A. In lieu of calculating the amount of the Fire and/or EMS impact fee by reference to the Fee Schedule attached to the capital improvements plan, a fee payer may file a request with the City that the amount of the required Fire and/or EMS impact fee be determined by the Districts’ administrators through an individual assessment for the proposed development. A request for an individual assessment process shall involve consideration of studies, data, and any other relevant information submitted by the fee payer to adjust the amount of the Fire and/or EMS impact fee. If a fee payer files a request for the use of an individual assessment, the fee payer shall be responsible for retaining a qualified professional to prepare the individual assessment that complies with the requirements of this chapter, at the fee payer’s expense. The fee payer shall, at the fee payer’s expense, bear the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the resulting individual assessment complies with the requirements of this chapter. The fee payer shall bear the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that the resulting individual assessment is a more accurate measure of its proportionate share of the cost of system improvements, based on the Districts’ adopted levels of service, than the development impact fees that would otherwise be due pursuant to the Fee Schedule attached to the capital improvements plan.
B. Each individual assessment shall be based on the same level of service standards and unit costs for system improvements used in the capital improvements plan, shall use an average cost (not a marginal cost) methodology, and shall document the relevant methodologies and assumptions used.
C. A request for an individual assessment shall be delivered and filed with the City at any time that the number of dwelling units in the proposed development and the types and amounts of development in each non-residential category identified in the Fee Schedule attached to the capital improvements plan are known. Upon filing of a request for individual assessment, the City shall transmit the request to the Districts’ administrators for review by electronic mail to the appropriate Districts’ administrator. The Districts’ administrators shall issue a written decision within thirty (30) days following receipt of a completed request for individual assessment together with all supporting information from the fee payer, so as not to unreasonably delay the developer’s (fee payer’s) subsequent applications to the City for building permits.
D. Each individual assessment request delivered to the Districts’ administrators may then be accepted, rejected, or accepted with modifications by the Districts’ administrators as the basis for calculating the Fire and/or EMS impact fee for the project the request references. The criteria for acceptance, rejection or acceptance with modifications shall be whether the individual assessment is a more accurate measure of demand for system improvements element(s) created by the proposed development, or the costs of those facilities, than the applicable fee shown in the Fee Schedule attached to the capital improvements plan.
E. The decision by the Districts’ administrators on a request for an individual assessment shall include an explanation of the calculation of the Fire and/or EMS impact fee, shall specify the system improvement(s) for which the Fire and/or EMS impact fee is intended to be used, and shall include an explanation of those factors identified in IC § 67-8207.
F. If an individual assessment request is accepted or accepted with modifications by the Districts’ administrators then the Fire and/or EMS impact fee due under this chapter for such development shall be calculated according to such individual assessment.
G. The Districts’ administrators shall provide notice of final determination of an individual assessment to the developer (fee payer) and the City by electronic mail. The Districts shall also include to the City, an instruction of the impact fee to collect from the fee payer, if, after the Districts’ acceptance of the individual assessment, the impact fee differs from the Fee Schedule. (Ord. 637, 8-23-2022)