Chapter 13.55
IMPACT FEES
Sections:
13.55.040 Calculation of impact fees.
13.55.060 Offsets to impact fees.
13.55.070 Developer agreements for impact fees.
13.55.080 Challenges and appeals.
13.55.090 Collection of impact fees.
13.55.100 Fund accounting for impact fees.
13.55.130 Impact fee as supplemental regulation to other financing methods.
13.55.150 Independent impact fee calculations.
13.55.010 Purpose.
Growth and development activity in Syracuse City have created an additional demand and need for roadway facilities, water facilities, publicly owned parks, open space and recreational facilities, and police and fire facilities. Persons responsible for growth and development activity should pay a proportionate share of the cost of such planned facilities needed to serve the growth and development activity. Impact fees are necessary to achieve an equitable allocation to the costs borne in the past and to be borne in the future, in comparison to the benefits already received and yet to be received. Pursuant to Title 11, Chapter 36A, Utah Code Annotated 1953, this chapter regulates impact fees for planned facilities. The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed in order to carry out the purposes of the impact fee program. [Ord. 16-06; Ord. 14-19; Ord. 13-18 § 1; Ord. 07-03 § 2; Ord. 02-01; Code 1971 § 3-11-1.]
13.55.020 Applicability.
The collection of impact fees shall apply to all new development activity in the City unless waived by the City Council, or otherwise exempted herein. No building permit for any development activity shall be issued until all impact fees required by this chapter have been paid in full. A stop work order shall be issued on any development activity for which the applicable impact fee has not been paid in full.
(A) All new secondary water connections shall be considered new development.
(B) Park property acquisition impact fees shall apply only to new residential subdivision development.
(C) Park construction impact fees shall apply only to new residential dwelling unit construction activity.
(D) The movement of a structure onto a lot shall be considered development activity and shall be subject to the impact fee provisions. [Ord. 16-06; Ord. 14-19; Ord. 13-18 § 1; Ord. 03-04; Code 1971 § 3-11-2.]
13.55.030 Service areas.
The service area for all impact fees shall be all of the incorporated area of the City, including future annexed areas.
The City Council, as part of the impact fee revision process, shall review the appropriateness of the boundary designation of the service area periodically. Following such review and a public hearing, the service area may be amended. [Ord. 02-01; Code 1971 § 3-11-3.]
13.55.040 Calculation of impact fees.*
Calculation of impact fees shall be established by each individual impact fee enactment included herein as an appendix to this chapter as follows:
Appendix A, secondary water impact fee (Ord. 17-13);
Appendix B, storm water impact fee;
Appendix C, transportation impact fee (Ord. 16-05);
Appendix D, parks, trails, and recreation impact fee (Ord. 13-17);
Appendix E, public safety impact fee (Ord. 14-18);
Appendix F, culinary water impact fee (Ord. 17-14). [Ord. 17-15; Ord. 16-06; Ord. 14-19; Ord. 13-18 § 1; Ord. 10-08 §§ 1, 2; Ord. 09-06 § 1; Ord. 09-05 § 1; Ord. 07-13 § 1; Ord. 07-03 § 3; Ord. 05-03; Ord. 02-01; Code 1971 § 3-11-4.]
* Code reviser’s note: Appendices A through F are on file in the office of the City Recorder.
13.55.050 Exemptions.
The following shall be exempted from the payment of all impact fees:
(A) Replacement of a structure with a new structure of the same size and use at the same site or lot when a building permit for such replacement is obtained within 12 months after the demolition or destruction of the prior structure and the replacement is completed within 24 months after the granting of the building permit.
(B) Alterations, expansion, enlargement, remodeling, rehabilitation, or conversion of an existing unit where no additional units are created and the use is not materially changed.
(C) Construction of accessory structures that will not create significant impacts on the planned facilities.
(D) Miscellaneous accessory improvements to uses, including but not limited to fences, walls, swimming pools, and signs.
(E) Demolition or moving of a structure.
(F) Placing on a lot in the City a temporary construction trailer or office, but only for the life of the building permit issued for the construction served by the trailer or office. [Ord. 02-01; Code 1971 § 3-11-5.]
