Board adopts corrected LTMF/RTMF fee schedule after Nexus miscalculation; refunds issued to four permits

Nevada County supervisors on April 23 adopted corrected local and regional traffic mitigation fees after staff identified and fixed a miscalculation in the 2023 Nexus study that unfairly shifted more impact fees onto single‑family permits.

Tricia Tillotson, Community Development Agency director, told the board that an error in the residential trip generation calculations discovered after the November fee adoption resulted in four single‑family building permit applicants being overcharged; staff have refunded two applicants $624 and two applicants $688. The board conducted a noticed public hearing as required under California Government Code.

Aaron Hoyt of the Nevada County Transportation Commission reviewed the history and geography of the Local Traffic Mitigation Fee (LTMF) and Regional Transportation Mitigation Fee (RTMF) programs, noting the LTMF funds local road improvements in the unincorporated county while RTMF supports state highway intersection improvements for western Nevada County jurisdictions. Todd Trigenza, principal with GHD, explained the technical error: when adding AB 602’s residential‑square‑footage adjustments to the prior dwelling‑type adjustments, the consultants "over adjusted the trip reduction" for multifamily units so multifamily bore too little of the impact and single‑family units carried extra burden.

"When we calculated the square footage, the long and short of it is we over adjusted the, the trip reduction that was associated with the residential units," Trigenza said, describing the rebalancing shown in the revised fee schedule (column C) and the recommendation to combine the correction with the routine annual inflation adjustment. The recommended annual increase was 3.59% based on construction cost indices for December 2022–2023.

Staff noted the RTMF corrections result in higher multifamily fees compared with the November adoption (but still lower than pre‑AB602 rates), and single‑family rates decrease in the corrected schedule; LTMF residential rates are similarly rebalanced. The Nevada County Transportation Commission previously reviewed and endorsed the RTMF corrections and recommended member agency adoption. Grass Valley and Nevada City are also expected to adopt RTMF revisions through their member agency processes.

After short board questions asking staff to confirm that the refunds were issued and that the annual adjustment is routine and ministerial, the board adopted the revised Nexus Study update and fee schedules by unanimous roll call.