07 LC 29
2854S/AP
House
Bill 232 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By:
Representatives Lindsey of the
54th,
Lunsford of the
110th,
Geisinger of the
48th,
Jones of the
46th,
and Smith of the
113th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Chapter 71 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to the "Georgia Development Impact Fee Act," so as to change definitions; to
increase community participation in development impact fee advisory committees;
to provide for the expenditure of impact fees under certain circumstances; to
change certain provisions relating to deposit and expenditure of fees and an
annual report; to correct cross-references; to provide for related matters; to
provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Chapter
71 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the
"Georgia Development Impact Fee Act," is amended in Code Section 36-71-2,
relating to definitions, by revising paragraphs (10.1) through (19) as
follows:
"(10.1)(11)
'Governmental entity' means any water authority, water and sewer authority, or
water or waste-water authority created by or pursuant to an Act of the General
Assembly of Georgia.
(11)(12)
'Level of service' means a measure of the relationship between service capacity
and service demand for public facilities in terms of demand to capacity
ratios,
or
the comfort and convenience of use or service of public
facilities,
or both.
(12)(13)
'Present value' means the current value of past, present, or future payments,
contributions or dedications of goods, services, materials, construction, or
money.
(13)(14)
'Project' means a particular development on an identified parcel of
land.
(14)(15)
'Project improvements' means site improvements and facilities that are planned
and designed to provide service for a particular development project and that
are necessary for the use and convenience of the occupants or users of the
project and are not system improvements. The character of the improvement shall
control a determination of whether an improvement is a project improvement or
system improvement and the physical location of the improvement on site or off
site shall not be considered determinative of whether an improvement is a
project improvement or a system improvement. If an improvement or facility
provides or will provide more than incidental service or facilities capacity to
persons other than users or occupants of a particular project, the improvement
or facility is a system improvement and shall not be considered a project
improvement. No improvement or facility included in a plan for public
facilities approved by the governing body of the municipality or county shall be
considered a project improvement.
(15)(16)
'Proportionate share' means that portion of the cost of system improvements
which is reasonably related to the service demands and needs of the project
within the
defined service area.
(16)(17)
'Public facilities' means:
(A)
Water supply production, treatment, and distribution facilities;
(B)
Waste-water collection, treatment, and disposal facilities;
(C)
Roads, streets, and bridges, including rights of way, traffic signals,
landscaping, and any local components of state or federal highways;
(D)
Storm-water collection, retention, detention, treatment, and disposal
facilities, flood control facilities, and bank and shore protection and
enhancement improvements;
(E)
Parks, open space, and recreation areas and related facilities;
(F)
Public safety facilities, including police, fire, emergency medical, and rescue
facilities; and
(G)
Libraries and related facilities.
(17)(18)
'Service area' means a geographic area defined by a municipality, county, or
intergovernmental agreement in which a defined set of public facilities provide
service to development within the area. Service areas shall be designated on the
basis of sound planning or engineering principles or both.
(18)(19)
'System improvement costs' means costs incurred to provide additional public
facilities capacity needed to serve new growth and development for planning,
design and construction, land acquisition, land improvement, design and
engineering related thereto, including the cost of constructing or
reconstructing system improvements or facility expansions, including but not
limited to the construction contract price, surveying and engineering fees,
related land acquisition costs (including land purchases, court awards and
costs, attorneys´ fees, and expert witness fees), and expenses incurred for
qualified staff or any qualified engineer, planner, architect, landscape
architect, or financial consultant for preparing or updating the capital
improvement element, and administrative costs, provided that such administrative
costs shall not exceed 3 percent of the total amount of the costs. Projected
interest charges and other finance costs may be included if the impact fees are
to be used for the payment of principal and interest on bonds, notes, or other
financial obligations issued by or on behalf of the municipality or county to
finance the capital improvements element but such costs do not include routine
and periodic maintenance expenditures, personnel training, and other operating
costs.
(19)(20)
'System improvements' means capital improvements that are public facilities and
are designed to provide service to the community at large, in contrast to
'project improvements.'"
SECTION
2.