13.55.060 Offsets to impact fees.
Offsets against the impact fee that would otherwise be due for a development activity may be approved in accordance with the following provisions:
(A) An offset shall be granted for qualifying improvements that are required to be made by a developer as a condition of development approval.
(B) Offsets shall be allowable and payable only to offset impact fees otherwise due for the same category of improvements. Unless otherwise expressly agreed to in writing by the City Council, offsets shall not result in reimbursement from the City or constitute a credit against future fees, and shall not constitute a liability of the City for any deficiency in the offset.
(C) Offsets shall be given only for the value of any construction of improvements or contribution or dedication of land or money by a developer or his predecessor in title or interest for qualifying improvements of the same category for which an impact fee was imposed.
(D) The person applying for an offset shall be responsible for providing and paying for appraisals of land and improvements, construction cost figures, and documentation of all contributions and dedications necessary to the computation of the offset claimed. The City Council shall not grant offsets to any person who cannot provide such documentation in such form as the City may reasonably require.
(E) The value of land dedicated or donated shall be based on the appraised land value of the parent parcel on the date of transfer of ownership to the City, as determined by an MAI-certified appraiser who was selected from a list of City-approved appraisers provided by the City and paid for by the applicant, who used generally accepted appraisal techniques.
(F) Offsets provided for qualifying improvements meeting the requirements of this section shall be valid from the date of approval until 10 years after the date of approval or until the last date of construction of the project, whichever occurs first.
(G) The right to claim offsets shall run with the land and may be claimed only by owners of property within the development area for which the qualifying improvement was required.
(H) Any claim for offsets must be made in writing, not later than the time of submittal of a building permit application or an application for another permit subsequent to development approval that is subject to impact fees. Any claim not so made shall be deemed waived. [Ord. 02-01; Code 1971 § 3-11-6.]
13.55.070 Developer agreements for impact fees.
Where a development activity includes or requires a qualifying improvement, the City Council and the developer may agree in writing to have the developer participate in the financing or construction of part or all of the qualifying improvements. Such agreement may provide for cash reimbursements, offsets, or other appropriate compensation to the developer for the developer’s participation in the financing or construction of the qualifying improvements. The agreement shall include:
(A) The estimated cost of the qualifying improvements, using the lowest responsive bid by a qualified bidder; or, if no bid is available, the estimated cost certified by a licensed Utah engineer;
(B) A schedule for initiation and completion of the qualifying improvement;
(C) A requirement that the qualifying improvement be designed and completed in compliance with any applicable City or state laws or regulations; and
(D) Such other terms and conditions as deemed necessary by the City Council. [Ord. 02-01; Code 1971 § 3-11-7.]
13.55.080 Challenges and appeals.
Within the time periods set forth in Section 11-36a-702, Utah Code Annotated 1953, any person or entity who has paid an impact fee and wishes to challenge the fee shall:
(A) File a written appeal with the City Council by delivering a copy of such appeal to the City Recorder setting forth in detail each of the following:
(1) The grounds for the appeal, including any unusual circumstances justifying a deduction in the standard impact fee;
(2) The facts relied upon by the appealing party with respect to the fees appealed;
(3) All studies and data relied upon by the appealing party;
(4) The amount of the impact fee the appealing party claims should be paid and the reasons supporting that claim; and
(5) Any errors made by the City in calculating, assessing, or collecting the impact fee.
(B) Upon receipt of the appeal, the City Council shall thereafter schedule a hearing on the appeal at which time the appealing party will be given an opportunity to present evidence supporting their position and be heard. The City Council shall thereafter render its decision on the appeal no later than 30 days after the challenge to the impact fee is filed.
(C) Within 90 days of a decision regarding an impact fee by the City Council, any party to the appeal that is adversely affected by the City Council’s decision may petition the District Court for review of the decision. [Ord. 21-30 § 1 (Exh. A); Ord. 02-01; Code 1971 § 3-11-8.]
13.55.090 Collection of impact fees.
Impact fees for all new development activity shall be collected in conjunction with the application for a building permit. [Ord. 14-19; Ord. 13-18 § 1; Ord. 02-01; Code 1971 § 3-11-9.]
