18.56.140 Disposition of unexpended or unappropriated fee revenues.

   A.   Beginning with the fifth fiscal year following the first deposit into an infrastructure fund, and in each succeeding fiscal year, the city council shall make the following findings with respect to the moneys in each infrastructure fund that remain unexpended, whether committed or uncommitted as of the date of the report:

      1.   A finding identifying the purpose to which the fee revenues and any interest earned on them are to be put;

      2.   A finding demonstrating a reasonable relationship between the fee and the purpose for which it is established;

      3.   A finding identifying all sources and amounts of funding anticipated to complete the financing of incomplete components of the applicable infrastructure; and

      4.   A finding designating the approximate dates on which the funding referred to in subsection A.3 is expected to be deposited into the applicable infrastructure fund.

   B.   The city council shall make the findings required by subsection A in connection with the information required by section 18.56.150.A. If the findings are not made as required by subsection A, then the city shall refund the moneys in the infrastructure fund in accordance with subsection C.

   C.   Except as provided in subsection D, when the city has collected sufficient funds to complete financing of an incomplete component of the infrastructure, as determined under section 18.56.150.A.6, the city shall take one of the following actions within 180 days of the determination that sufficient funds have been collected:

      1.   Identify an approximate date by which the construction of the component will be commenced; or

      2.   Refund on a prorated basis, to the then-current record owner or owners of the lots or units of the development project or development projects as identified on the last equalized assessment roll, the unexpended portion of the fee and any interest accrued on it, subject to following:

         a.   The city may refund the unexpended revenues by direct payment, by providing a temporary suspension of fees, or by any other reasonable means consistent with the purpose of this section.

         b.   If the administrative cost to refund the unexpended or unappropriated fee revenue would exceed the amount to be refunded, then the city council, after considering the matter at a public hearing, notice of which is given in the manner provided for by California Government Code section 66001, subdivision (f), may appropriate the revenue for any other public improvement, facility, or property for which fees are imposed and which the city council determines will benefit the development project.

         c.   The portion of any fee revenue the city receives as reimbursement of its costs to administer this chapter will not be refunded but shall be applied to reduce the portion of the fee charged for administrative purposes.

   D.   This section is to be applied consistently with subdivisions (d), (e), and (f) of California Government Code section 66001.

   E.   This section does not apply to the extent a subsequent article in this chapter provides otherwise. (Ord. 2017-0010 § 1)

18.56.145 Other fee and dedication requirements.

   This chapter does not relieve a person from complying with the following:

   A.   The obligation to pay other applicable fees relating to development of property, including application fees, processing fees, mitigation fees, and other development-impact fees within the city's control;

   B.   Any public-facility or public-improvement requirements imposed by applicable law, including this code;

   C.   Any requirement under applicable law, including this code, the city charter, and the California Government Code, to dedicate property for public use at the time of approval of a tentative subdivision map, tentative master-parcel map, certificate of compliance, building permit, or other land-use entitlement; and

   D.   Any mitigation requirements for identified project-related environmental effects. (Ord. 2017-0010 § 1)

18.56.150 Annual reports and review of fees.

   A.   For each fee, within 180 days after the end of each fiscal year, the city manager shall prepare for the city council a report identifying the following information for that fiscal year:

      1.   A brief description of the fee;

      2.   The amount of the fee;

      3.   The beginning and ending balances of the infrastructure fund for that fee;

      4.   The amount of revenue collected from the fee and the interest earned on the revenue;

      5.   Identification of each component of the infrastructure on which revenues from the fee were expended and the amount of the expenditures for each component, including the total percentage of the cost of the component that was funded with the fee revenues;

      6.   For each incomplete component of the infrastructure for which the city determines that sufficient funds have been collected to complete financing of the component, identification of an approximate date by which construction of the component will commence;

      7.   The amount of refunds made in accordance with section 18.56.140 and of any appropriations made in accordance with subsection 18.56.140.C.2.b; and

      8.   The amount of any automatic annual adjustment made under section 18.56.120, including the basis of the calculation.

   B.   In addition to the report described in subsection A, the city manager shall present to the city council, at least once each fiscal year, a proposed capital- improvement program for the infrastructure, assigning fee revenues from the infrastructure fund (including any accrued interest) to specific components and related expenses. The adoption of a capital-improvement program must comply with California Government Code section 66002.

   C.   The city manager and the city clerk shall make the report described in subsection A available to the public as required by California Government Code section 66006, subdivision (b), and the city council shall review the report at its first regularly scheduled public meeting held at least 15 days after the report is made available to the public.

