Chapter 14.30
PUBLIC FACILITIES IMPACT FEES
Sections:
14.30.010 Findings and authority.
14.30.020 Assessment of impact fees.
14.30.030 Collection within municipal UGAs and special purpose districts.
14.30.130 Independent fee calculations.
14.30.140 Existing authority unimpaired.
* Prior legislation: Ords. O20070012 and O20030019.
14.30.010 Findings and authority.
The Board of Skagit County Commissioners (the “Board”) hereby finds and determines that new growth and development in Skagit County will create additional demand and need for public facilities in Skagit County, and the Board finds that new growth and development should pay a proportionate share of the cost of new public facilities needed to serve the new growth and development. Therefore, pursuant to RCW Chapter 82.02, the Board adopts this Chapter to assess impact fees for certain public facilities. The provisions of this Chapter shall be construed as to intent in order to carry out the purposes of the Board in establishing the impact fee program. (Ord. O20150010 § 3 (Exh. C); Ord. 17938 Attch. F (part), 2000)
14.30.020 Assessment of impact fees.
(1) Impact fees are hereby required for all building permits in the categories of development activity identified in the County’s impact fee schedule, which must be adopted by ordinance and must specify the service area for each category of development.
(2) Impact fees are calculated at the time the building permit is issued at the rate then in effect. Applications do not vest to the impact fees in effect at the time of application.
(3) Impact fees are due at the time the building permit is issued, except an applicant for a building permit for a single-family residence may defer payment pursuant to this Subsection.
(a) Deferrals are limited to 20 building permits per applicant, as defined in RCW 82.02.050(3)(g)(i), per year.
(b) The applicant must grant and record a deferred impact fee lien in favor of the County, on forms provided by the Department, concurrent with the Department’s issuance of the building permit.
(c) The deferral lasts 18 months or until final inspection, whichever is earlier.
(d) The Department must withhold certification of final inspection until the applicant pays the impact fees in full.
(4) When an impact fee is required, the County may also collect an administration fee, per the adopted fee schedule, to cover the cost of administration. (Ord. O20150010 § 3 (Exh. C); Ord. O20150002 § 3 (Att. 2 (part)); Ord. 17938 Attch. F (part), 2000)
14.30.030 Collection within municipal UGAs and special purpose districts.
(1) The County must collect impact fees on behalf of any special purpose district, or a town or city for development within its urban growth area (any of which are referred to in this chapter as a “district”), that has complied with the provisions of this Section.
(2) Before the County may collect impact fees on behalf of a district:
(a) The district must submit its capital facilities plan, impact fee schedule, and impact fee calculations to the County;
(b) The County must incorporate the district’s capital facilities plan into the County’s comprehensive plan;
(c) The County must adopt the district’s impact fee schedule by ordinance; and
(d) The County and the district must enter into an interlocal agreement with the district consistent with this Section.
(3) The interlocal agreement between the County and the district must include the following:
(a) Procedures for the collection, accounting, and refunds of impact fees consistent with this Chapter;
(b) A requirement for the district to use the impact fees and any interest earned in accordance with State law governing impact fees;
(c) A requirement to provide an annual report to the County consistent with RCW 82.02.070;
(d) A requirement for the district to indemnify the County against any claim for refunds or challenges to payment of the impact fees for that district.
(4) The County’s collection of an administration fee, pursuant to SCC 14.30.020, is in addition to any
impact fees collected for a district. The County will not collect a district’s own administration fees. (Ord. O20150010 § 3 (Exh. C))
14.30.040 Exemptions.
(1) The following shall be exempt from the payment of all impact fees:
(a) That portion of any housing development reserved or set aside exclusively for the elderly, including nursing homes and retirement centers, so long as these uses are maintained in perpetuity and the necessary covenants or declarations of restrictions, approved by the County and any affected district, are recorded on the property;
(b) Replacement to a similar intensity of a residential structure or mobile home having been actively occupied for the three previous years with a new residential structure or mobile home at the same site or lot when such replacement occurs within 12 months of the demolition or destruction of the prior structure or the removal of the mobile home;
(c) Alterations or expansion or enlargement or remodeling or rehabilitation or conversion of an existing dwelling unit or units where no additional units are created and the use is not changed;
(d) The construction of accessory structures to a residential use that will not create additional impacts on public facilities;
(e) Miscellaneous improvements, including, but not limited to, fences, walls, swimming pools, and signs;
(f) Demolition or moving of a structure.