13.55.100 Fund accounting for impact fees.
(A) The City Council shall establish a separate interest-bearing accounting fund for each type of planned facility for which an impact fee is collected. The City shall invest such fees and the yield on such fees, at the actual rate of return to the City, shall be credited to such accounting fund periodically in accordance with the accounting policies of the City, subject to a deduction by the City of a reasonable cash management fee. Such funds need not be segregated from other City moneys for banking purposes. Interfund loans may be made between such accounting funds.
(B) Any yield on such accounting fund into which the fees are deposited shall accrue to that fund and shall be used for the purposes specified for such fund.
(C) The City shall maintain and keep financial records for each such accounting fund showing the source and amount of all moneys collected, earned and received by the fund, and each expenditure from such fund, in accordance with normal City accounting practices, and at the end of each fiscal year shall prepare a report on each such fund showing such information. The records of such fund shall be open to public inspection in the same manner as other financial records of the City.
(D) Impact fees shall be expended or encumbered within six years after their receipt, unless the Council identifies, in writing, an extraordinary and compelling reason to hold the impact fees longer than six years. Under such circumstances, the Council shall establish an absolute date by which the impact fees shall be expended. [Ord. 02-01; Code 1971 § 3-11-10.]
13.55.110 Refunds.
(A) If the City fails to expend or encumber the impact fees as required by SCC 13.55.100(D), all current owners of the property on which impact fees have been paid shall receive a pro rata refund of such impact fees. 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 the owner or owners of property for which such a refund may be made, by first class mail deposited with the United States Postal Service, at the last known address of such property owners.
(C) In order to receive such a refund, the owner or owners of the subject property must, within 12 months after the mailing of such notice by the City, make a written request for a refund to the City Council, including a certification that such person is a record owner of the property and that he or she is entitled to the refund. The City Council may rely on such certification, in the absence of a written certification by another person asserting that the proposed payee is not the proper payee. If in doubt as to whom to pay such funds, the City may deposit the funds with an appropriate court for disposition as the court may determine. In that event, the City may deduct from the funds deposited an amount equal to the reasonable costs, including attorneys’ fees, of causing the funds to be deposited with the court.
(D) Any impact fees for which no application for a refund has been made within such one-year period shall be retained by the City and expended on appropriate planned facilities.
(E) Refunds of impact fees under this section shall include any interest earned.
(F) When the City Council seeks to terminate any or all components of the impact fee program, all unexpended or unencumbered impact fees from any terminated component or components, including interest earned, shall be refunded pursuant to this section. The City Council shall publish notice of such termination and the availability of refunds in a newspaper of general circulation at least two times and shall notify all owners of property for which a refund may be made by first class mail at the last known address of such property owners. All funds available for refund shall be retained for a period of 12 months following the second publication. At the end of that period, any remaining funds shall be retained by the City, but must be expended for appropriate planned facilities. This notice requirement shall not apply if there are no unexpended or unencumbered balances within the impact fee account(s) being terminated.
(G) The City shall refund to a developer any impact fees paid by that developer, plus interest earned on the impact fees, if:
(1) The developer does not proceed with the development activity for which the impact fees were imposed;
(2) The developer files with the City Council a written request for the refund not later than 30 calendar days after the expiration of the building permit (or any extension thereof) in connection with which the impact fees were assessed; and
(3) The City Council determines that no impact has resulted from the contemplated development activity.
(H) The City shall charge an administrative fee for verifying and computing the refund equal to the lesser of three percent of the amount of the refund or the City’s actual cost of such verification and computing. [Ord. 02-01; Code 1971 § 3-11-11.]
13.55.120 Use of funds.
(A) Impact fees shall be used solely for the purposes for which they were received.
(B) Impact fees shall not be imposed to make up for deficiencies in existing facilities serving existing developments.
(C) Impact fees shall not be used for maintenance or operation.
(D) Impact fees may be spent for planned facilities, including but not limited to planning, land acquisition, construction, engineering, architectural, permitting, financing, and administrative expenses, mitigation costs, capital equipment pertaining to planned facilities, and any other similar expenses that can be capitalized pursuant to generally accepted accounting principles.
