Chapter 15.28
DEVELOPMENT IMPACT ON, AND IMPACT FEE SCHEDULE FOR, PUBLIC SCHOOL FACILITIES
Sections:
15.28.030 School adequacy standards impact fees applicability.
15.28.040 Findings, recommendations and decisions regarding school capacities.
15.28.050 School adequacy standards.
15.28.080 Appeals – Adjustments – Payment under protest.
15.28.100 Impact fee account – Reporting.
15.28.010 Authority.
The ordinance codified in this chapter is adopted as an official control to implement appropriate sections of the city’s comprehensive plan policies and the Growth Management Act, and is necessary to address identified impacts of residential construction on schools in order to protect the public health, safety and welfare. (Ord. 93-05 § 3, 1993)
15.28.020 Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
A. “Capacity” means the number of students that a school site and its school buildings is designed to accommodate. The capacity standard for the school district is a combination of the designed size of the building, health, safety and program requirements, as established and adopted by the school district in its capital facilities plan, collective bargaining agreements and education principles to insure quality instruction. The capacity standards shall be determined by the school district and shall take into consideration the state capacity standards.
B. “Construction cost per student” means the estimated cost of construction of a school in the school district for the grade level of school to be provided, divided by the school district’s design capacity for that grade level of school.
C. “Grade level” means the categories into which the school district groups its grades of students, i.e., elementary, middle or junior high school and high school.
D. “Public funds” means funds allocated by the city and the school district. All required public funds shall be paid 50 percent by the city out of the current expense fund and 50 percent by the school district.
E. “Site cost per student” means the estimated cost of a site in the school district for the grade level of school to be provided, divided by the school district’s design capacity for that grade level of school.
F. “Student factor” means the number derived by the city and the school district to describe the number of students of each grade level that are expected to be generated by a single family or multi-family dwelling unit. Student factors shall be based on 1991 census data as updated by occupancy permits issued since the 1991 census, and the school district records of average actual students enrolled per household, per grade level.
G. “Temporary facilities cost per student” means the estimated cost of purchasing and siting a temporary facility (portable classroom) in the school district for the grade level of school to be provided, divided by the school district’s design capacity for temporary facilities for that grade level of school. (Ord. 93-05 § 4, 1993)
15.28.030 School adequacy standards impact fees applicability.
A. The adequacy standards and impact fees set out in this chapter shall apply to all forms of residential construction that are subject to city review and approval and that would result in the creation of new residential building lots or the construction of new dwelling units.
B. For the purposes of this chapter, the following do not constitute forms of residential construction that would result in the creation of new residential buildings or the construction of new dwelling units for which impact fees are due:
1. Construction of new dwelling units for which impact fees have been imposed by the city prior to January 2, 1992, as mitigation under the State Environmental Policy Act;
2. Construction of new dwelling units for which a complete building permit application was filed with the city prior to January 2, 1992;
3. Construction of new dwelling units for which impact fees have been assessed or paid under voluntary agreements with the city prior to January 2, 1992;
4. Construction of multi-family housing for the exclusive use of seniors (62 years of age or older), including but not limited to nursing homes and retirement centers. If use of the housing is changed in whole or in part, the owner of the property at the date of change in use shall pay impact fees for the entire property in the amount applicable at the date of change in use. The occupancy permit for the housing must state that the housing is for the exclusive use of seniors. When the occupancy permit is issued, the director of finance and administrative services shall file with the Kitsap County auditor a notice of the use restriction and the impact fee requirement on change of use;
5. Remodel or reconstruction of existing dwelling units;
6. Temporary placement shelters, relocation facilities and transitional housing facilities (such as transitional housing facilities for recovering alcoholics, prison and jail work release facilities, and temporary housing for homeless people) that are not exempt from impact fees under Section 15.28.070(A)(3). (Ord. 93-05 § 5, 1993)
