21.12.100 Impact fee accounts and refunds.
A. Impact fee receipts shall be earmarked specifically and retained in a special interest-bearing account established by the district solely for the district’s school impact fees. All interest shall be retained in the account and expended for the purpose or purposes for which impact fees were imposed. Annually, the district, based in part on its report prepared pursuant to BMC 21.12.040, shall prepare a report on the impact fee account showing the source and amount of all moneys collected, earned, or received and capital or system improvements that were financed in whole or in part by impact fees. The district shall submit a copy of this report to the city council.
B. Impact fees for the district’s system improvements shall be expended by the district only in conformance with the district’s capital facilities plan.
C. Impact fees shall be expended or encumbered by the district for a permissible use within 10 years of receipt by the district, unless there exists an extraordinary or compelling reason for fees to be held longer than 10 years. Such extraordinary or compelling reasons shall be identified to the city by the district in a written report. The city council shall identify the district’s extraordinary and compelling reasons for the fees to be held longer than 10 years in the council’s own written findings adopted by resolution.
D. The current owner of property on which an impact fee has been paid may receive a refund of such fees if the impact fees have not been expended or encumbered by the district within the time period described in subsection C of this section. In determining whether impact fees have been encumbered, impact fees shall be considered encumbered on a first in, first out basis. The district shall notify potential claimants by first class mail deposited with the United States Postal Service addressed to the owner of the property as shown in the county tax records.
E. An owner’s request for a refund must be submitted to the district in writing within one year of the date the right to claim the refund arises or the date that notice is given, whichever date is later. Any impact fees that are not expended or encumbered by the district, in conformance with its capital facilities plan, within these time limitations, and for which no application for a refund has been made within this one-year period, shall be retained and expended consistent with the provisions of this section. Refunds of impact fees shall include any interest earned on the impact fees.
F. Should the city seek to terminate any or all school impact fee requirements, all unexpended or unencumbered funds, including interest earned, shall be refunded to the current owner of the property for which a school impact fee was paid. Upon the finding that any or all fee requirements are to be terminated, the city shall place notice of such termination and the availability of the refunds in a newspaper of general circulation at least two times and shall notify all potential claimants by first class mail addressed to the owner of the property as shown in the county tax records. All funds available for refund shall be retained for a period of one year. At the end of one year, any remaining funds shall be retained by the district, but must be expended by the district, consistent with the provisions of this section. The notice requirement set forth above shall not apply if there are no unexpended or unencumbered balances within the account or accounts being terminated.
G. A developer may request and shall receive a refund, including interest earned on the impact fees, when:
1. The developer does not proceed to finalize the development activity as required by state or local law; and
2. No impact on the district has resulted. “Impact” shall be deemed to include cases where the district has expended or encumbered the impact fees in good faith prior to the application for a refund. In the event that the district has expended or encumbered the fees in good faith, no refund shall be forthcoming. However, if within a period of three years, the same or subsequent owner of the property proceeds with the same or substantially similar development activity, the owner shall be eligible for a credit. The owner must petition the district and provide receipts of impact fees paid by the owner for a development of the same or substantially similar nature on the same property or some portion thereof. The district shall determine whether to grant a credit, and such determinations may be appealed by following the procedures set forth in BMC 21.12.090.
H. Interest due upon the refund of impact fees required by this section shall be calculated according to the average rate received by the district on invested funds throughout the period during which the fees were retained. (Ord. 2369 § 8, 2021; Ord. 1738 § 12, 1998).