(A) Enacting impact fees. The County Commission will, by this subchapter, approve impact fees in accordance with the IFFPs and IFAs.
(1) Elements. In calculating the impact fees, the county has included the construction costs, land acquisition costs, costs of improvements, fees for planning, surveying and engineering services provided for and directly related to the construction of system improvements, and outstanding or future debt service charges if the county might use impact fees as a revenue stream to pay principal and interest on bonds or other obligations to finance the cost of system improvements.
(2) Notice and hearing. In conjunction with the approval of this subchapter, the county held a public hearing on June 6, 2017, gave public notice of the IFFPs, said hearing and the county’s intent to adopt this subchapter at least ten days before the date of said hearing by posting notice on the county’s website, publishing notice on the state’s public notice website, made a copy of this subchapter, the IFFPs, the IFAs and the executive summaries available to the public on the county’s website and at the county’s offices, and placed copies of the IFFPs and executive summaries in the public library within the county, all in conformity with the requirements of UCA §§ 11-36a-502 and 17B-1-111. After the public hearing, the County Commission adopted this subchapter as presented herein.
(3) Contents of the ordinance. The ordinance adopting or modifying an impact fee contains such detail and elements as deemed appropriate by the County Commission, including designation of the service area within which the impact fee is to be calculated and imposed. This subchapter includes a schedule of impact fees to be imposed.
(4) Adjustments. The standard impact fee may be adjusted at the time the fee is assessed due to inflation and/or in response to unusual circumstances, to fairly allocate costs associated with impacts created by a development activity or project, or due to a request for a prompt and individualized impact fee review for the development activity of the state or a school district or charter school and an offset or credit for public facilities for which an impact fee has been or will be collected. The standard impact fee may also be adjusted to ensure that impact fees are imposed fairly for development activities attributable to low-income housing or other development activities with broad public purposes. The impact fee assessed to a particular development may also be adjusted should the developer supply sufficient written studies and data to the county showing a discrepancy between the fee being assessed and the actual impact on the system.
(5) Previously incurred costs. To the extent that new growth and development activity will be served by previously constructed improvements, the impact fee may include public facility costs and outstanding bond costs related to improvements previously incurred by the county. These costs may include all projects included in the IFFPs which are under construction or completed but have not been utilized to their capacity, as evidenced by outstanding debt obligations. Any future debt obligations determined to be necessitated by growth activity may also be included to offset the costs of future capital projects.
(B) Developer credits. Development activity may be allowed a credit against impact fees for any dedication of land for a system improvement, any building and dedication of some or all of a system improvement, any dedication of a public facility that the county and the developer agree will reduce the need for a system improvement, or a dedication of land for, improvement to or new construction of any system improvement by the developer if the facilities are system improvements or are dedicated to the public and offset the need for an identified system improvement.
(C) Impact fees accounting. The county will establish a separate interest-bearing ledger account for each type of public facility for which an impact fee is collected, deposit all impact fees in the appropriate ledger account, retain the interest earned on each account in the ledger account, and otherwise conform to the accounting requirements provided in the Impact Fees Act. Impact fees collected prior to the effective date of this subchapter need not meet the requirements of this section.
(1) Reporting. At the end of each fiscal year, the county shall prepare a report pursuant to UCA § 11-36a-601.
(2) Impact fee expenditures. The county may expend impact fees pursuant to UCA § 11-36a-602 only for system improvements that are identified in the IFFPs and for the specific public facility type for which the fee was collected.
(3) Time of expenditure. Impact fees collected pursuant to the requirements of this subchapter are to be expended, dedicated or encumbered for a permissible use within six years of the receipt of those funds by the county, unless the county identifies in writing an extraordinary and compelling reason why the fees should be held longer than six years and an absolute date by which the fees will be expended. Impact fees will be expended on a first-in first-out (“FIFO”) basis, with the first funds received deemed to be the first funds expended.
(D) Refunds. The county shall refund any impact fees paid by a developer, plus interest actually earned, when: The developer does not proceed with the development activity and files a written request for a refund; the fees have not been spent or encumbered within the “time of expenditure” as defined herein; and no impact has resulted. An impact that would preclude a developer from a refund from the county may include any impact reasonably identified by the county, including, but not limited to, the county having sized facilities and/or paid for, installed and/or caused the installation of facilities in reliance upon the developer’s plans and representations even though that capacity may, at some future time, be utilized by another development.
(E) Additional fees and costs. The impact fees authorized hereby are separate from and in addition to user fees and other charges lawfully imposed by the county and other fees and costs that may not be included as itemized component parts of the impact fee schedule. In charging any such fees as a condition of development approval, the county recognizes that the fees must be a reasonable charge for the service provided.
(F) Fees effective at time of payment. Unless the county is otherwise bound by a contractual requirement, the impact fee shall be determined from the fee schedule in effect at the time of payment in accordance with the provisions of § 151.45 of this code.
(G) Imposition of additional fee after development. Should any developer undertake development activities such that the ultimate density or other impact of the development activity is not revealed to the county either through inadvertence, neglect, a change in plans or any other cause whatsoever, and/or the impact fee is not initially charged against all units or the total density within the development, the county shall be entitled to recover the total impact fee pursuant to the IFFPs and IFAs from the developer or other appropriate person covering the density for which an impact fee was not previously paid.
(Prior Code, § 7-3-5) (Ord. 17-28, passed 5-16-2017)