(a) Capital improvements. Except as set forth in subsection (g), all funds collected from development impact fees shall be used solely for capital improvements for expansion of the capacity of public schools, roads, and public safety facilities and not for replacement, maintenance, or operations. Expansion of the capacity of a road includes extensions, widening, intersection improvements, upgrading signalization, improving pavement conditions, and all other road and intersection capacity enhancement. Expansion of the capacity of a public school includes all construction and remodeling to the extent that the construction increases the capacity of the public schools. Expansion of the capacity of public safety facilities includes the construction of new or expanded police stations, fire stations, and headquarters buildings, expansion and upgrading of communications equipment, and new additions to the inventories of police patrol vehicles, fire fighting vehicles, and paramedic emergency vehicles.
(b) Use.
(1) In this section, "used for" means used for payment in any manner, including the repayment of:
(i) the principal on bonds sold to finance capital improvements;
(ii) the interest on bonds issued as part of a series of bonds secured by a pledge of impact fees pursuant to a bond authorization ordinance; and
(iii) the disbursal of impact fees collected after fiscal year 2002 from the Impact Fee Special Fund to the General Fund to compensate the General Fund for the repayment of principal on bond indebtedness to the extent that the proceeds of the bond indebtedness were used to finance an impact fee eligible capital improvement or improvements in the district from which the impact fees were collected, or another district pursuant to subsection (d), provided that:
1. for purposes of subparagraph(b)(1)(iii) of this subsection an "impact fee eligible capital improvement" shall mean a capital improvement to the extent that the Planning and Zoning Officer has determined that the capital improvement expanded the capacity of public schools, transportation, or public safety facilities to accommodate new development;
2. for purposes of subparagraph (b)(1)(iii) of this subsection, "bond indebtedness" shall mean the obligation to repay bond proceeds used to finance an impact fee eligible capital improvement; and
3. the useful life, as determined by the Office of Finance, of the capital improvement or capital improvements that were financed through the proceeds of bond indebtedness had not expired as of the time of payment of the impact fees.
(2) The funds collected from the transportation impact fee shall be used for the collector, arterial, principal arterial, and freeway road network under the jurisdiction of the State, the County, or any incorporated municipality within the County. The funds collected from the school impact fee shall be used for the County public school system. The funds collected from the public safety impact fee shall be used for capital improvements to the Anne Arundel County Police and Fire Departments.
(3) Priority consideration for the use of funds collected from development impact fees shall be given to the expansion of facilities in the Odenton Town Center, the Parole Town Center, and the Glen Burnie Town Center Enhancement Area designated by the Office.
(c) Districts. The school impact fee districts shall be as shown on the school impact fee districts map, and the transportation impact fee districts shall be as shown on the transportation impact fee districts maps as adopted by the County Council. The school impact fee district map prepared by the Office of Planning and Zoning and dated June 15, 1992, and the transportation impact fee district maps prepared by the Office of Planning and Zoning and dated July 20, 1987, and May 8, 2009, are adopted as the development impact fee district maps. The public safety impact fee district shall be the County as a whole.
(d) Use within district or outside district under certain circumstances. Funds collected from development impact fees shall be used for capital improvements within the development impact fee district from which they are collected, so as to reasonably benefit the property against which the fees were charged. Any road used as a boundary of a transportation impact fee district may be considered to be within any district it bounds for purposes of using transportation impact fees. Fees from one district may be used for capital improvements in another district on a written finding by the Planning and Zoning Officer that the capital improvements are a direct benefit to the district from which the fees were collected. Development impact fees shall be collected only within those districts as to which the fees are designated for collection on the impact fee district maps.
(e) Reimbursement for excess payments. By written agreement, the County and the feepayer may provide for reimbursement to the feepayer for any fees advanced by the feepayer and paid in excess of that required by this title. The County shall use the fees advanced to fund the costs of capital improvements for public schools, roads, or public safety needed by new development. Reimbursement of such fees may be made from development impact fees collected subsequent to the agreement and from development that will reasonably benefit from the capital improvements.
(f) Substitution for other funding source. The Budget Officer may substitute development impact fees for one or more of the projected sources of funding for a capital project that were identified for purposes of the capital budget in accordance with § 4-11-102(c)(12) of this Code, unless such substitution specifically was prohibited for the project by ordinance of the County Council. The Budge Officer shall report the substitution to the County Controller and County Auditor.
(g) Impact fee analysis. Funds collected from development impact fees and deposited into any of the special funds described in § 17-11-208 may be used to fund studies and analyses required to determine the appropriate amount of development impact fees.
(1985 Code, Art. 24, § 7-109) (Bill No. 50-87; Bill No. 58-92; Bill No. 96-01; Bill No. 4-05; Bill No. 27-07; Bill No. 85-09; Bill No. 9-12; Bill No. 45-12; Bill No. 87-18; Bill No. 2-19; Bill No. 78-20; Bill No. 11-21; Bill No. 64-23; Bill No. 84-23)