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(A) A developer or person may choose to use an independent impact analysis to compute the development impact fee due.
(B) The developer or person shall be responsible for the preparation of the draft independent impact analysis and the Budget Officer shall accept, reject, or modify the draft analysis.
(C) The Budget Officer shall approve the person who prepares the draft independent impact analysis on the basis of professional training and experience in preparation of development impact analysis. The independent impact analysis shall conform to standard methodologies and format and be approved by the Budget Officer. The Budget Officer may publish acceptable methodologies and formats for the preparation of impact analysis. Prior to submission of the draft independent impact analysis, the developer or person shall meet with the Budget Officer to review the requirements for the preparation of a draft independent impact analysis.
(D) In addition to any other methodologies approved by the Budget Officer, the following formulas shall be used to determine the development impact fee for schools, unless the developer or person provides substantial competent evidence that an alternative formula or methodology should be used:
School fee = (SCPU x CPS) - (SCPU x CPS x .25) +
(SCPU x CPS2) - (SCPU x CPS2 x .25) +
(SCPU x CPS3) - (SCPU x CPS3 x .25)
Where
SCPU = School children per unit
CPS = Cost per student for Grades K-5
CPS2 = Cost per student for Grades 6-8
CPS3 = Cost per student for Grades 9-12
(2004 Code, § 102-5) (Ord. 165, passed 11-18-1998; Ord. 02-20, passed 11-21-2002)
(A) Except as provided in § 33.61, the entire impact fee shall be paid to the county before a building permit may be issued. A building permit may not be issued until any applicable development impact fee has been paid. Any jurisdiction in the county which issued a building permit without collecting the correct impact fee shall be liable for any deficiency.
(B) If a building permit expires, any impact fee paid for the issuance of the permit shall be credited to the impact fee due for any subsequent building permit issued for the same property. The applicant for the subsequent permit shall not be required to pay the difference, if any, between the amount due for the current impact fee, and the amount previously paid. The impact fee credit is transferable between owners but applies only to the lot or parcel for which the fee was originally paid.
(2004 Code, § 102-6) (Ord. 165, passed 11-18-1998)
(A) Any conveyance of land by a developer to the county or construction project completed, received, and accepted by the county from a developer shall be credited against the development impact fee due if the conveyance or construction meets the same needs as the development impact fee. If the developer wishes to receive credit against the amount of the development impact fee due for such conveyance or construction, the developer may enter into a fee agreement with the county. The fee agreement shall provide for establishment of credits and fee payment in a specified manner and time.
(B) The value of land conveyed or facilities constructed by a developer and accepted by the county for purposes of this section shall be determined by an appraisal based on the fair market value of the land or facilities as established by the county. Construction shall be in accordance with county and state design standards.
(C) Credit may not be given for:
(1) Site-related transportation improvements to local roads and collectors, including transportation improvements required for adequate access for a subdivision;
(2) Conveyance of land or construction of facilities required as part of the Planning Commission approval of the project; or
(3) Any conveyance or construction otherwise required for development under any other provision of state or county law.
(D) Land awarded credit under this section shall be conveyed no later than the time at which development impact fees are due. The portion of the development impact fee credited for construction shall be deemed paid when the construction is completed and accepted by the county for maintenance, or when adequate security for the completion of the construction has been provided.
(2004 Code, § 102-7) (Ord. 165, passed 11-18-1998)
(A) All funds collected from development impact fees shall be used solely for capital improvements (including payment of debt service) for expansion of the capacity of public 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 serves to increase the number of pupils that may be enrolled in the public schools, but does not include temporary structures.
(B) All fees collected pursuant to this subchapter shall be placed in a capital outlay fund and used only to pay for costs of capital improvements as defined herein. The capital outlay fund shall be divided into as many subfunds as shall be necessary to separately assess fees for single-family residence; townhouse, duplex, triplex, and other multi-family residence and mobile home.
(C) Fees collected may be used for capital improvements as defined herein. However, each fee collected for a dwelling unit must be applied to capital improvements in the proportion established by the County Commissioners.
(D) The amount of fees collected pursuant to this subchapter that can be applied to any capital improvement shall be limited to that portion of the cost which is reasonably attributable to the need generated by new development or benefit conferred upon new development. In approving each capital improvement budget use of the funds from the capital outlay fund, the County Commissioners shall apportion the cost of capital improvements between needs or benefits relating to existing development and needs or benefits relating to new development.