15.28.040 Findings, recommendations and decisions regarding school capacities.
In reviewing applications for approvals related to or resulting in new dwelling units and/or in making a threshold determination pursuant to the State Environmental Policy Act, the city shall review the impacts on schools. The city, in the course of reviewing proposals for residential construction, including subdivisions, short subdivisions, planned unit developments, building permits, or any other proposal not cited herein resulting in an impact on schools, shall consider any documentation of capacity problems provided by the school district as presumptively valid but subject to rebuttal, and shall require or recommend phasing or provision of the needed facilities and sites as appropriate to address the deficiency or deny or condition approval as required by this chapter and as necessary to remedy the deficiency, or recommend such denial or conditional approval, as provided for in Section 15.28.050 of this chapter. The school district shall annually, by March 1, update its documentation of the adequacy of school facilities. This documentation shall be presumed to apply to any application made in the school district and shall be incorporated into the record of every application without requiring the school district to offer it. (Ord. 93-05 § 6, 1993)
15.28.050 School adequacy standards.
A. School facilities shall be deemed to have adequate capacity for purposes of approval of any residential construction proposal if all of the following circumstances exist:
1. The school district has permanent facilities to house the students, by appropriate grade level groupings, projected to result from the residential construction proposal without exceeding school district class size capacity standards. Any facilities that have been closed for more than two years due to lack of demand for the facilities shall not be treated as available for permanent facilities until any needed remodeling can be provided.
2. The school district has the land to accommodate the permanent and portable facilities needed to serve the students projected to result from the residential construction proposal.
3. The applicant has paid any school mitigation fee required by ordinance, or payment of such fee is scheduled for payment and is adequately secured.
B. If the capacity standards established by the school district are or would be exceeded with the construction of the proposed residences, the school facilities available to serve the residences shall be deemed inadequate, and the residences shall not be approved unless they are phased to meet the standards, and the impact fee authorized by this chapter is paid in a manner timely to the needs of the school district, or the needed land or facilities are provided before or concurrently with the construction of the residences. An offer of payment of an applicable impact fee shall not be deemed sufficient if the fee cannot be used in a timely fashion to actually provide needed school facilities, and the payment shall be delayed until such time as it can be used, but shall not be forgiven unless a facility of equal value is provided.
C. School adequacy standards should refer to the capital facilities plan. (Ord. 93-05 § 7, 1993)
15.28.060 Fee schedule.
A. When authorized by this chapter, impact fees for the impact of development activity on public school facilities shall be paid in accordance with the city’s fee resolution and shall be calculated in accordance with Exhibit A attached hereto and incorporated herein. Mobile homes shall be considered single family residences for the purposes of this chapter. Accessory dwelling units as defined by Section 18.06.010 of the Bainbridge Island Municipal Code and duplexes shall be considered multi-family dwellings for the purpose of this chapter.
B. When the city approves residential construction on the condition that the applicant provide a school facility or site that is acceptable to the school district, the applicant shall be entitled to a credit against impact fees, calculated in accordance with subsection A above, in the amount of the actual cost of providing the school facility or site. Upon approval of the residential construction, the applicant shall file with the city and supply to the school district an estimate of the cost of the school facility or site. Upon transfer of the site to the school district and/or construction of the school facility, the applicant shall file with the city and provide to the school district a statement of costs, together with any supporting documentation that is requested by the city and the school district. The cost statement and documentation shall be reviewed by the school district and the city after transfer and/or construction to assure an accurate credit amount. The city and the school district shall determine the actual cost of the school facility or site for purposes of determining the amount of the credit. If the actual cost as determined by the city and the school district is less than the impact fee that would have been imposed under subsection A above, the applicant shall pay the difference as an impact fee. (Ord. 93-05 § 8, 1993)
15.28.070 Exemptions.
A. No impact fees shall be imposed for the following:
1. Low-income housing projects that are constructed by public housing agencies or private nonprofit housing developers;
2. Low-income residential units, rented or purchased, that are dedicated and constructed by private developers;
3. Temporary placement shelters, relocation facilities and transitional housing facilities (such as transitional housing facilities for recovering alcoholics, prison or jail work release facilities, and temporary housing for homeless persons), that in the determination of the director of planning and community development have the potential for accommodating children who will attend public schools on a consistent basis. The decision of the director may be appealed pursuant to this chapter.
