M’s interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Transportation Planning, developed with UTCM funding (see TRB Rip Accession #14399 and #15568 and http://archone.tamu.edu/laup/Programs/Certificates.html).
Start date: 2009/6/1
End date: 2011/1/31
Status: Active
Contract/Grant Number: DTRT06-G-0044
Secondary Number: 00041
Total Dollars: 0
Source Organization: University Transportation Center for Mobility
Date Added: 01/21/2009
Index Terms: Sustainable development, Mobility, Infrastructure, Finance, Planning by facility or land use, Public private partnerships, Fuel taxes, Texas, Research projects,

University Transportation Center for Mobility
http://utcm.tamu.edu
Texas Transportation Institute
Texas A&M University System
3135 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3135
USA
Phone: (979) 845-2538
Fax: (979) 845-9761

Tooley, Melissa S
Phone: (979) 845-8545
Fax: (979) 845-9761
Email: m-tooley@tamu.edu

Texas A&M University, College Station
http://archone.tamu.edu/College/
College of Architecture
Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning
3137 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3137
USA
Phone: (979) 845-1046
Fax: (979) 862-1724

Saginor, Jesse
Phone: (979) 845-6372
Email: jsaginor@tamu.edu

Dumbaugh, Eric
Phone: (979) 862-4320

Ellis, David R
Phone: (979) 845-6165
Fax: (979) 845-6008
Email: d-ellis@ttimail.tamu.edu