1-18-1: SHORT TITLE, APPLICABILITY, FINDINGS AND PURPOSE:
   A.    Short title. This Chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Middleton Rural Fire District Development Impact Fee Ordinance.
   B.   Authority. This ordinance is enacted pursuant to the City's general police powers, its authority to enact ordinances, and its authority as provided by the Idaho Development Impact Fee Act codified at Chapter 82 of Title 67, Idaho Code (the "Act") and other applicable laws of the state of Idaho to impose development impact fees; and the City's and the Fire District's Authority to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement as provided for in Idaho Code § 67-8204A to impose, collect and expend development impact fees.
   C.   Applicability. Except as otherwise exempted in section 1-18-5, these provisions shall apply to the Development of property located within the boundaries of the City of Middleton, Idaho.
   D.   Findings:
      1.   The Middleton Rural Fire District, (the "Fire District") is a fire district organized and existing by virtue of the Fire Protection District Law Chapter 14 of Title 31, Idaho Code, and its boundaries include areas within the City limits of the City of Middleton (the "City") and areas surrounding the City on the north, east and west, and the Fire District provides fire and emergency services within the City; and
      2.   The Fire District's duty and responsibility is to provide protection of property against fire and the preservation of life, and enforcement of any of the fire codes and other rules that are adopted by the state fire marshal; and
      3.   The City is experiencing considerable growth and Development; and
      4.   The purposes of the Act [Idaho Code § 67-8202] are as follows:
         a.   Ensure that adequate public facilities are available to serve new growth and Development;
         b.   Promote orderly growth and Development by establishing uniform standards by which local governments, such as the City and the Fire District, may require those who benefit from new growth and Development pay [development impact fees] their proportionate share of the costs of new public facilities needed to serve that new growth and Development; and
         c.   Establish minimum standards for adoption of development impact fee ordinances by cities; and
         d.   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 that new growth and Development and to prevent duplicate and ad hoc development requirements; and
         e.   To empower cities to adopt ordinances to impose development impact fees.
      5.   The Act:
         a.   Does not authorize the Fire District to enact a development impact fee ordinance; and
         b.   Does provide, pursuant to Idaho Code § 67-8204A, in circumstances where the City and the Fire District are both affected by the considerable growth and Development as is occurring within the City, that the City and the Fire District may enter into the Intergovernmental Agreement for the purpose of agreeing to collect and expend development impact fees for System Improvements which provides for a new funding mechanism for those System Improvements Costs incurred by the Fire District to meet the demand and growth occurring within the City and which promotes and accommodates orderly growth and development and protects the public health, safety and general welfare of the residences within the boundaries of the City.
      6.   New residential growth within the City and within the boundaries of the Fire District imposes and will impose increasing and excessive demands upon the existing Fire District Capital Facilities.
      7.   The tax revenues generated from new residential Development within the City and within the boundaries of the Fire District often do not generate sufficient funds to provide the necessary improvements and expansion of existing Fire District Capital Facilities to accommodate for that new growth.
      8.   New growth within the City and within the boundaries of the Fire District is expected to continue, and will place ever-increasing demands on the Fire District to provide and expand the Fire District's Capital Facilities to serve that new growth.
      9.   Section 67-8204A of the Act authorizes the City to adopt an impact fee system and to enter into the Intergovernmental Agreement with the Fire District to offset, recoup, or reimburse the portion of the costs of needed improvements to the Fire District Capital Facilities caused by new growth and Development in the City and within the boundaries of the Fire District.
      10.   The creation of an equitable impact fee system facilitated by the Intergovernmental Agreement with the Fire District, will promote the purposes set forth in the Act, in that it would:
         a.   Ensure that adequate Fire District Capital Facilities are available to serve new growth and Development;
         b.   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 Fire District Capital Facilities needed to serve new growth and Development in the City and within the boundaries of the Fire District;
         c.   Establish minimum standards for the adoption of Fire District Impact Fees;
         d.   Ensure that those who benefit from new growth and development are required to pay no more than their proportionate share of the cost of Fire District Capital Facilities needed to serve new growth and Development in the City and within the boundaries of the Fire District; and
         e.   Prevent duplicate and ad hoc Development requirements in the City.
      11.   The City has formed an Advisory Committee as required by Idaho Code § 67-8205, and the Committee has performed the duties required of it pursuant to Idaho Code §§ 67-8205 and 67-8206(2). The City and the Fire District intend that the Committee will continue to exist and perform those duties identified in Idaho Code § 67-8205 that occur following the adoption of this Middleton Rural Fire District Development Impact Fee Ordinance.
      12.   The Fire District has planned for the improvement of Fire District Capital Facilities in the Capital Improvements Plan.
      13.   The creation of an equitable impact fee system would enable the City to accommodate new development, and would assist the Fire District to implement the capital improvements element of the Capital Improvements Plan.
