(A) The provisions of this section shall apply only to those developments approved to use the school construction fee option, as documented by an APFO Letter of Understanding or development rights and responsibilities agreement (DRRA) fully executed by the developer and the county on or prior to July 20, 2016. No new developments may choose to use the school construction fee option after July 20, 2016.
(B) School construction fees shall be paid in addition to, and not in lieu of, public school development impact fees under Chapter 1-22 of the Frederick County Code.
(C) If a development has not entered into a DRRA with the county but was approved to use the school construction fee option prior to July 20, 2016 by a fully executed APFO Letter of Understanding, and if that APFO Letter of Understanding has expired, the development may apply for APFO re-testing and mitigate school capacity by using the school construction fee option, provided that all of the following requirements are met as of the APFO Test Date:
(1) The total size of the development is equal to or less than 60 dwelling units;
(2) More than 50% of the dwelling units in the development are built out and have certificates of occupancy;
(3) The total number of projected students upon re-testing does not exceed ten, including all school levels;
(4) No school serving or proposed to serve the development exceeds 120% of State Rated Capacity, taking into account actual capacity expected to be provided by new schools and school additions scheduled for construction in the first two years of the CIP;
(5) All public roads in the development have been built to county standards and accepted by the county for public maintenance; and
(6) All unplatted lots remaining in the development must be included in the APFO re-testing in accordance with this subsection. A development may not submit piecemeal applications for re-testing portions of an uncompleted development.
(D) The APFO Letter of Understanding and any DRRA for the development shall incorporate provisions for payment of the school construction fees.
(E) School construction fees due to the county shall be listed on the Department of Permits and Inspections fee schedule.
(F) School construction fees shall be paid at the time of recording of subdivision plats for each unit, except for multi-family units, which shall be paid not later than the time of building permit application. The school construction fees to be applied to each residential unit shall be the fees in effect at the time of plat recordation or building permit application.
(G) Annual adjustment. On July 1, 2021, and on July 1 of each year thereafter in which the school construction fee is in effect, the amount of the school construction fee per dwelling unit and school level, shall be adjusted annually as follows:
(1) On or before January 15, 2021, and on or before January 15 of each year thereafter, the county executive shall provide to the County Council a report which proposes an annual adjustment to the school construction fee. The adjustment shall be calculated by taking into account the most recent data from the State of Maryland School Construction Cost Index. For purposes of this calculation, the "State of Maryland School Construction Cost Index" shall be the statewide per-square-foot school building and site development cost as established and adjusted annually by the State of Maryland interagency committee on school construction.
(a) The annual adjustment to the school construction fee may also include changes to other factors and data components in the fee calculations.
(b) A component of the fee calculation is the pupil yield rate, which is the average number of pupils expected to be generated per housing unit type and school level. Whenever possible, the pupil yield rates used in the fee calculation shall be the pupil yield rates calculated for the developments currently paying the school construction mitigation fee. Otherwise, the pupil yield rates used in the fee calculation shall be the pupil yield rates calculated for developments of similar location and composition.
(2) The proposed annual adjustment shall take effect on July 1, the first day of the fiscal year immediately following receipt of the report, unless the County Council enacts a bill that takes effect on or before June 30 of the same year as the report, to change or maintain the current school construction fee.
(H) School Construction Fee Account.
(1) A School Construction Fee Account is hereby established.
(2) All school construction fees that the county collects shall be deposited into the School Construction Fee Account.
(3) The School Construction Fee Account shall be interest bearing.
(4) All interest earned on monies deposited to this account shall be credited to and shall be considered funds of the account.
(5) The county shall establish and implement necessary accounting controls to ensure that the school construction fee funds are properly deposited, accounted for, and appropriated in accordance with this chapter, and any other applicable legal requirements.
(6) The county may appropriate funds from the School Construction Fee Account for:
(a) Public school facility expenditures as defined in § 1-20-5(B), and
(b) The payment of principal, interest and other financing costs on contracts, bonds, notes or other obligations issued by or on behalf of the county or other applicable local governmental entities to finance public school facility expenditures.
(7) The Finance Division shall document each appropriation from the School Construction Fee Account.
(I) The payment of the school construction fee or the obligation to pay the school construction fee under the terms of an APFO Letter of Understanding or DRRA shall not satisfy the public school adequacy requirement for any other development served by the same school or schools as the proposed development.
(J) Upon payment of all school construction fees applicable to the proposed development, the development shall not be subject to further testing for school adequacy under the APFO for the duration of the APFO approval period under the DRRA or APFO Letter of Understanding, unless the density or intensity of the development increases.
(Ord. 11-18-584, 7-19-2011; Ord. 12-14-609, 6-19-2012; Ord. 14-15-670, 9-23-2014; Ord. 14-23-678, 11-13-2014; Bill No. 16-05, 4-5-2016; Bill No. 16-09, 8-30-2016; Bill No. 20-16, 12-15-2020; Bill No. 21-03, 5-18-2021)