CHAPTER 1300. CONCURRENCY AND IMPACT FEES

 SECTION 1302.    IMPACT FEES

1302.3.      School Impact Fees

 A. Intent and Purpose

        1. To provide school facilities, school sites and school buses that are adequate for the needs of residential growth, which is                         in the general welfare of all residents of the County and constitutes a public purpose.

       2. To establish uniform school impact fees throughout the County and the procedures for the imposition, calculation,                                  collection, administration, and expenditure of school impact fees.

      3. To facilitate the implementation of the Goals, Objectives, and Policies of the Comprehensive Plan relating to ensuring that                     new residential construction contributes its fair share towards the costs of school facilities, school sites and school                                 buses necessitated by such new residential construction.

      4. To ensure that new residential construction is reasonably benefitted by the provision of the public school facilities, school                        sites and school buses provided with the proceeds of school impact fees.

      5. That the implementation of a school impact fee to require future growth to contribute its fair share of the cost of growth                           necessitated capital expenditures to the school system is necessary and reasonably related to the public health, safety,                          and welfare of the people of the County.

      6. That providing school facilities, school sites and school buses which are adequate for the needs of growth is in the general                     welfare of all residents of the County and constitutes a public purpose.

B. School Impact Fee Study and Modifications

    1. The Board of County Commissioners (BCC) has adopted and incorporates by reference the School Impact Fee Study by                       TischlerBise, entitled School Impact Fee Update, dated July 10, 2017 (“2017 Study”), but has elected to adopt school                              impact fees at rates that are approximately 92% of the amounts of the 2017 Study, and has elected to phase in the                                adopted school impact fees over a three year period (≈79% in 2018; ≈86% in 2019; and ≈92% in 2020). Except for                                  the phase in of the adopted fees and the annual adjustments of the facilities component of the school impact fee                                    permitted by Subsection B.2., the school impact fee shall not be updated in a manner that would result in                                                an increased school impact fee for period of five (5) years after the effective date of the 2017 school                                                        impact fee increase (January 1, 2018).

   2. The amount of the facilities component of the school impact fee may be adjusted annually on or before May 1 if each year by                 using the most recent and local construction cost indices contained within the Engineering New Record. May 1, 2016                             shall be the base year for any adjustments made pursuant to this paragraph. Any proposed changes to the                                             amount of the facilities component of the school impact fee pursuant to this paragraph shall be                                                                 documented and recommended by the School Board on or before March 1 of the year of the                                                                    requested change and shall be established by resolution of the BCC. If the change results in                                                                    an increase in the school impact fee, the fee increase shall not take effect until at least                                                                              ninety (90) days after the publication of the notice for the resolution establishing the                                                                                  change in the fee.

C. Imposition

   1. School impact fees shall be imposed on new residential construction within all of the County not otherwise exempted in this                   section or waived by general or special law. For purposes of this section, the entire County shall be considered one (1)                           school impact fee district.

   2. For Building Permits or Mobile Home Tie-Down Permits for which a complete application is submitted after December 31,                       2017, the school impact fee amounts shall be as follows:

For Building Permits and Mobile Home Tie-Down Permits for which a complete application is submitted after December 31, 2018, the school impact fee amounts shall be as follows:

For Building Permits and Mobile Home Tie-Down Permits for which a complete application is submitted after December 31, 2019, the school impact fee amounts shall be as follows:

    3. If the School Board receives any new revenue for school capital construction for new capacity that was not assumed in the                    2017 Study, including, but not limited to, revenue from a school capital outlay surtax, general obligation bond, or increase                      in the maximum school capital outlay millage (“New Revenue Source”), then school impact fees shall be adjusted                                  within 90 days of the effective date of the New Revenue Source, by resolution of the Board of County Commissioners, to reflect            an appropriate revenue credit, as determined by the School Board’s impact fee consultant, for the portion of the New Revenue               Source allocated to new school capacity projects.

    4. The school impact fee shall be determined at the time a completed application for a Building Permit or Mobile Home Tie-                         Down Permit for new residential construction is submitted.

    5. Exemptions: An exemption must be claimed by the applicant or it  shall be waived. Payment of the school impact fee shall                       not apply to the following situations if the applicant clearly demonstrates with competent substantial evidence to the                               County Administrator or designee, or city official where applicable, one (1) of the following:

                               a. Other uses. No school impact fee shall be imposed on a non- residential structure, which cannot result in an                                            increase in the demand for school facilities.

                               b. Alterations or expansions. No school impact fee shall be imposed for alterations or expansions of a dwelling                                           unit that existed prior to the effective date of the 2017 school impact fee increase (January 1, 2018). However,                                         where an alteration or expansion will create an additional dwelling unit; e.g., a single- family detached house                                           altered to create two (2) or more apartments, a school impact fee equivalent to the difference between the                                               school impact fee amount for the existing use and the new use shall be due for each additional dwelling unit                                           pursuant to the school impact fee schedule in place at the time of the change in circumstances.

                              c. Accessory buildings. No school impact fee shall be imposed for construction of accessory buildings or                                                    structures that cannot create additional dwelling units.

                             d. Replacement of dwelling unit. No school impact fee shall be imposed for the replacement of a dwelling unit,                                           in whole or in part, as long as the owner can demonstrate that the same use existed as of February 27, 2001, or                                     that the appropriate school impact fee has been paid. However, where a replacement will create a greater student                                  demand generator, as defined in the School Impact Fee Study; e.g., a mobile home replaced by a single-family                                      house, a school impact fee equivalent to the difference shall be due for the resulting dwelling unit pursuant to the                                   school impact fee schedule in place at the time of the change in circumstances.

