A. Appeals: Any fee payer that is or may be obligated to pay an impact fee, individual assessment or an extraordinary impact, or that claims a right to receive a refund, reimbursement, exemption or credit under this chapter, and who is dissatisfied with a decision made either by the county in applying this chapter, may appeal such decision. The fee payer shall have the burden on appeal of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the decision was in error.
B. Appeal Process:
1. Appeals of denials of an exemption from impact fees under section 3 of this chapter.
a. A fee payer shall file a written notice of the appeal with the county development services department within thirty (30) days after the date of a denial of an exemption. Such notice of appeal shall include a statement describing why the fee payer believes that the appealed decision was in error, together with copies of any documents that the fee payer believes support the claim.
b. The County Development Services Department shall schedule a hearing in front of the County Board of Commissioners within thirty (30) days of receiving the appeal. The fee payer or its representative shall have a right to be present and to present evidence in support of the appeal. The county personnel who made the decision under appeal or their representatives shall likewise have the right to be present and to present evidence in support of the decision.
c. The County Board of Commissioners shall consider the decision denying the exemption and also consider any additional evidence that may be offered by the fee payer and county staff. The County Board of Commissioners may affirm, reverse, or modify in whole or in part the decision appealed from and issue a written decision within thirty (30) days.
d. A final decision of the County Board of Commissioners may be judicially reviewed pursuant to Idaho Code § 31-1506.
2. Appeals of impact fee schedule assessments, refunds, reimbursements, credits, individual assessments, or extraordinary impacts under this chapter.
a. The fee payer shall file a written notice of the appeal with the county within thirty (30) days after the date of the county's decision, or the date on which the fee payer submitted a payment of the impact fee under protest, whichever is later. Such written application shall include a statement describing why the fee payer believes that the appealed decision was in error, together with copies of any documents that the fee payer believes support the claim.
b. The County's Board of Commissioners, shall hear the appeal within sixty (60) days after receipt of a written notice of appeal. The fee payer or its representative shall have a right to be present and to present evidence in support of the appeal. The county personnel who made the decision under appeal or their representatives shall likewise have the right to be present and to present evidence in support of the decision. The criteria to be used by the County's Board of Commissioners in considering the appeal shall be whether:
(1) The decision or interpretation made by the county; or
(2) The alternative decision or interpretation offered by the fee payer, more accurately reflects the intent of this chapter that new development in the service area pay its proportionate share of the costs of system improvements to public facilities necessary to serve new development and whether the chapter has been correctly applied.
The County's Board of Commissioners shall issue a decision upholding, reversing, or modifying the decision being appealed within thirty (30) days after hearing the appeal.
C. Payment Under Protest: A fee payer may pay a impact fee under protest in order not to delay in the issuance of a building permit by the county. A fee payer making a payment under protest shall not be estopped from exercising the right to appeal provided herein, nor shall such fee payer be estopped from receiving a refund of any amount deemed to have been illegally collected.
D. Mediation:
1. Any fee payer that has a disagreement with a decision made by the county regarding an impact fee determination that is or may be due for a proposed development pursuant to this chapter, may enter into a voluntary agreement with the county as the case may be, to subject the disagreement to mediation by a qualified independent party acceptable to both parties to the mediation.
2. Mediation may take place at any time following the filing of a timely appeal, or as an alternative to such appeal, provided that the request for mediation is filed no later than the last date on which a timely appeal could be filed pursuant to this section.
3. Participation in mediation does not preclude the fee payer from pursuing other remedies provided for in this section.
4. If mediation is requested, any related mediation costs shall be shared equally by the parties to the mediation, and a written agreement regarding the payment of such costs shall be executed prior to the commencement of mediation.
5. In the event that mediation does not resolve the issues, the fee payer retains all rights of appeal as set forth in this section. (Ord. 2021-10, -23-2021)