   D.   After consideration of the annual report described in subsection A, the city council may, by resolution, revise a fee described in subsection A to include additional projects that are needed, provided that all revisions are consistent with the applicable finance plan or nexus study.

   E.   This section does not apply to the extent a subsequent article in this chapter provides otherwise. (Ord. 2017-0010 § 1)

18.56.155 Protest of fee; Appeal.

   A.   The applicant for a development project may protest any fee imposed by this chapter on the project by filing a written protest with the city manager and the city council in accordance with California Government Code sections 66020 and 66021.

   B.   Concurrently with filing the written protest, the applicant must tender to the city manager the full amount of the fee under protest, together with payment of a non-refundable protest-filing fee in the amount established by resolution of the city council to offset the city's costs of processing the protest and any appeal. The applicant will be liable for the city's actual cost to process the protest, including the cost of any appeal to the city council, to the extent that the actual cost exceeds the filing fee. The city may deduct the excess amount from any refund found due and owing to the applicant or may add it to the amount of the fee found to be due or owing from the applicant, as the case may be.

   C.   The city manager shall consider the protest at an informal hearing held within 60 days after the filing of the protest notice. The city manager shall issue a written decision on the protest and send a copy of the decision to the applicant by first-class mail, postage prepaid, within 15 days after the later of the following: the date of the informal hearing or the date the city manager sets during the informal hearing for the applicant's submission of any additional evidence the city manager determines to be necessary to the decision. The applicant's failure to timely submit additional information requested by the city manager may result in denial of the protest. The city manager's decision is final and is not appealable, except as provided in subsections F and G.

   D.   The city manager shall consider the following when determining whether to approve or deny a protest:

      1.   The matters set forth in California Government Code section 66001, subdivisions (a) and (b).

      2.   The substance and nature of the evidence presented by the applicant.

      3.   The facts, findings, and conclusions stated in the applicable finance plan or nexus study, including technical information, studies, audited construction costs, and reports contained within and supporting the plan, together with findings supporting the resolution setting the amount of the fee in question. The applicant must present comparable technical information, studies, and reports to demonstrate that the fee is inappropriate for the development project involved.

   E.   If the city manager grants the protest and reduces the fee amount owed, and if the zoning for the development project involved is subsequently changed to allow a more-intensive use, then the applicant for the first building permit based on the more-intensive use shall pay, as a condition of approval for that permit, a supplemental fee equal to the difference between the applicable fee previously paid (adjusted by an automatic annual adjustment, if applicable) and the fee that applies when the building permit based on the more-intensive use is issued.

   F.   The applicant may appeal the city manager's decision to the city council in accordance with chapter 1.24 by filing a notice of appeal with the city clerk within 10 days after the date the city manager mails the decision. In deciding the appeal, the city council or the appointed hearing examiner, as the case may be, shall consider the factors set forth in subsection D. The city clerk shall mail the city council's or hearing examiner's decision to the applicant by first-class mail, postage prepaid, within five days after the hearing on the appeal concludes. The decision will be final and not appealable, except as provided in subsection G.

   G.   The protest procedures in this section are administrative procedures that must be exhausted before the filing of any petition seeking judicial review. Such a petition must be filed under Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5 on or before the later of the following: the 90th day after the date on which the decision is mailed to the applicant, or the expiration of the 180-day limitation period in California Government Code section 66020, subdivision (d)(2).

   H.   This section does not apply to the extent a subsequent article in this chapter provides otherwise. (Ord. 2017-0010 § 1)

18.56.160 Mitigation Fee Act.

   This chapter and all resolutions adopted under it are subordinate to the Mitigation Fee Act. The Mitigation Fee Act controls if a conflict arises between it and this chapter or any resolution. (Ord. 2017-0010 § 1)

18.56.165 Legal Challenge.

   Any judicial action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul any ordinance or resolution imposing, adopting, or modifying any fee or an automatic adjustment that results in an increase of the fee amount, shall be brought pursuant to the Mitigation Fee Act. (Ord. 2017-0010 § 1)

18.56.170 Severability.

   A.   If any provision of this chapter or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid or ineffective by any court of competent jurisdiction, or by reason of any preemptive legislation, that invalidity shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this chapter. The city council declares that it would have enacted this chapter and each section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause and phrase, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases or words be declared invalid.

   B.   If, for any reason, any fee amount established by this chapter is invalid, then all remaining fee amounts so established remain in effect.

   C.   If any fee established by this chapter is invalid because of an insufficient nexus to a specific component of the applicable infrastructure, then the fee remains valid as it relates to other components of the infrastructure. (Ord. 2017-0010 § 1)