A. If the City fails to collect or spend the impact fees in accordance with this chapter, or in accordance with Montana Code Annotated section 7-6-1602, the City shall refund any impact fees collected to the current owner of the property on which impact fees have been paid. In determining whether impact fees have been expended or encumbered, impact fees shall be considered expended or encumbered on a first in, first out basis.
B. The City shall notify potential claimants by first class mail deposited with the United States Postal Service at the last known address of such claimants. A potential claimant or claimant must be the owner of the property.
C. Owners seeking a refund of impact fees must submit a written request for a refund of the fees to the City Manager or his designee within one year of the date the right to claim the refund arises or the date that notice is given, whichever is later.
D. Any impact fees for which no application for a refund has been made within this one-year period shall be retained by the City and expended on the appropriate public facilities.
E. Refunds of impact fees under this section shall include any interest earned on the impact fees by the City.
F. The City shall also refund to the current owner of property for which impact fees have been paid all impact fees paid, excluding the administrative fees described in section 10-2-13 of this chapter, if the development for which the impact fees were imposed did not occur; provided that, if the City has expended or encumbered the impact fees in good faith prior to the application for a refund, the City Manager or his designee can decline to provide the refund. If within a period of three (3) years, the same or subsequent owner of the property proceeds with the same or substantially similar development, the owner can petition the City Manager or his designee for an offset. The petitioner must provide receipts of impact fees previously paid for a development of the same or substantially similar nature on the same property or some portion thereof. The City Manager or his designee shall determine in writing whether to grant an offset, and the determinations of the City Manager or his designee may be appealed pursuant to the procedures in section 10-2-6 of this chapter. (Ord. 18-38, 12-3-2018)