(2) Certain development approvals shall be exempt from the payment of impact fees if mitigation has already been provided, as specified below. All units are exempt from the payment of impact fees if, prior to the date of the ordinance codified in this Chapter:
(a) A developer and the County and the affected district have entered into a voluntary agreement for the payment of fees, dedication of land, or the construction of a public facility segment by the developer; or
(b) A SEPA mitigation condition exists imposing the obligation of the payment of fees, dedication of land, or the construction of a public facility segment upon the developer on behalf of the district; or
(c) A land division condition exists imposing the obligation of the payment of fees, dedication of land, or the construction of a public facility segment upon the developer on behalf of the district.
Provided, however, that no exemption shall be allowed if the voluntary agreement, SEPA mitigation condition, or land division condition indicates that payment of the impact fee is necessary. Additionally, no exemption shall be allowed until the developer has provided the Administrative Official documentation demonstrating compliance with the terms of the voluntary agreement, SEPA mitigation condition, or land division condition.
(3) The Administrative Official shall be authorized to determine, after consultation with any affected district, whether a particular development activity falls within an exemption identified in this Section, in any other Section, or under other applicable law. Determinations of the Administrative Official shall be in writing and shall be subject to the appeals procedures set forth in SCC 14.30.070. (Ord. O20150010 § 3 (Exh. C); Ord. 17938 Attch. F (part), 2000)
14.30.050 Credits.
(1) If a development subject to an impact fee is approved subject to a condition that the applicant construct a public facility that is identified in the County’s or affected district’s capital facilities plan and is acceptable to the County and any affected district, the development applicant is entitled to a credit for the actual cost of providing the facility against the impact fee for that type of public facility.
(2) For each request for a credit or credits, once the County has determined that the dedication improvements and/or construction would be suitable for district purposes, the County must select an appraiser. The appraiser shall be directed to determine the value of the dedication, improvements, or construction provided by the feepayer on a case-by-case basis.
(3) The feepayer shall pay for the cost of the appraisal or request that the cost of the appraisal be deducted from the credit which the Administrative Official may be providing to the feepayer, in the event that a credit is awarded.
(4) After receiving the appraisal and after consultation with any affected district, the Administrative Official shall provide the applicant with a letter or certificate setting forth the dollar amount of the credit, the reason for the credit, where applicable, the legal description of the donation, and the legal description or other adequate description of the project or development to which the credit may be applied. The applicant must sign and date a duplicate copy of such letter or certificate indicating his/her agreement to the terms of the letter or certificate, and return such signed document to the Administrative Official before the impact fee credit will be awarded. The failure of the applicant to sign, date, and return such document within 60 calendar days shall nullify the credit.
(5) Any claim for credit must be made no later than 20 calendar days after the submission of an application for a building permit.
(6) For each request for a credit for significant past tax payments made for particular public facility system improvements, the feepayer shall submit receipts and a calculation of past tax payments earmarked for or proratable to the particular system improvements.
(7) Determinations made by the Administrative Official pursuant to this Section shall be subject to the appeals procedures set forth in SCC 14.30.070. (Ord. O20150010 § 3 (Exh. C); Ord. 17938 Attch. F (part), 2000)
14.30.060 Tax adjustments.
Repealed by Ord. O20150010. (Ord. O20070009 (part); Ord. 17938 Attch. F (part), 2000)
14.30.070 Appeals.
(1) Any feepayer may pay the impact fees imposed by this Chapter under protest in order to obtain a project development approval. That includes, but is not limited to, land divisions, or building permits. Appeals regarding the impact fees imposed on any development activity may be made by the feepayer. No appeal shall be permitted unless and until the impact fees at issue have been paid.