B. For purposes of this section, a low-income housing project unit or a low-income residential rental unit is one that has a maximum rent and a maximum income level for tenants equal to or less that 50 percent of the average of the median income, adjusted for family size, between the Seattle Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Bremerton Metropolitan Statistical Area as of the date of the application for construction of the unit. A low-income residential purchased unit is one that has a sales price of $130,000 or less for single family houses, and $95,000 or less for multi-family units. These maximum sale prices shall be adjusted by the Seattle CPI-U consumer price index each year, with 1992 being the base year. The purchaser’s family income cannot exceed 80 percent of the average median income, adjusted for family size, between the Seattle Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Bremerton Metropolitan Statistical Area as of the date of application for construction of the house or unit.
C. Impact fees for the projects and units exempted by this section shall be paid from public funds.
D. The department of planning and community development shall review requests for exemptions from impact fees under subsection A1 of this section pursuant to criteria and procedures adopted by administrative rule, and shall advise the developer in writing of the granting or denial of the request. In addition, the department shall notify the school district of all applications for exemptions when they are received and shall notify the school district when such requests are granted or denied.
E. When a low-income purchased unit is sold or rented to a person who does not qualify as a low-income purchaser or tenant, an amount equal to the impact fee on the date of the sale or rental shall be paid by the seller or the property owner to the city.
F. When a low-income purchased unit has received a certificate of occupancy, the director of finance and administrative services shall record a notice of the exemption and the income qualification requirements for such unit with the Kitsap County auditor. (Ord. 93-05 § 9, 1993)
15.28.080 Appeals – Adjustments – Payment under protest.
A. An applicant for residential construction may provide studies and data to demonstrate that any particular factor used by the school district may not be appropriately applied to the residential construction proposal. The school district’s data shall be presumed valid unless clearly demonstrated to be otherwise by the applicant.
B. Any appeal of school adequacy determinations or fee amounts shall follow the appeal process for the underlying permit or approval and shall not be subject to a separate appeal process. Where no other administrative appeal process is available, an appeal may be taken to the hearing examiner using the appeal procedures for variances.
C. Any error in the formula identified as a result of an appeal should be referred to the city council for possible modification of the fees and/or impact fee formula after notice to and comment from the school district.
D. Impact fees may be paid under protest. If an impact fee is protested, the city shall make construction pursuant to the issuance of a building permit conditional upon final resolution of the protest, if failure to collect the fee payment would otherwise require a denial or deferral of the project to meet school district adequacy standard requirements. (Ord. 93-05 § 10, 1993)
15.28.090 Payment of fees.
A. Impact fees shall be collected as follows:
1. For subdivisions other than subdivisions of land classified as agricultural by the Kitsap County assessor under Chapter 84.34 RCW, one-half of the impact fee for each lot in the subdivision shall be paid at the time of final approval of the subdivision, with the amount of the fees calculated based on the impact fee schedule in effect at the time of final approval. For each lot in the subdivision, the remainder of the impact fee due for the lot shall be paid at the time of issuance of a building permit for the lot, with the amount of the fee calculated based on one-half of the impact fee schedule in effect at the time of building permit issuance.
2. For subdivisions of land classified as agricultural by the Kitsap County assessor under Chapter 84.34 RCW, the impact fee for each lot in the subdivision shall be paid at the time the lot’s agricultural classification is changed, or at the time a residential building permit is issued for the lot, whichever occurs first, with the amount of the fee being calculated based on the impact fee schedule in effect at the time that the fee is paid.
3. For planned unit developments, one-half of the impact fee for each dwelling unit in the planned unit development shall be paid at the time of final approval of the planned unit development, with the amount of the fees calculated based on the impact fee schedule in effect at the time of final approval. For each dwelling unit in the planned unit development, the remainder of the impact fee due for the dwelling unit shall be paid at the time of issuance of a building permit for the dwelling unit, with the amount of the fee calculated based on one-half of the impact fee schedule in effect at the time of building permit issuance.
