§46-143  Impact fee calculation.  (a)  Acounty council or board considering the enactment or adoption of impact feesshall first approve a needs assessment study that shall identify the kinds ofpublic facilities for which the fees shall be imposed.  The study shall beprepared by an engineer, architect, or other qualified professional and shallidentify service standard levels, project public facility capital improvementneeds, and differentiate between existing and future needs.

(b)  The data sources and methodology uponwhich needs assessments and impact fees are based shall be set forth in theneeds assessment study.

(c)  [2004 amendment retroactive to October1, 2002.  L 2004, c 155, §6.]  The pro rata amount of each impact fee shallbe based upon the development and actual capital cost of public facilityexpansion, or a reasonable estimate thereof, to be incurred.

(d)  [2004 amendment retroactive to October1, 2002.  L 2004, c 155, §6.]  An impact fee shall be substantially relatedto the needs arising from the development and shall not exceed a proportionateshare of the costs incurred or to be incurred in accommodating thedevelopment.  The following seven factors shall be considered in determining aproportionate share of public facility capital improvement costs:

(1)  The level of public facility capital improvementsrequired to appropriately serve a development, based on a needs assessmentstudy that identifies:

(A)  Deficiencies in existing publicfacilities;

(B)  The means, other than impact fees, bywhich existing deficiencies will be eliminated within a reasonable period oftime; and

(C)  Additional demands anticipated to beplaced on specified public facilities by a development;

(2)  The availability of other funding for publicfacility capital improvements, including but not limited to user charges,taxes, bonds, intergovernmental transfers, and special taxation or assessments;

(3)  The cost of existing public facility capitalimprovements;

(4)  The methods by which existing public facilitycapital improvements were financed;

(5)  The extent to which a developer required to payimpact fees has contributed in the previous five years to the cost of existingpublic facility capital improvements and received no reasonable benefittherefrom, and any credits that may be due to a development because of suchcontributions;

(6)  The extent to which a developer required to payimpact fees over the next twenty years may reasonably be anticipated tocontribute to the cost of existing public facility capital improvements throughuser fees, debt service payments, or other payments, and any credits that mayaccrue to a development because of future payments; and

(7)  The extent to which a developer is required topay impact fees as a condition precedent to the development of non-site relatedpublic facility capital improvements, and any offsets payable to a developerbecause of this provision.

(e)  The impact fee ordinance shall contain aprovision setting forth the process by which a developer may contest the amountof the impact fee assessed. [L 1992, c 282, pt of §2; am L 2001, c 235, §3; amL 2004, c 155, §3]