Agenda - 11-15-2016 - 7-a - School Impact Fee Updates

Browse Search

3 When updated impact fees were last adopted in 2008, the initial fee amount was set at a level (32% of the 2008 MSIF) expected to collect $1.6 million in the Chapel Hill — Carrboro district in order to reach the amount budgeted for debt service in that district. The "breakeven point" was not calculated in 2008 (i.e., the MSIF percentage point was based on budget needs). Additionally, a four-year implementation period was adopted since the starting point of 32% of the MSIF provided a very low partial cost recovery. The fee started at 32% of the MSIF on January 1, 2009 and moved to 40%, 50%, and 60% each January 1 of subsequent years, completing the annual increases in 2012. The proposed Ordinances (Attachments 2 and 3) include the section of the County's General Code of Ordinances that pertains to the Educational Facilities Impact Fee with proposed amendments shown in "track changes" format. Proposed amendments to this section of the Code of Ordinances include: • Adding definitions for the various housing types. • Updating the schedule of public school impact fees in Section 30-33. • Adding language in Section 30-33 that would require age restricted units that do not remain age restricted for at least 20 years be required to pay the difference between the age restricted fee paid and the non-age-restricted fee in effect at the time a unit is no longer age restricted. • Adding language in Section 30-35(e) clarifying under what conditions a refund would be issued if impact fees were reduced for a particular housing unit type. • Adding language in Section 30-38 to recognize conditional zoning, which was adopted in 2011 when the UDO was adopted. The proposed Ordinances differ as follows: • Attachment 2 is the Ordinance that assumes a multi-family bedroom split of 50/50 (0-2/3+ bedrooms) o Attachment 2 would adopt the impact fee levels at 37% of the MSIF, effective January 1, 2017 with an increase to 47% of the MSIF on January 1, 2018 and a final increase to 57% of the MSIF on January 1, 2019. • Attachment 3 is the Ordinance that assumes a multi-family bedroom split of 75/25 (0-2/3+ bedrooms) o Attachment 3 would adopt the impact fee levels at 43% of the MSIF, effective January 1, 2017 with an increase to 53%% of the MSIF on January 1, 2018 and a final increase to 63% of the MSIF on January 1, 2019. • The sole difference between the two Ordinances is the Schedule of Public School Impact Fees in Section 30-33, reflecting the information in the above bullets. The adopting Ordinance for both options contains language clarifying building permit application deadlines and by when a building permit would have to be issued in order to pay the 2016 fee levels (this is relevant for housing unit types that had a lower 2016 fee). This language is included to ensure that genuine projects are given ample time to go through the normal permitting process (which can include required revisions prior to permit issuance) while discouraging premature applications containing inadequate information but which are submitting for the purpose of beating fee increase deadlines. The version of the Ordinance presented at the October 18 BOCC meeting allowed 120 days to obtain a building permit. As a result of stakeholder comments, this timeframe has been extended to 180 days. Additionally, in response to stakeholder comments, staff has added