4. For developments that are completed in phases, one-half of the impact fees for each dwelling unit in the phase shall be paid by the applicant at the time of final approval of the phase, with the amount of the fees calculated based on the impact fee schedule in effect at the time of final approval of the phase. For each dwelling unit in the development, the remainder of the impact fees due for the dwelling unit shall be paid at the time of issuance of building permits, with the amount of the fees being calculated based on one-half of the impact fee schedule in effect at the time of building permit issuance.
5. For residential construction on existing lots or parcels and all other residential construction not covered by subdivisions 1, 2, and 3 of this subsection, the full fee shall be assessed and paid upon issuance of building permits.
B. Following payment of the first half of the fee, the director of finance and administrative services shall file with the Kitsap County auditor a notice of the amount of the fee already paid, and a statement that, upon issuance of building permits, the property owner must pay the remainder of the impact fees due for the property, based on one-half of the impact fee schedule in effect at the time of building permit issuance. For impact fees assessed on the subdivision of land classified as agricultural by the Kitsap County assessor under Chapter 84.34 RCW, the director shall file with the Kitsap County auditor a notice stating that at the time the lot’s agricultural classification is changed or at the time a residential building permit is issued, whichever occurs first, the property owner must pay one-half of the impact fees due for the property, based on the impact fee schedule in effect at the time of payment.
C. Arrangement may be made for later payment, with the approval of the school district, only if the school district determines that it will be unable to use or will not need the payment until a later time; provided, that sufficient security shall be provided to assure payment. (Ord. 2000-30 § 1, 2000; Ord. 96-16 § 1, 1996; Ord. 93-05 § 11, 1993)
15.28.100 Impact fee account – Reporting.
A. There is created and established in the office of the director of finance and administrative services a special interest bearing account for the receipt and payment of impact fees imposed pursuant to this chapter. All interest earned through investment of funds in the account shall be retained in the account and expended in the same manner as impact fees.
B. The director of finance and administrative services shall prepare an annual report for the account showing the source and amount of funds received and earned and the school facilities that were financed in whole or in part by impact fees.
C. Commencing on March 1st of each year, the director of finance and administrative services, in consultation with the school district business manager or other school district designee, shall review information necessary to update the actual amounts associated with the six impact fee components utilized in the calculation under the formula set out in Exhibit A,1 and shall, within 45 days, forward a recommended revised fee schedule, as necessary, to the city council. (Ord. 93-05 § 12, 1993)
15.28.110 Expenditure.
A. The school district shall expend the impact fees for facilities approved by the school capital facilities element of the city’s comprehensive plan.
B. The school district shall expend or encumber impact fees within six years of receipt by the city; provided, that the school district may expend or encumber impact fees more than six years after receipt where the city determines, pursuant to written finding entered within the six-year period, and based on evidence provided by the school district, that there is an extraordinary and compelling reason for the impact fees to be expended or encumbered more than six years after receipt. (Ord. 93-05 § 13, 1993)
15.28.120 Refunds.
A. The current owner of property for which an impact fee has been paid may receive a refund of the impact fee where the development activity has not occurred within six years of payment; or where the fee has not been expended or encumbered within the six-year period or extension thereof provided for in BIMC 15.28.110 and there has been no impact on school district facilities. Impact fees shall be considered encumbered on a first in, first out basis.
B. The city shall notify potential claimants of their right to file an application for a refund and the deadline for filing such an application. The notices shall be sent by first class mail deposited with the United States Postal Service at the addresses shown on the records of the county auditor. The request for a refund must be filed with the city clerk in writing within one year of the date on which the right to a refund arises or the postmark date of the notice, whichever is later.
C. Any impact fees that are not expended or encumbered within the six-year period or extension thereof, and for which no application for a refund has been filed within the one-year period, shall be retained and expended in conformance with the school capital facilities element of the city’s comprehensive plan.
D. Refunds of impact fees shall include interest, the rate of which shall be the average rate received by the city on funds in the impact fee account during the deposit of the impact fees. (Ord. 93-05 § 14, 1993)
Exhibit A is on file in the office of the city clerk.