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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 07/06/2004 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 104, 2004, AMENDINGAGENDA ITEM SUMMARY FORT COLLINS CITY COUNCIL ITEM NUMBER: 17 DATE: July 6, 2004 STAFF: Steve Roy/ Alan Krcmarik SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 104, 2004, Amending Various Sections of the City Code so as to Expressly Permit the Deferral of Certain Utility Impact Fees. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Some of the current City Code provisions allow the City Council to defer impact fees; others do not. This inconsistency came to light during the negotiations regarding the proposed lifestyle center. Specifically, the Code provisions establishing electric development fees and charges and stormwater fees do not permit deferral. And, while the Code provisions relating to water plant investment fees and sewer plan investment fees do permit arrangements for paying the fees over time, those Code provisions are worded differently than the Code provisions pertaining to the deferral of capital improvement expansion fees. This Ordinance would bring consistency to the Code provisions on this subject and City practice, and would allow for all city impact fees to be paid over time, either in installments or in a lump sum. It is not possible to assess the precise financial impact this would have on the City for the following reasons. Any fee deferrals would have to be expressly approved by the City Council by resolution, either on a case-by-base basis (for a specific project) or for an entire category. The deferrals would certainly be tailored to the facts surrounding a particular proposal, and would vary both in the length of the deferral, and the interest rate charged to the party being granted the deferral. The City would eventually collect the fee revenues; there is no provision for waiver. The financial impact would be limited to the time value of money, and the opportunity cost of not having access to funds for a specified time. The City Manager and Financial Officer would make individualized recommendations on the City’s ability to defer the fee revenue in a prudent manner. For example, with the current proposal for the lifestyle center, street oversizing fees are not proposed for deferral since the cash flow in that fund is crucial at this time. ORDINANCE NO. 104, 2004 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AMENDING VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE CITY CODE SO AS TO EXPRESSLY PERMIT THE DEFERRAL OF CERTAIN UTILITY IMPACT FEES WHEREAS, the City Code establishes various kinds of impact fees to be imposed upon new development within the City, the purpose of which fees is to defray the cost of providing the public infrastructure needed to serve such new development; and WHEREAS, these impact fees include capital improvement expansion fees contained in Chapter 7.5 of the Code as well as plant investment fees and service connections fees contained in Chapter 26 of the Code; and WHEREAS, some of the Code sections imposing these fees allow for the payment of the fees to be deferred beyond the issuance of the first building permit or utility service permit for the development required to pay the fees, and others do not; and WHEREAS, in the course of review of Code provisions related to deferral of impact fees, staff has determined that reference to electric utility development fees has been inadvertently omitted from Section 26-632, which provides for the deferral of utility impact fees for affordable housing projects; and WHEREAS, staff has recommended to the City Council that the provisions pertaining to the deferral of impact fees be made more consistent; and WHEREAS, the City Council believes that any such deferral of fees should be approved by the City Council, either on a case by case basis or as a matter of policy. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That Section 7.5-19 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended so as to read in its entirety as follows: Sec. 7.5-19. Imposition, computation and collection of fees. Payment of the fees imposed under the provisions of this Article shall be required as a condition of approval of all development in the city for which a building permit is required. The amount of such fees has been calculated using current levels of service and the data and methodologies described in Capital Improvement Expansion Cost Study, dated May 21, 1996, as amended; the city's Street Oversizing Impact Fee Study, dated July 15, 1997, and Street Oversizing Impact Fee Study Update, dated November 28, 2000, as amended; and The ITE Trip Generation Manual, 6th Edition, 1997, published by the Institute of Traffic Engineers, as amended. The fees due for such development shall be payable by the feepayer to the Department of Building and Zoning Director prior to or at the time of issuance of the first building permit for the property to be developed, unless an agreementexcept to the extent that the deferral of all or any portion of such payment has been executed by the city which provides for a different time of payment approved by the City Council by resolution. If the building permit for which a fee has been paid has expired, and an application for a new building permit is thereafter filed, any amount previously paid for a capital improvement expansion fee and not refunded by the city shall be credited against any additional amount due under the provisions of this Article at the time of application for the new building permit. Section 2. That Section 26-120(a) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended so as to read in its entirety as follows: Sec. 26-120. Water plant investment fees. (a) Any applicant desiring to connect to the water utility shall pay the utility a water plant investment fee (WPIF) pursuant to the schedule of fees prescribed by § 26-128 