      14.   In order to implement an equitable impact fee system for the Fire District's fire prevention and life preservation facilities, the City adopted by resolution and the Fire District adopted by resolution the Middleton Rural Fire District Impact Fee Study and Capital Improvements Plan (the "Capital Improvements Plan"). Galena Consulting was hired by the Fire District to assist the Advisory Committee in the preparation of the Study.
      15.   The methodology used in the Capital Improvements Plan, as applied through this Chapter, complies with all applicable provisions of Idaho law, including those set forth in Idaho Code §§ 67-8204(1), (2), (16) and (23), 67-8207 and 67-8209. The incorporation of the Capital Improvements Plan by reference satisfies the requirement in Idaho Code § 67-8204(16) for a detailed description of the methodology by which the Fire District Impact Fees were calculated, and the requirement in Idaho Code § 67-8204(24) for a description of acceptable levels of service for Fire District System Improvements.
      16.   In determining the proportionate share of System Improvements Costs, the Capital Improvements Plan has considered: (a) the cost of the existing System Improvements; (b) the means by which the existing System Improvements have been financed; (c) the extent to which the new Development will contribute to System Improvements Costs through taxation, assessment, or developer or landowner contributions, or has previously contributed to System Improvements Costs through developer or landowner contributions; (d) the extent to which the new Development is required to contribute to System Improvements Costs in the future; (e) 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; (f) Extraordinary Costs, if any, incurred in serving the new Development; (g) the time and price differential inherent in a fair comparison of fees paid at different times; and (h) the availability of other sources of funding System Improvements including, but not limited to, user charges, general tax levies, intergovernmental transfers, and special taxation and includes a plan for alternative sources of revenue.
      17.   The Capital Improvements Plan contains the Capital Improvements planned by the Fire District during the term of the Capital Improvements Plan, and such element has been developed in conformance with the requirements in Chapter 82 of Title 67, Idaho Code.
      18.   The Capital Improvements Plan sets forth reasonable methodologies and analyses for determining the impacts of various types of new Development on the Fire District Capital Facilities, and determines the cost of acquiring or constructing the improvements necessary to meet the demands for such facilities created by new Development.
      19.   In accordance with Idaho Code, the Capital Improvements Plan was based on actual System Improvements Costs or reasonable estimates of such costs. In addition, the Capital Improvements Plan 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.
      20.   The Fire District Impact Fees established by this Chapter are based on the Capital Improvements Plan, and do not exceed System Improvements Costs to serve new Development that will pay the Fire District Impact Fees.
      21.   The Fire District Capital Facilities included in the calculation of fees in the Capital Improvements Plan will benefit all new residential Development throughout the City which is also within the boundaries of the Fire District, and it is therefore appropriate to treat all areas of the City that are also within the boundaries of the Fire District as a single Service Area for purposes of calculating, collecting, and spending the Fire District Impact Fees collected from Developers.
      22.   There is both a rational nexus and a rough proportionality between Development impacts created by each type of Development covered by this Chapter, the development impact fees assessment of such Development covered by this Chapter, and the development impact fees that such Developer will be required to pay.
      23.   This Chapter creates a system by which development impact fees paid by Developers will be used to finance, defray, or reimburse a portion of the costs incurred by the Fire District to construct and/or purchase System Improvements 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 § 67-8210.
      24.   This Chapter creates a system under which development impact fees shall not be used to correct existing deficiencies for any Fire District Capital Facilities, or to replace or rehabilitate existing Fire District Capital Facilities, or to pay for routine operation or maintenance of those facilities.
      25.   This Chapter creates a system under which there shall be no double payment of development impact fees, in accordance with Idaho Code § 67-8204(19).
      26.   This Chapter is consistent with all applicable provisions of the Act concerning development impact fee ordinances.
   E.   Purpose.
      1.   This Chapter is adopted to be consistent with, and to help implement the Capital Improvements Plan.
      2.   The intent of this Chapter is to ensure that new residential development bears a proportionate share of the cost of System Improvements; to ensure that such proportionate share does not exceed the cost of such System Improvements required to accommodate new Development; and to ensure that funds collected from new Development are actually used for System Improvements in accordance with the Act.
      3.   It is the further intent of this Chapter to be consistent with those principles for allocating a fair share of the cost of System Improvements to new Development, and for adopting development impact fee ordinances, established by the Act.
      4.   It is not the intent of this Chapter to collect any money from any new Development in excess of the actual amount necessary to offset new demands for System Improvements created by such new Development.
      5.   It is the intent of this Chapter that any monies collected, as an imposed Fire District Impact Fee, are deposited in the Trust Accounts of the Trust Fund, are never commingled with monies from a different impact fee account, are never used for a development impact fee component different from that for which the fee was paid, are never used to correct current deficiencies in the Fire District Capital Facilities, and are never used to replace, rehabilitate, maintain or operate any Fire District Capital Facilities. (Ord. 634, 9-16-2020)