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next review to used in the planning process in similar to use In plans to use a new project based model to evaluate future thresholds, It is also envisioned that this new model win be used to evaluate of incentive packages proposed as part of the County's industrial recruitment effort. Howard County is continuing to integrate fiscal impact analysis into the planning process innovative ways. B. Loudoun County, Virginia In 1 during the mitial stages preparation of the Loudoun County retained the Govemment Finance Research Center (GFRC) to develop a comprehensive fiscal impact analysis model for use in determining the costs of growth. The model was to have twin functions, being applicable to both countywide and project analyses, Fiscal impact analysis was used to evaluate altemative countywide development scenarios related to the pattern and pace of development in the preparation of the new comprehensive plan. It was also fundamental to the development of proffer guidelines to be applied during rezonings. Model outputs of various alternatives were discussed during plan adoption, but fiscal analysis was only one of many policy considerations and did not drive the debate. The adopted plan required an annual review and update of the fiscal impact model, indicating that it was seen as integral to the continuing planning process. Dimensions of the Model - The Loudoun County Fiscal Impact Model (FIM) was specifically designed for application in Loudoun County, The FIM featured inter-dependent modules which incorporated demographic, revenue, capital, and service level assumptions, County staff were directly involved in developing or verifying the assumptions associated with each of these modules, Loudoun's model was significantly more complex than most other fiscal impact models in use at that time, The demographic module contained approximately 125 growth-related variables. The assumptions associated with each variable were explicit and included such factors as pupil generation rates by housing unit type, employment per square foot by type of commerciallindustrial use, real income growth, etc. The flexibility of the model enabled analysts to vary many assumptions, including unit mix, absorption rates, and prices/values of new construction, The Loudoun County FIM provided both substantial detail and flexibility, It also incorporated local economic and market factors as they related to projected development. The tax rate was modeled as a dependent variable, with capital and services expenditures based on projected development as the independent variables, The revenue module also permitted analysis of the fiscal impacts of constant tax rates on the capital and services budgets. The FIM could be used as a budget analysis as well as development analysis tool. Service expenditures were calculated using a method similar to that used in Howard County - average per capita costs for most factors, with school costs based on the marginal costs for students generated by the new units to be built each year. The Loudoun FIM additionally incorporated a number of embedded algorithms that accounted for economies of scale in service costs as the County urbanized, even when the growth assumptions held service levels constant (Johnson 1988). These "invisible" factors, associated with the comparable community modeling approach as described in the Fiscal Impact file://\\metro-inet.us\Roseville\CommDev\PLANNING AND ZONING\PLANNING Fl." 02/17/2005 - -