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JDEDZ PROJECT REVIEW <br /> SEPTEMBER 2017 <br /> throughout the city if the Costco siting didn't require that expenditure to make the JDEDZ site <br /> feasible. <br /> Costco THF Charges: $3.7 million <br /> The second pool of TIF related funds dedicated to the Costco project comes from TIF fees <br /> levied on the Costco project itself. Fees on specific projects are governed by legislation and <br /> extensive case law; in the present case, Civic Economics accepts the city's assertion that $3.7 <br /> million is an appropriate TIF for the Costco project. <br /> According to the city's original technical report on the fee, the purpose of local TIF funds in <br /> California is "to assure that all future development contributes its fair share towards the cost of <br /> traffic improvements necessary for build-out of the General Plan ... [T]he proposed traffic fee <br /> will require that each new development pay its fair share through fees needed for City-wide <br /> traffic improvements will still requiring that individual development projects construct those <br /> improvements which are directly related to their project." <br /> In the present case, Costco will be assessed a TIF in the amount of$3.7 million, but instead of <br /> going into the TIF fund to mitigate Costco's share of traffic growth off-site, that money will be <br /> spent closer to the site, arguably including improvements that are directly related to the project. <br /> Civic Economics is in no position to opine on the legality of this proposed expenditure and <br /> recommends that interested citizens review the matter with local counsel. However, legality <br /> aside, this $3.7 million might well be available for other needed transportation projects <br /> throughout the city if project-related costs were identified more conservatively or if the Costco <br /> were constructed at a site with fewer infrastructure needs. <br /> Combined THF Diversion: $10.1 million <br /> Combined, these two expenditures of TIF funds, $6.4 million from the existing fund paid into by <br /> all the other developments that preceded the Costco and $3.7 million from the Costco project <br /> itself, combine to divert millions of dollars from previously transportation improvement projects <br /> throughout the City of Pleasanton. Instead, this $10.1 million will be expended in making the <br /> JDEDZ site a viable one for the Costco. <br /> Civic Economics 12 <br />