Chapter 15.24
FIRE IMPACT FEES
Sections:
15.24.010 Findings and authority.
15.24.030 Assessment of impact fees.
15.24.040 Independent fee calculations.
15.24.050 Credits and adjustments.
15.24.080 Establishment of impact fee account for fire protection.
15.24.110 Impact fee schedule.
15.24.120 Miscellaneous provisions.
15.24.010 Findings and authority.
The council of the city of Rainier finds that new growth and development, including but not limited to new residential, commercial, retail, office, and industrial development in the city, will create a demand for more fire protection facilities in the city, and the council finds that new growth and development should pay a proportionate share of the cost of fire protection facilities needed to serve the new growth and development. The Southeast Thurston Fire Authority has commissioned a study by Henderson Young & Co. documenting the effect of new developments on fire protection facilities. The study provides an accurate and fair means of establishing an impact fee schedule for the city. Therefore, pursuant to Chapter 82.02 RCW, the council adopts this chapter to assess impact fees for fire protection facilities. The provisions of this chapter shall be liberally construed in order to carry out the purposes of the council and the authority in establishing the impact fee program. (Ord. 669 § 1 (part), 2018)
15.24.020 Definitions.
The following words and terms shall have the following meanings for the purposes of this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise. Terms otherwise not defined herein shall be defined pursuant to RCW 82.02.090 or given their usual and customary meaning.
A. “Appeals commission” means appeals commission as established by Chapter 2.52.
B. “Building permit,” for the purposes of this chapter only, means an official document or certification which is issued by the city and which authorizes the construction, alteration, enlargement, conversion, reconstruction, remodeling, rehabilitation, erection, demolition, moving or repair of a building or structure. In the case of increased impacts on fire protection facilities caused by a change in use or occupancy of an existing building or structure, and where no building permit is required, the term “building permit” shall specifically include business registrations.
C. “Building official” means the building official of the city.
D. “Capital facilities plan” means the capital facilities plan element of the city’s comprehensive plan adopted pursuant to Chapter 36.70A RCW, and such plan as amended, and any capital improvement or related plan of the Southeast Thurston Fire Authority.
E. “City” means the city of Rainier.
F. “Clerk/treasurer” or “treasurer” refers to the treasurer of the city of Rainier.
G. “Council” means the city council of the city of Rainier.
H. “Development activity” means any construction or expansion of a building, structure, or use, any change in use of a building or structure, or any change in the use of land that creates additional demand and need for fire protection facilities.
I. “Dwelling unit” means a building, or portion thereof, designed for residential occupancy, consisting of one or more rooms which are arranged, designed or used as living quarters for one family only.
J. “Encumbered” means to reserve, set aside or otherwise earmark the impact fees in order to pay for commitments, contractual obligations or other liabilities incurred for fire protection facilities.
K. “Fire authority” or “authority” refers to the Southeast Thurston County Fire Authority, a municipal corporation of the state of Washington.
L. “Fire protection facilities” means fire trucks and apparatus, and fire stations, and any furnishings and equipment that are used with fire trucks and apparatus or fire stations and which can be capitalized.
M. “Fire protection project improvements” means site improvements and facilities that are planned and designed to provide service for a particular development or users of the project and are not fire protection system improvements. No fire protection improvement or facility included in a capital facilities plan approved by the authority shall be considered a fire protection project improvement.
N. “Fire protection system improvements” means fire protection facilities that are included in the authority’s capital facilities plan and are designed to provide service to service areas within the community at large, in contrast to fire protection project improvements.
O. “Impact fee” means a payment of money imposed by the city of Rainier on development activity pursuant to this chapter as a condition of granting development approval in order to pay for the fire protection facilities needed to serve new growth and development.
P. “Impact fee account” or “account” means the account established for the fire protection facilities’ impact fees collected. The account shall be established pursuant to Section 15.24.080 and comply with the requirements of RCW 82.02.070.
Q. “Independent fee calculation” means the fire protection impact calculation prepared by a taxpayer to support the assessment of an impact fee other than by the use of the fee schedule.
R. “Interest” means the interest rate earned by local jurisdictions in the State of Washington Local Government Investment Pool, if not otherwise defined.
S. “Owner” means the owner of record of real property; provided, that if the real property is being purchased under a recorded real estate contract, the purchaser shall be considered the owner of the real property.
T. “Taxpayer” is a person, corporation, partnership, an incorporated association, or any other similar entity, or department or bureau of any governmental entity, commencing a land development activity which creates the demand for additional fire protection facilities, and which requires the issuance of a building permit. “Taxpayer” includes an applicant for an impact fee credit. (Ord. 669 § 1 (part), 2018)
15.24.030 Assessment of impact fees.
A. Effective March 5, 2018, the city will collect impact fees, based on the fee schedule for the city of Rainier, from any applicant seeking development approval from the city for any development activity within the city.
B. The amount of impact fees shall be determined at the time an applicant obtains a building permit using the impact fee schedules then in effect, or pursuant to an independent fee calculation accepted by the fire authority pursuant to Section 15.24.040, and adjusted for any credits pursuant to Section 15.24.050.
C. Payment of impact fees shall be made by the taxpayer at the time the building permit is issued for each unit in the development.
D. Applicants that have been awarded credits prior to the submittal of the complete building permit application pursuant to Section 15.24.050 shall submit, along with the complete building permit application, a copy of the letter or certificate prepared by the fire authority pursuant to Section 15.24.050 setting forth the dollar amount of the credit awarded. Impact fees, as determined after the application of appropriate credits, shall be collected from the taxpayer at the time the building permit is issued.
