§ 98-515. Offsets and credits against impact fees.

(a)

The city may offset the present value of any system-related facilities, pursuant to rules established in this section, which have been dedicated to and have been received by the city, including the value of capital improvements constructed pursuant to an agreement with the city, against the value of the impact fee due for that category of capital improvement.

(b)

The city may credit impact, perimeter roadway, pro rata, acreage or lot fees which have been paid pursuant to city ordinances against the value of impact fees due for that category of capital improvement, subject to guidelines established by the city.

(c)

The city shall give a credit for the dedication or construction by a developer of any water or sanitary sewer facilities that are identified in the capital improvement plans as eligible for impact fee funding.

(d)

If the building permit for a new development for which an impact fee has been paid has expired, no utility connections for that category of capital improvement have been made to the development, and a modified or new application has not been approved within six months of such expiration, the city shall, upon written application, rebate the amount of the impact fee to the record owner of the property for which the impact fee was paid. If no application for rebate pursuant to this subsection has been filed within this period, no rebate shall become due.

(e)

All offsets and credits against impact fees shall be subject to the following limitations and shall be granted based on this article and additional standards promulgated by the city, which may be adopted as administrative guidelines.

(1)

No offset or credit shall be given for the dedication or construction of site-related facilities unless such facilities are identified in the capital improvement plans as eligible for impact fee funding.

(2)

The unit costs used to calculate the offsets shall not exceed those assumed for the capital improvements included in the capital improvement plans for the category of facility for which the impact fee is imposed.

(3)

If an offset or credit applicable to a plat has not been exhausted within ten years from the date of plat filing, or within such period as may be otherwise designated by contract, such offset or credit shall expire.

(4)

The city will not reimburse the property owner or developer for an offset or credit when no impact fees for the new development can be collected pursuant to this article or for any value exceeding the total impact fees due for the development for that category of capital improvement, unless otherwise agreed to by the city.

(f)

An applicant for new development must apply for an offset or credit against impact fees due for the development either at or before the time of fee assessment, or the entitlement to such offset or credit shall be deemed waived. The applicant shall file an application for offsets or credits with the city manager. The contents of the application shall be established by administrative guidelines. The city manager shall provide the applicant, in writing, with a decision on the offset or credit request, including the reasons for the decision. The decision shall specify the maximum value of the offset or credit which may be applied against an impact fee, which value and the date of the determination shall be associated with the plat for the new development.

(g)

The available offset or credit associated with the plat shall be applied against an impact fee in the following manner:

(1)

Such offset or credit shall be prorated equally among all service units and remain applicable to such service units, to be applied at time of filing and acceptance of an application for a building permit or tap purchase, as appropriate, against impact fees due.

(2)

If the total number of service units used by the city in the original offset or credit calculation described in subsection (1) is eventually exceeded by the number of total service units realized by the actual development, the city may, at its sole discretion, collect the full impact fee exclusive of any associated offset or credits for the excess service units.

(h)

At its sole discretion, the city may authorize alternative credits or offsets upon petition by the owner in accordance with guidelines promulgated by the city.

(Ord. No. O-2002-011-16, § 1, 3-26-02)