                            e. Mobile homes. No school impact fee shall be imposed for the issuance of a Tie-Down Permit for a mobile home                                      where the applicant is able to demonstrate to the County Administrator or city official where applicable, that a                                          school impact fee has previously been paid for the lot upon which the mobile home is to be situated.

                           f. Age Restricted Communities. Communities and subdivisions that provide housing for persons who are fifty-five                                      (55) years of age and older and that comply with this Code, Section 1302.1.D, are exempt from the payment of                                      school impact fees.

   6. Alternative form of payment. Nothing herein precludes the School Board from entering into agreements with affordable                          housing providers to subsidize the school impact fee assessed from funds other than school impact fees. In addition,                             nothing herein precludes the cities, the County, or the School Board from subsidizing on a case-by-case basis, from                               non-impact fee revenues, the school impact fee on behalf of any applicant, including specifically redevelopment lots in the                     County’s Harbors West Market Area.

   7. Any new residential construction which is determined to be exempt from the payment of school impact fees but which, as a                    result of a change in circumstances, produces a dwelling unit that is not exempt shall pay the school impact fee imposed                        according to the impact fee schedule in effect at such time as the change in circumstances occurs, taken into consideration any            adjustments of the school impact fee.

D. Calculation

   1. The applicable school impact fee shall be based upon the above table and any adjustments in effect upon receipt of a                            complete application for a Building Permit. If an applicant has received a school impact fee credit pursuant to this                                    chapter that credit shall be subtracted from the otherwise applicable school impact fee.

   2. In the alternative, the applicable school impact fee may be based upon an independent fee calculation as provided for in this                  chapter.

   3. An applicant may request at any time a nonbinding estimate of school impact fees due for a particular development; however,               such estimate is subject to change when a complete application for a Building Permit for new residential construction is made.

E. Payment/Collection

    1. The County Administrator, or the appropriate official within the cities, shall collect the school impact fee prior to the issuance                   of a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) for the new residential construction. Where a CO is not required, the school impact                           fee shall be paid prior to the final inspection.

F. School Impact Fee Funds/Appropriation of Funds

    1. The County and municipalities shall establish school impact fee funds for school impact fees. Such funds shall clearly be                        identified as monies collected as school impact fees. The school impact fees shall, upon receipt by the County, be                                  deposited into the school impact fee fund. The school impact fees shall remain in the fund until transferred to the                                    School Board in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement between the County, School Board and Clerk of Circuit Court.          The school impact fees shall, upon receipt by the cities, be deposited into the funds established by the cities for school impact              fees. The school impact fees deposited into the fund during the previous calendar month shall be transferred from the                            cities to the School Board prior to the fifteenth (15^th) day of each month. The school impact fee monies transferred to the School            Board from the County and the cities shall be deposited into an account; i.e., the school impact fee account, established by the              School Board and held and maintained separate from all other accounts of the School Board.

    2. The monies transferred from the school impact fee fund shall be used by the School Board solely to provide school facilities,                  school sites and school buses which are necessitated by new residential construction, consistent with and as set forth below,                and shall not be used for any expenditure that would be classified as an operating expense, routine maintenance, or                              repair expense. The School Board shall establish and implement necessary accounting controls to ensure that all school impact            fees are properly deposited, accounted for, and appropriated in accordance with this division and any other applicable legal                  requirements. Annual accounting and notice of the use of the school impact fees shall be given to the County consistent with this          section. The School Board shall use transferred school impact fee fund monies for the following:

                                  a. Costs of acquiring school sites, including due diligence, title insurance, survey, recording, and closing                                                     costs, and where applicable, eminent domain costs;

                                  b. School building and educational plant design, permitting and construction costs;

                                  c. Acquisition costs for relocatable classrooms;

                                  d. Building furniture and building equipment costs;

                                  e. Costs of nonbuilding improvements on school sites or on adjacent land useable by the School Board,                                                      including, but not limited to, parking, playgrounds, athletic fields, site related drainage,                                                                              transportation and utility improvements, and other site development work;

                                 f. Acquisition costs of school buses;

                                g. Repayment of monies borrowed from any budgetary fund of the County, or the School Board subsequent                                                to the effective date of this division, where such borrowed monies were used to fund growth                                                                      necessitated capital expenditures to school facilities as provided herein; provided, however,                                                                     that the intent of this provision is not to allow the use of school impact fees as a pledge for                                                                       any bonds; and

                               h. Payment of principal and interest, necessary reserves, and costs of issuance under any bonds or other                                                   indebtedness issued by the County or the School Board to fund growth necessitated capital                                                                     expenditures to the school system subsequent to the effective date of this section; provided,                                                                     however, that the intent of this provision is to not allow the use of school impact fees as                                                                             a pledge for any such bonds.

    3. Upon request but not more often than annually, the School Board shall provide an accounting to the County and the cities                      containing a summary of the school impact fees transferred to the School Board during the previous year and a                                      detailed description of the uses and expenditures for which the net school impact fee revenue was expended                                         during the preceding year. At a minimum, the accounting shall contain the following:

                             a. The school facilities, school sites and school buses funded in whole or in part with the school impact fee                                                  funds;

                             b. The location of the school facilities or school sites;

                             c. The capacity in number of students served by the school facilities or school buses;

                             d. The total cost and square footage of each school facility; and

                             e. The use of other funding sources for school facilities, school sites and school buses.

    4. Annually, the County may hire an auditor to review the report and the expenditure of the school impact fees. The costs of                      retaining said auditor shall be paid by the School Board, and copies of the audit report shall be provided to the cities.