(2) The Administrative Official’s determinations with respect to the applicability of the impact fees to a given development activity and/or building permit, the availability of an exemption, the availability or value of a credit, or the Administrative Official’s decision concerning the independent fee calculation which is authorized in SCC 14.30.130, or the fees imposed by the Administrative Official pursuant to SCC 14.30.020(4), or any other determination which the Administrative Official is authorized to make pursuant to this Chapter, can be appealed as a Level I decision.
(3) If the Administrative Official makes a determination on an adjustment, credit, exemption, or independent fee calculation contrary to or inconsistent with the determination or analysis prepared by a district, the district may appeal the Administrative Official’s determination as a Level I decision. (Ord. 17938 Attch. F (part), 2000)
14.30.080 Authorization for interlocal agreements and the establishment of impact fee accounts.
Repealed by Ord. O20150010. (Ord. O20150002 § 3 (Att. 2 (part)); Ord. 17938 Attch. F (part), 2000)
14.30.090 Refunds.
(1) If the County or a district fails to expend or encumber the impact fees within the period established by statute, or where extraordinary or compelling reasons exist, within such other time periods established pursuant to SCC 14.30.100(5), the current owner of the property on which impact fees have been paid may receive a refund of such 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.
(2) The County, based on consultation with any affected district and the Skagit County Treasurer, shall notify potential claimants by first-class mail deposited with the United States Postal Service at the last known address of such claimants. Fees are identified with land parcels; therefore, a potential claimant or claimant must be the owner of the property at the time refunds are initiated.
(3) Owners seeking a refund of impact fees must submit a written request for a refund of the fees to the Administrative Official within one year of the date the right to claim the refund arises or the date that notice is given, whichever is later.
(4) Any impact fees for which no application for a refund has been made within this one-year period shall be retained and expended on a related type of public facility for which the fees were originally collected.
(5) Refunds of impact fees under this Section shall include any interest earned on the impact fees.
(6) Per RCW 82.02.080(2), when the County seeks to terminate any or all components of the impact fee program, all unexpended or unencumbered funds from any terminated component or components, including interest earned, shall be refunded pursuant to this Section. Upon the finding that any or all fee requirements are to be terminated, the County shall place notice of such termination and the availability of refunds in a newspaper of general circulation at least two times and shall notify all potential claimants by first-class mail at the last known address of the claimants. All funds available for refund shall be retained for a period of one year. At the end of one year, any remaining funds shall be retained by a district, but must be expended for the appropriate facilities. This notice requirement shall not apply if there are no unexpended or unencumbered balances within the account or accounts being terminated.
The County shall also refund to the current owner of property for which impact fees have been paid all impact fees paid, including interest earned on the impact fees, when the developer does not proceed with the development activity and no impact has resulted; except that, if a district has expended or encumbered the impact fees in good faith prior to the application for a refund, the district can decline to provide the refund. (Ord. O20150010 § 3 (Exh. C); Ord. 17938 Attch. F (part), 2000)
14.30.100 Use of funds.
(1) Pursuant to this Chapter, impact fees:
(a) Shall be used for public facility improvements of the district that will reasonably benefit the new development; and
(b) Shall not be imposed to make up for deficiencies in the district’s facilities serving existing developments; and
(c) Shall not be used for maintenance or operation.
(2) Impact fees may be spent for improvements, including, but not limited to, facility planning, land acquisition, site improvements, necessary off-site improvements, construction, engineering, architectural, permitting, financing, and administrative expenses, applicable impact fees or mitigation costs, capital equipment pertaining to public facilities, and any other expenses which can be capitalized.
(3) Impact fees may also be used to recoup public facility improvement costs previously incurred to the extent that new growth and development will be served by the previously constructed improvements or incurred costs and provided the proposed impact fee otherwise meets the requirements of RCW 82.02.050 through 82.02.100.