(E) The funds collected for public facilities shall be used for the purpose indicated whether the project is owned by the state, the county, or a municipality, provided that the project benefits the county proportionally with the impact that the development from which the funds were generated impacted the county.
(F) If development impact fee districts are hereafter created by resolution, 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 feepayer. The school impact fee districts shall be as shown on the school impact fee districts map all as established by the Budget Officer and on file in the Department of Land Use, Planning, and Development, or its successor agency, and with the County Commissioners. Fees from one district may be used for capital improvements in another district on a written finding by the Director of Planning, Land Use, and Development, or its successor agency, that the capital improvements are a direct benefit to the district from which the fees were collected.
(G) By written agreement, the county and the feepayer may agree to reimburse the feepayer for any fee paid in excess of that required by this subchapter. The fees advanced shall be used by the county to fund the costs of capital improvements for public facilities needed by new development. Such fees may be reimbursed from development impact fees collected subsequent to the agreement and from development that will reasonably benefit from the capital improvements.
(2004 Code, § 102-8) (Ord. 165, passed 11-18-1998; Ord. 03-12, passed 6-10-2003)
(A) Fees not expended by the end of the calendar year immediately following six years from the date of payment shall, upon application of the feepayer, be returned to the feepayer with interest at the rate of 5% per year. The First In, First Out (FIFO) method of accounting shall be used for tracking these funds.
(B) The Budget Officer may extend the date at which the funds must be refunded for up to three years. An extension shall be made only on a written finding that within a three-year period, certain capital improvements are planned that will directly benefit the development against which the fees were charged.
(2004 Code, § 102-9) (Ord. 165, passed 11-18-1998)
(A) Any person, firm, or corporation aggrieved by the levying of any fee, as provided herein, may appeal to the County Commissioners within 30 days of the date the fee is levied. The County Commissioners will hear the appeal within 60 days and decide the appeal within 30 days of the hearing. At the hearing, the party aggrieved shall have the burden of establishing, by expert evidence, that the fee as levied does not fairly reflect the impact of the development on the county’s capital improvements. The expert and the expert’s impact analysis must be qualified pursuant to § 33.59 and the expert’s independent impact analysis must be submitted at the time an appeal is filed and be completed in accordance with § 33.59. Initiation of an appeal does not eliminate the developer’s obligation to pay the fee; the developer shall pay the development impact fee prior to proceeding with development or may elect to appeal prior to commencing development.
(B) If the County Commissioners determine that either a reduced fee or no fee is required, the county shall refund excess fee paid.
(C) An appeal shall be filed with the appropriate office as determined by the County Commissioners. The County Commissioners shall also establish an appeal fee, which must be paid upon filing an appeal. The office shall adopt and publish regulations for the processing of such appeals. The appeal fee shall be refunded if it is determined on appeal that the impact fee was excessive.
(D) The County Commissioners may appoint such full- and part-time hearing examiners as may be necessary and appropriate and may delegate to the said hearing examiner or examiners the power to hold and conduct hearings as required and set forth herein. Hearings shall be conducted in such a manner and subject to such rules and regulations as may be provided by the County Commissioners.
(1) The County Commissioners shall establish the hearing examiners’ terms of office, qualifications, and compensation.
(2) The hearing examiner shall render a written recommendation at such time and in such manner and form as may be required by the County Commissioners.
(3) Only written exceptions to the recommendations of the hearing examiner are allowed. Such exceptions must be filed with the County Commissioners within ten days of the hearing. The County Commissioners shall decide the matter based on the recommendations of the hearing examiner, the exceptions filed thereto and the record within 30 days of the deadline for filing exceptions.
(E) The party aggrieved by the decision, including the Budget Officer, may appeal to the Circuit Court for Carroll County in accordance with the Maryland Rules of Civil Procedure.
(2004 Code, § 102-10) (Ord. 165, passed 11-18-1998)
Immediately, upon the effective date of this subchapter, a special trust account shall be established on the General Fund books which shall not be spent for any purpose other than that for which it was collected; unless:
(A) This subchapter is voided or repealed, then the funds collected hereunder shall revert to the unappropriated surplus of the county; or
(B) An ordinance is enacted to replace or amend this subchapter; and as part of that ordinance, the funds collected hereunder are directed to different purposes.
(2004 Code, § 102-11) (Ord. 165, passed 11-18-1998)
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