Agenda - 09-06-2016 - 8-a - School Impact Fee Studies – Receive Draft Reports

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46 CHCCS School Impact Fee Report(DRAFT) improvements,the need for which is created in substantial part by the new development that takes place within the County. (2) For purposes of this subsection, the term capital improvements includes the acquisition of land for open space and greenways, capital improvements to public streets, schools, bridges, sidewalks, bikeways, on and off street surface water drainage ditches, pipes, culverts, other drainage facilities, water and sewer facilities and public recreation facilities. (3) An ordinance adopted under this subsection may be made applicable to all development that occurs within the County. (c) Amount of Fees. In establishing the amount of any impact fee, the County shall endeavor to approach the objective of having every development contribute to a capital improvements fund an amount of revenue that bears a reasonable relationship to that development's fair share of the costs of the capital improvements that are needed in part because of that development. In fulfilling this objective, the County shall, among other steps and actions: (1) Estimate the total cost of improvements by category (e.g., streets, sidewalks, drainage ways, etc.)that will be needed to provide in a reasonable manner for the public health, safety and welfare of persons residing within the County during a reasonable planning period not to exceed 20 years. The Board of County Commissioners may divide the County into two or more districts and estimate the costs of needed improvements within each district. These estimates shall be periodically reviewed and updated and the planning period used may be changed from time to time. (2) Establish a percentage of the total costs of each category of improvement that, in keeping with the objective set forth above, should fairly be borne by those paying the impact fee. (3) Establish a formula that fairly and objectively apportions the total costs that are to be borne by those paying impact fees among various types of developments. By way of illustration without limitation: a. In the case of street improvements,the impact fee may be related to the number of trips per day generated by different types of uses according to recognized estimates; b. In the case of drainage improvements,the impact fee may be related to the size of a development, the amount of impervious surface the development has, or other factors that bear upon the degree to which a development contributes to the need for drainage improvements made at public expense. (d) Capital Improvements Reserve Funds: Expenditures. (1) Impact fees received by the County shall be deposited in a capital improvements reserve fund or funds established under Chapter 159 of the General Statutes, Article 3, Part 2. Such funds may be expended only on the type of capital improvements for which such impact fees were established, and then only in accordance with the provision of subsection(2) of this section. (2) In order to ensure that impact fees paid by a particular development are expended on capital improvements that benefit that development,the County may establish for each category of capital improvement for which it collects an impact fee at least two geographical districts or zones, and impact fees generated by developments within those districts or zones must be spent on improvements that are located within or that benefit property located within those districts or zones. (e) Credits for Improvements. An impact fee ordinance shall make provision for credits against required fees when a developer installs improvements of a type that generally would be paid for by the County out of a capital reserve account funded by impact fees. The ordinance may spell out the 39