Said
chapter is further amended in Code Section 36-71-4, relating to calculation of
fees, by revising subsection (d) as follows:
"(d)
A municipal or county development impact fee ordinance shall provide that
development impact fees shall be collected not earlier in the development
process than the issuance of a building permit authorizing construction of a
building or structure; provided, however, that development impact fees for
public facilities described in subparagraph (D) of paragraph
(16)(17)
of Code Section 36-71-2 may be collected at the time of a development approval
that authorizes site construction or improvement which requires public
facilities described in subparagraph (D) of paragraph
(18)(17)
of Code Section 36-71-2."
SECTION
3.
Said
chapter is further amended in Code Section 36-71-5, relating to hearings on
proposed fee ordinances, by revising subsection (b) as follows:
"(b)
Such committee shall be composed of not less than five nor more than ten members
appointed by the governing authority of the municipality or county and at least
40
50
percent of the membership shall be representatives from the development,
building, or real estate industries. An existing planning commission or other
existing committee that meets these requirements may serve as the Development
Impact Fee Advisory Committee."
SECTION
4.
Said
chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 36-71-8, relating to deposit
and expenditure of fees and an annual report, as follows:
"36-71-8.
(a)
An ordinance imposing development impact fees shall provide that all development
impact fee funds shall be maintained in one or more interest-bearing accounts.
Accounting records shall be maintained for each category of system improvements
and the service area in which the fees are collected. Interest earned on
development impact fees shall be considered funds of the account on which it is
earned and shall be subject to all restrictions placed on the use of development
impact fees under the provisions of this chapter.
The accounting
records shall include the following information:
(1)
The accounting records to be maintained shall specify the address of each
property which paid development impact fees, the amount of fees paid in each
category in which fees were collected, and the date that such fees were paid;
and
(2)
As to any exemptions granted, the accounting records to be maintained shall
specify the address of each property for which exemptions were granted, the
reason for which such exemption was granted, and the revenue source from which
the exempt development´s proportionate share of the system improvements is
to be paid.
(b)
Expenditures of development impact fees shall be made only for the category of
system improvements and in the service area for which the development impact fee
was imposed as shown by the capital
improvement
improvements
element and as authorized by this chapter. Development impact fees shall not be
used to pay for any purpose that does not involve system improvements that
create additional service available to serve new growth and
development.
(c)(1)
Development impact fees, collected for roads, streets, bridges, including rights
of way, traffic signals, landscaping, or any local components of state or
federal highways, shall be expended to fund, in whole or in part, system
improvement projects:
(A)
That have been identified in the capital improvements element of the
municipality´s comprehensive development plan; and
(B)
That are chosen by a municipality after consideration of the following
factors:
(i)
The proximity of the proposed system improvements to developments within the
service area which have generated development impact fees collected for roads,
streets, bridges, including rights of way, traffic signals, landscaping, or any
local components of state or federal highways; and
(ii)
The proposed system improvements which will have the greatest effect on level of
service for roads, streets, bridges, including rights of way, traffic signals,
landscaping, or any local components of state or federal highways impacted by
the developments which have paid such impact fees.
(2)
Where the expenditure of development impact fees paid by a development is
allocated to system improvements in the general area of such development,
through an agreement between the municipality and the developer and such
agreement is approved by the governing body, the analysis required by
subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not be
applicable.
(3)
The provisions of this subsection shall only apply to municipalities that have
more than 140,000 parcels of land.
(d)(1)
As part of its annual audit process, a municipality or county shall prepare an
annual report describing the amount of any development impact fees collected,
encumbered, and used during the preceding year by category of public facility
and service area.
(2)
In municipalities that have more than 140,000 parcels of land, the portion of
the annual report relating to development impact fees collected for roads,
streets, bridges, including rights of way, traffic signals, landscaping, or any
local components of state or federal highways shall be referred to such
municipality´s most recently constituted Development Impact Fee Advisory
Committee which shall report to the governing body of such municipality any
perceived inequities in the expenditure of impact fees collected for roads,
streets, bridges, including rights of way, traffic signals, landscaping, or any
local components of state or federal
highways."
SECTION
5.
This
Act shall become effective on July 1, 2007.
SECTION
6.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.