in addition to any other connection fees prescribed herein. Except when arrangements for time to the extent that the deferral of all or any portion of such payment are made has been approved by the City Council by resolution pursuant to policy established by the City Council or except as provided in Subsection (f) of this Section, this fee shall be paid in full at the time the water service connection permit is issued. If there is an increase in plant investment fee rates between the time of application for a water service permit and the actual payment of fees, the fee rates in effect at the time of payment shall apply. . . . . . Section 3. That Section 26-283(a) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended so as to read in its entirety as follows: Sec. 26-283. Sewer plant investment fees (SPIF); basis. (a) An applicant desiring to connect to the wastewater utility shall pay the utility a sewer plant investment fee (SPIF) as prescribed in § 26-284 of this Article in addition to any other connection fee or charge imposed by this Article. Except where arrangements for time to the extent that the deferral of all or any portion of such payment are madehas been approved by the City Council by resolution pursuant to policy established by the City Council or except as provided in Subsection (e) of this Section, this fee shall be paid in full at the time the sewer connection permit is issued. In the case of an increase in SPIF rates between the time of application for the permit and the applicant's actual payment of sewer connection charges, the rates in effect on the date of payment shall apply. . . . . . Section 4. That Section 26-471(a) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended so as to read in its entirety as follows: Sec. 26-471. Electric development fees and charges. (a) Any person desiring to connect to the city's electric distribution system, or to construct any structure to be served by said electric distribution system, shall pay to the utility all applicable electric development fees and charges as described in this Division prior to said connection, whether such connection or the property served is inside or outside of the corporate limits of the city, in addition to any other applicable fees and charges described in this Article. Notwithstanding the foregoing or any provision of this Article to the contrary, said fees and charges may be paid over time to the extent that the deferral of all or any portion of such payment has been approved by the City Council by resolution. Said development fees shall consist of an Electric Capacity Fee ("ECF") to recover the allocated cost of the electric distribution system attributable to the new service requested and a Building Site Charge ("BSC") to recover the cost of installing on-site electric service facilities to the user's side of the point of delivery. If there is an increase in said fees between the time of application for electric service and the actual payment of fees, the fee rates in effect at the time of payment shall apply. . . . . . Section 5. That Section 26-511(c) of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended so as to read in its entirety as follows: Sec. 26-511. Stormwater fees. . . . . . (c) The city may require the payment of the stormwater basin fee as a condition of The stormwater basin fee may be paid at any time after the approval of the plat of a subdivision or, in the case of unplatted property, upon the issuance of a building permit and not before; provided, however, that such fee shall be paid prior to the issuance of a full building permit, or if no building permit is required, upon commencement of construction except to the extent that the deferral of all or any portion of such payment has been approved by the City Council by resolution. If there is an increase in said fees between the issuance of a full building permit or, if no building permit is required, the time of commencement of construction and the actual payment of fees, the fee rates in effect at the time of payment shall apply. The stormwater basin fee shall be payable at any time after the approval of the plat of a subdivision or, in the case of unplatted property, upon the issuance of a building permit and not before. . . . . . Section 6. That Section 26-632 of the Code of the City of Fort Collins is hereby amended so as to read in its entirety as follows: Sec. 26-632. Deferral of fees. With respect to any dwelling unit which is contained within or which constitutes an affordable housing project as defined in § 26-631, the Water Plant Investment Fee ("WPIF"), Sewer Plant Investment Fee ("SPIF"), Storm Drainage Basin Fee and the Raw Water Requirement In-lieu Cash Payment, and the Electric Development Fees and Charges, as established in this Chapter, shall, upon the request of the applicant, be deferred until the date of issuance of a certificate of occupancy (whether temporary or permanent) for such unit(s) or until the first day of December of the year in which the deferral was obtained, whichever first occurs. Notwithstanding any provision in this Chapter to the contrary, in the event that, during the period of deferral, the amount of the deferred fee is increased by ordinance of the City Council, the fee rate in effect at the time of the issuance of the building permit shall apply. At the time of application for any such deferral, the applicant shall pay to the city a fee in the amount of fifty dollars ($50.) to partially defray the cost of administration. No person shall knowingly make any false or misleading statement of fact in order to obtain any deferral of fees under this Section. Introduced and considered favorably on first reading and ordered published this 6th day of July, A.D. 2004, and to be presented for final passage on the 27th day of July, A.D. 2004. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading this 27th day of July, A.D. 2004. Mayor ATTEST: City Clerk