(4) In the event that bonds or similar debt instruments are or have been issued for the construction of public facility or system improvements for which impact fees may be expended, impact fees may be used to pay debt service on such bonds or similar debt instruments to the extent that the facilities or improvements provided are consistent with the requirements of this Section and are used to serve the new development. Capital facilities plans using impact fees for the purpose of assisting in the provision of capital facilities of facility systems must clearly differentiate between funds used for new improvement and those funds used to correct existing deficiencies.
(5) Impact fees must be expended or encumbered within the period identified in RCW 82.02.070, unless the Board identifies in written findings extraordinary and compelling reason or reasons for holding the fees beyond the statutory period, after consultation with any affected district. (Ord. O20150010 § 3 (Exh. C); Ord. 17938 Attch. F (part), 2000)
14.30.110 Review.
Repealed by Ord. O20150010. (Ord. 17938 Attch. F (part), 2000)
14.30.120 Impact fees and administrative fees.
Repealed by Ord. O20150010. (Ord. O20070009 (part); Ord. 17938 Attch. F (part), 2000)
14.30.130 Independent fee calculations.
(1) If a district believes in good faith that none of the fee categories or fee amounts in the adopted impact fee schedule accurately describe or capture the impacts of a new development, the district may conduct independent fee calculations and submit such calculations to the Administrative Official. The Administrative Official, as part of a project permit review, may impose alternative fees on a specific development based on the calculations of the district, or may impose alternative fees based on the calculations of the Department. The alternative fees and the calculations shall be set forth in writing and shall be mailed to the feepayer.
(2) If a feepayer opts not to have the impact fees determined according to the adopted impact fee schedule, then the feepayer shall prepare and submit to the County and any affected district an independent fee calculation for the development activity for which final land division, or other development approval, or a building permit is sought. The documentation submitted shall show the basis upon which the independent fee calculation was made. The County and any affected district shall review the independent fee calculation and provide an analysis to the Administrative Official concerning whether the independent fee calculation should be accepted, rejected, or accepted in part. The Administrative Official, as part of a project permit review, may adopt, reject, or adopt in part the independent fee calculation based on the analysis prepared by the district, or may impose alternative fees based on the calculations of the Department, the feepayer’s independent fee calculation, the specific characteristics of the development, and/or principles of fairness. The fees or alternative fees and the calculations shall be set forth in writing and shall be mailed to the feepayer and to the district.
(3) Any feepayer submitting an independent fee calculation will be required to pay the County a fee to cover the cost of reviewing the independent fee calculation. The fee shall be $500, plus any additional staff time spent in the review and the cost of consultant services if the County deems these services to be necessary. The County shall require the feepayer to post a cash deposit of $500 prior to initiating the review.
(4) While there is a presumption that the calculations set forth in a district’s capital facilities plan are valid, the Administrative Official shall consider the documentation submitted by a feepayer and the analysis prepared by a district, but is not required to accept such documentation or analysis which the Administrative Official reasonably deems to be inaccurate or not reliable, and may, in the alternative, require the feepayer or the district to submit additional or different documentation for consideration. The Administrative Official is authorized to adjust the impact fees on a case-by-case basis based on the independent fee calculation, the specific characteristics of the development, and/or principles of fairness. The fees or alternative fees and the calculations shall be set forth in writing and shall be mailed to the feepayer and to the affected district.
(5) Determinations made by the Administrative Official pursuant to this Section may be appealed subject to the procedures set forth in SCC 14.30.070. (Ord. O20150010 § 3 (Exh. C); Ord. O20070009 (part); Ord. 17938 Attch. F (part), 2000)
14.30.140 Existing authority unimpaired.
Nothing in this Chapter shall preclude the County from requiring the feepayer or the proponent of a development activity to mitigate adverse environmental impacts of a specific development pursuant to the State Environmental Policy Act, RCW Chapter 43.21C, based on the environmental documents accompanying the underlying development approval process, and/or RCW Chapter 58.17, governing land divisions and subdivisions; provided, that the exercise of this authority is consistent with RCW 43.21C.065 and 82.02.100. (Ord. O20150010 § 3 (Exh. C); Ord. 17938 Attch. F (part), 2000)