New fee to pay for roads being studied

The fastest growing community in Johnson County has hired a firm to study one way to fund road improvements due to increased traffic.

Road impact fees, which are paid by developers or home builders when they get a building permit to construct a new home, are being considered in Bargersville, said Julie Young, director of development for Bargersville.

The town is the fastest growing part of the county, according to United States Census Bureau estimates. Community and county leaders are expecting more traffic to go through the town as Interstate 69 is built.

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The town has to find a way to pay for some of the road improvements population growth and increased traffic will bring. The town council has hired a consulting firm to study the possibility of road impact fees and an advisory group is forming to study the issue, Young said.

“We are looking at future improvements that are needed in the community and looking at potential funding sources and this is one of the types that are available,” she said.

The town has signed a contract with A&F Engineering for no more than $176,580 to study road impact fees in Bargersville. The firm will study the fees, including the process for adoption, how the money can be used and other options for the town to consider. The firm is studying traffic patterns in the area as part of its work, Young said.

The study is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The town would then consider their findings and make a decision, Young said. No range for the fee amounts has been determined.

“As additional developments occurs, the roads will need to be improved to handle that additional traffic,” Young said.

If enacted, Bargersville would be the first community in Johnson County to have the fees. Franklin is considering an impact fee study for next year’s budget, city engineer Mark Richards said.

Other communities have used grants from the Indiana Department of Transportation and their own road funds to pay for road improvements, although the county council is considering income taxes to pay for millions of dollars worth of road improvements the county needs.

Bargersville, Greenwood and Franklin have all established impact fees to help fund improvements to their park systems.

In 2017, the Bargersville Town Council approved charging a recreation impact fee, and developers or builders pay $748 for every home they build in the town. The fees are expected to bring in $1.3 million in 10 years, and will be used to improve and expand the town’s parks and trails. Franklin and Greenwood also collect recreation impact fees. Greenwood charges developers $1,206 per home, and Franklin charges $376.

Multiple subdivisions are currently under construction in the Bargersville area. Bargersville has grown by more than 29 percent since the last census in 2010. The current estimated population is more than 7,500. Two dozen building permits for single-family homes were issued in July in Bargersville, according to numbers from the town.

County officials are working with Bargersville to help town leaders grapple with the growth, including suggesting they study road impact fees, Johnson County Commissioner Kevin Walls said.

“It is just a growing community, it is one of the hottest spots in Johnson County,” Walls said.

With the construction of Interstate 69 expected to begin in Johnson County next year, rural roadways that are already crowded in the Bargersville area and White River Township are expected to become congested further, according to the Johnson County Interstate 69 Corridor Plan.

One of the three Interstate 69 interchanges in Johnson County is at County Road 144 near the Bargersville town limits. Studies have shown that the busiest roads in Bargersville are State Road 144, State Road 135 and Morgantown Road, Young said.

As Bargersville has grown, town officials have looked for ways to pay for road improvements, including applying for grants from the Indiana Department of Transportation and using the town’s street and road funds, Young said.

The other funding options are also a way to help spread the costs around, but the town has to find a way to pay for the improvements, Bargersville Town Council Member Kenneth Zumstein said.

“We are trying to figure out how to get road improvements accomplished and what is fair for everybody,” Zumstein said.