(E) Impact fees may also be used to recoup improvement costs previously incurred by the City to the extent that new growth and development activity will be served by the previously constructed improvements or incurred costs.
(F) Impact fees may be used to recoup the cost of studying, analyzing, and preparing the impact fees.
(G) Impact fees may be used to pay debt service on bonds or similar debt instruments issued to finance planned facilities to the extent such planned facilities serve the development activity for which the impact fees were imposed. [Ord. 02-01; Code 1971 § 3-11-12.]
13.55.130 Impact fee as supplemental regulation to other financing methods.
Except as otherwise provided herein, impact fees are in addition to any other requirements, taxes, fees, or assessments imposed by the City on development activity or the issuance of building permits or certificates of occupancy. Impact fees are intended to be consistent with the City’s general plan, capital facilities plan, land development ordinances, and other City policies, ordinances and resolutions by which the City seeks to ensure the provision of capital facilities in conjunction with development activity.
In addition to the use of impact fees, the City may finance qualifying capital improvements through the issuance of bonds, the formation of assessment districts, or any other authorized mechanism, in such manner and subject to such limitations as may be provided by law. [Ord. 02-01; Code 1971 § 3-11-13.]
13.55.140 Adjustments.
(A) The City Council is authorized, upon a proper showing, to adjust the standard impact fee at the time the fee is charged:
(1) To respond to unusual circumstances in specific cases, where, if no adjustments were made, an inequitable collection of impact fees would result;
(2) To ensure that the impact fee is imposed fairly and in such a manner that people in similar situations paid a substantially similar impact fee;
(3) Based upon studies and data submitted by the developer that justify recalculating the amount of the impact fee on a particular lot or development; or
(4) To allow credits as approved by the City Council for dedication of land for, improvement to, or new construction of system improvements provided by the developer, if the facilities are identified in the capital facilities plan and are required by the City as a condition of approving the development activity.
(B) As used herein, “system improvements” means:
(1) Existing public facilities that are designed to provide services to service areas within the community at large; and
(2) Future public facilities identified in a capital facilities plan that are intended to provide service to service areas within the community at large. [Ord. 02-01; Code 1971 § 3-11-14.]
13.55.150 Independent impact fee calculations.
(A) If a fee payer desires not to have an impact fee determined according to an impact fee enactment set forth in the appendices to this chapter, on file in the office of the City Recorder, then the fee payer shall prepare and submit to the City Council an independent impact fee calculation for the development activity. The documentation submitted shall show the basis upon which the independent impact fee calculation was made. The appropriate department staff persons shall review the independent impact fee calculation and provide an analysis to the City Council concerning whether the independent impact fee calculation should be accepted, rejected, or accepted in part. The City Council may adopt, reject, or adopt in part the independent impact fee calculation based on the department’s analysis and based on the specific characteristics of the development activity. The impact fee or alternative impact fee and the calculations shall be set forth in writing and shall be mailed to the fee payer.
(B) Any fee payer submitting an independent impact fee calculation must pay to the City a fee to cover the cost of reviewing the independent impact fee calculation. The fee shall be an amount equal to the actual review costs incurred by the City, including the cost of any consultant services deemed necessary by the City Council. The City shall require the fee payer to post a cash deposit of $150.00 prior to initiating the review, subject to refunding to the fee payer any portion of such deposit that exceeds actual costs of review.
(C) The City Council shall consider the documentation submitted by the fee payer and the analysis prepared by the appropriate department staff persons, but is not required to accept such documentation or analysis. The City Council may require the fee payer to submit additional or different documentation for consideration. The City Council may adjust the impact fees on a case-by-case basis based on the independent impact fee calculation and the specific characteristics of the development activity. The impact fees or alternative impact fees and the calculations shall be set forth in writing and shall be mailed to the fee payer. [Ord. 02-01; Code 1971 § 3-11-15.]
13.55.160 Penalty.
A violation of this chapter is a Class B misdemeanor. Upon conviction, the violator shall be punishable according to law; however, in addition to or in lieu of any criminal prosecution, the City Council shall have the power to sue in civil court to enforce the provisions of this chapter. [Ord. 02-01; Code 1971 § 3-11-16.]