Q: What are road impact fees?
A: They are fees paid to help defray the costs of increasing roadway capacity to meet the demands presented by new development. Road impact fees must be spent for capital improvements that provide benefit to those who pay the fees.

Q: How were Fayetteville's proposed road impact fees determined?
A: Duncan Associates was hired by the City of Fayetteville to calculate the road impact fees. The fees were determined using generally accepted and legally defensible methods. See the May 2006 Impact Fee Study for the exact methodology.

Q: If voters approve road impact fees, how much additional annual revenue is expected to be generated for transportation improvements in Fayetteville?
A: $3.4 million

Q: What type of capital improvements can be funded with road impact fee revenues?
A: The ballot states that revenue from road impact fees shall be used for the planning, design or construction of new collector or arterial streets or for improvements made to existing collector or arterial streets. Some specific examples can be found here (unfunded projects only).

Q: Why are the fees listed on the ballot lower than the calculated maximum fees presented in the May 2006 Impact Fee Study?
A: The maximum fees calculated by Duncan Associates were not adopted. The Fayetteville City Council Street Committee reduced the fees before presenting the ordinance to city council.

Q: What influence will road impact fees have on the price of property?
A: "It's something people have spent a lot of time trying to look at," [Kathy Deck, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research with the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas] said. "Among economists there is no consensus." Deck said there is definitely a relationship, but some argue that the fees or taxes cause the final price to go up for the consumer, while others say it shows up as decreased profits for the developer or original land owner. […] "Everyone should be very skeptical of someone who says, 'This is how the impact is going to be,'" Deck said. "It is truly complex." Northwest Arkansas Times, 1/15/07