A. Based on the City of Bellevue comprehensive plan adopted by the City, pursuant to Idaho Code title 67, chapter 65 and based on the general governmental goal of protecting the health, safety and general welfare of the citizens of the City, it is necessary that the City's public facilities for: 1) parks and recreation; 2) transportation; 3) police; and 4) fire be expanded and improved to accommodate new development within the City. Throughout this chapter, the system improvements for these types of public facilities are sometimes collectively referred to as the "City capital facilities" and sometimes individually referred to as a "City capital improvements element".
B. The City will form a Development Impact Fee Advisory Committee as required by Idaho Code section 67-8205, and that committee will perform the duties required of it pursuant to Idaho Code sections 67-8205 and 67-8206(2). The City intends that the Committee continue to exist and to perform those duties identified in Idaho Code section 67-8205 that occur following the adoption of development impact fees.
C. New residential and nonresidential development imposes and will impose increasing and excessive demands upon City capital facilities.
D. The revenues generated from new residential and nonresidential development often do not generate sufficient funds to provide the necessary improvements of these City capital facilities to accommodate new development.
E. New development is expected to continue, and will place ever increasing demands on the City to provide and expand City capital facilities to serve new development.
F. The City has planned for the improvement of the City capital facilities in the City of Bellevue comprehensive plan.
G. Idaho Code title 67, chapter 82 (the Idaho development impact fee act) authorizes the City to adopt a development impact fee system to offset, recoup or reimburse the portion of the costs of needed improvements to the City capital facilities caused by new development in the City.
H. The creation of an equitable development impact fee system would promote the purposes set forth in the Idaho development impact fee act, in that it would: 1) ensure that adequate public facilities are available to serve new growth and development; 2) promote orderly growth and development by establishing uniform standards by which the City may require that those who benefit from new growth and development pay a proportionate share of the cost of new public facilities needed to serve new growth and development; 3) establish minimum standards for the adoption of development impact fees; 4) ensure that those who benefit from new growth and development are required to pay no more than their proportionate share of the cost of public facilities needed to serve new growth and development; and 5) prevent duplicate and ad hoc development requirements.
I. The creation of an equitable development impact fee system would enable the City to accommodate new development, and would assist the City to implement the capital improvements element of the comprehensive plan.
J. In order to implement an equitable development impact fee system for the City capital facilities, the City retained Richard Caplan and Associates to prepare an impact fee study for these types of facilities. The resulting document is titled "City of Bellevue, Idaho, Development Impact Fees Study" dated November 30, 2022 (the "development impact fee study"). The development impact fee study was prepared by qualified professionals in the fields relating to finance, engineering, planning and transportation. Richard Caplan and Associates has consulted with the Bellevue City Council and will be consulting with the Development Impact Fee Advisory Committee.
K. The methodology used in preparing the development impact fee study, when applied through this chapter, complies with all applicable provisions of Idaho law, including those set forth in Idaho Code sections 67-8204(1), (2), (16) and (23), 67-8207 and 67-8209. The incorporation of the development impact fee study by reference satisfies the requirement in Idaho Code section 67-8204(16) for a detailed description of the methodology by which the development impact fees were calculated, and the requirement in Idaho Code section 67- 8204(24) for a description of acceptable levels of service for system improvements.
L. In determining the proportionate share of the cost of system improvements, the City has considered: 1) the cost of the existing system improvements; 2) the means by which the existing system improvements have been financed; 3) the extent to which the new development will contribute to the cost of system improvements through taxation assessment or developer or landowner contributions, or has previously contributed to the cost of system improvements through developer or landowner contributions; 4) the extent to which the new development is required to contribute to the cost of existing system improvements in the future: 5) the extent to which the new development should be credited for providing system improvements, without charge to other properties within the service area or areas; 6) extraordinary costs, if any, incurred in serving the new development; 7) the time and price differential inherent in a fair comparison of fees paid at different times; and 8) the availability of other sources of funding system improvements, including, but not limited to, user charges, general tax levies, intergovernmental transfers, and special taxation. The governmental entity shall develop a plan for alternative sources of revenue.
M. The development impact fee study sets forth reasonable methodologies and analyses for determining the impacts of various types of new development on the City capital facilities, and determines the cost of acquiring or constructing the improvements necessary to meet the demands for such facilities created by new development.
N. In accordance with Idaho Code, the development impact fee study was based on actual system improvement costs or reasonable estimates of such costs. In addition, the development impact fee study uses a fee calculation methodology that is net of credits for the present value of revenues that will be generated by new growth and development based on historical funding patterns and that are anticipated to be available to pay for system improvements, including taxes, assessments, user fees and intergovernmental transfers.
O. The development impact fees described in this chapter are based on the development impact fee study, and do not exceed the costs of system improvements for City capital facilities to serve new development that will pay the development impact fees.
P. The facilities for parks and recreation, and fire included in the calculation of fees in the development impact fee study will benefit all new residential and nonresidential development throughout the City, and it is therefore appropriate to treat all areas of the City as a single service area for purposes of calculating, collecting, and spending the development impact fees collected from residential and nonresidential development.
Q. In accordance with Idaho Code section 67-8208, the City of Bellevue has adopted a development impact fee for the cost of preparing the capital improvements element of the City of Bellevue comprehensive plan.
R. There is both a rational nexus and a rough proportionality between development impacts created by each type of development covered by this chapter and the development impact fees that such development covered by this chapter and the development impact fees that such development will be required to pay.
S. This chapter creates a system by which development impact fees paid by new development will be used to finance, defray or reimburse a portion of the costs incurred by the City to construct improvements for City capital facilities in ways that benefit the development for which each development impact fee was paid within a reasonable period of time after the development impact fee is paid, and in conformance with Idaho Code section 67-8210.
T. This chapter creates a system under which development impact fees shall not be used to correct existing deficiencies for any capital facilities, or to replace or rehabilitate existing improvements, or to pay for routine operation or maintenance of those facilities.
U. This chapter creates a system under which there shall be no double payment of impact fees, in accordance with Idaho Code section 67-8204(19).
V. This chapter is consistent with all applicable provisions of Idaho Code title 67, chapter 82, concerning development impact fee ordinances. (Ord. 2021-03, 3-22-2021; amd. Ord. 2023-02, 5-8-2023)