E. The building official shall not issue a building permit unless and until the impact fees have been paid or credits awarded except of single-family building permits as provided below.
F. For complete single-family building permits for new development, redevelopment or a change in use, and prior to or at the time of issuance of any single-family residential building permit for a dwelling unit that is being constructed, the applicant may elect to record a lien on forms prepared and provided by the city that requires payment of fire impact fees due and owing.
1. The city may withhold certification of final inspection, certificate of occupancy, or equivalent certification until the impact fees have been paid in full.
2. The amount of impact fees that may be deferred under this subsection must be determined by the fees in effect at the time the applicant applies for a deferral.
3. Unless an agreement to the contrary is reached between the buyer and seller, the payment of impact fees due at closing of a sale must be made from the seller’s proceeds. In the absence of an agreement to the contrary, the seller bears strict liability for the payment of the impact fees, provided, the lien remains effective and may be foreclosed as provided below.
4. The term of an impact fee deferral under this subsection may not exceed eighteen (18) months from the date of building permit issuance.
5. Except as may otherwise be authorized, an applicant seeking a deferral under this subsection must grant and record a deferred impact fee lien against the property in favor of the city in the amount of the deferred impact fee plus the costs of deferral. The deferred impact fee lien, which must include the legal description, tax account number, and address of the property, must also be:
a. In a form provided by the city;
b. Signed by all owners of the property, with all signatures acknowledged as required for a deed, and recorded in Thurston County;
c. Binding on all successors in title after the recordation; and
d. Junior and subordinate to one mortgage for the purpose of construction upon the same real property granted by the person who applied for the deferral of impact fees.
6. If impact fees are not paid in accordance with a deferral authorized by this subsection, and in accordance with the term provisions established in this subsection, the city may institute foreclosure proceedings in accordance with Chapter 61.12 RCW.
7. Upon receipt of final payment of all deferred impact fees for a property, the city will execute a release of deferred impact fee lien for the property. The property owner at the time of the release, at his or her expense, is responsible for recording the lien release.
8. The extinguishment of a deferred impact fee lien by the foreclosure of a lien having priority does not affect the obligation to pay the impact fees as a condition of final inspection, certificate of occupancy, or equivalent certification, or at the time of closing of the first sale.
9. Each applicant for a single-family residential construction permit, in accordance with his or her contractor registration number or other unique identification number, is entitled to annually receive deferrals under this subsection for the first twenty (20) single-family residential construction building permits in the city.
10. The city will collect reasonable administrative fees to implement this subsection from permit applicants who are seeking to delay the payment of impact fees under this subsection.
G. The appeals process authorized in Section 15.24.070 shall not apply to determinations made pursuant to this section. (Ord. 669 § 1 (part), 2018)
15.24.040 Independent fee calculations.
A. If, in the judgment of the fire authority, none of the fee categories or fee amounts set forth in the fee schedule accurately describes or captures the impacts of the new development, the applicant shall conduct an independent fee calculation and the fire authority may impose alternative fees on a specific development based on those calculations, once accepted by the city.
B. Taxpayers may opt not to have the impact fees determined according to the fee schedule. Such taxpayers shall prepare and submit to the fire authority an independent fee calculation for the development activity for which a building permit is sought. The documentation submitted shall show the basis upon which the independent fee calculation was made.
C. A nonreimbursable administrative fee shall be charged for each independent fee calculation. The fee shall be deposited with the treasurer to pay for review of the independent fee calculation upon submittal of the documented independent fee study.
D. After the fire authority completes its review, the actual fees and expenses will be determined and the cash deposit shall be adjusted to provide for a refund by the city or additional payment by the taxpayer.
E. While there is a presumption that the calculations set forth in the fee schedule are valid, the fire authority shall consider the documentation submitted by the taxpayer, but is not required to accept such documentation which the authority reasonably deems to be inaccurate or not reliable, and may, in the alternative, require the taxpayer to submit additional or different documentation for consideration. The authority is authorized to adjust the impact fees on a case-by-case basis based on the independent fee calculation, the specific characteristics of the development, or where adjustment is deemed by the authority to be appropriate based on principles of fairness under the circumstances of the case.
F. Determinations made by the fire authority under this section are final and must be appealed to the appeals commission in the time and manner provided by Section 2.52.060. (Ord. 669 § 1 (part), 2018)
15.24.050 Credits and adjustments.
A. A taxpayer can request that a credit or credits for fire protection impact fees be awarded for fire protection system improvement projects provided by the taxpayer in excess of the standard requirements for the taxpayer’s development if the land, improvements, or the facility constructed is identified as a fire protection system improvement that provides capacity to serve new growth in the capital facilities plan, or the fire authority, in its discretion, makes the finding that such land, improvements, and facilities would serve the fire protection goals and objectives of the capital facilities plan.
B. For each request for a credit or credits, the authority shall determine the value of dedicated land by using available documentation or selecting an MAI appraiser to determine the value of the land being dedicated. The value of improvements will be determined through documentation submitted by the taxpayer.
C. The taxpayer shall pay the cost of the appraisal and shall deposit on account the estimated cost of the appraisal as determined by the city at the time the taxpayer requests consideration for a credit.
D. After receiving the appraisal, the fire authority shall provide the applicant with a letter or certificate setting forth the dollar amount of the credit, the reason for the credit, where applicable, the legal description of the site donated, and the legal description or other adequate description of the project or development to which the credit may be applied. The applicant must sign and date a duplicate copy of such letter or certificate indicating her agreement to the terms of the letter or certificate and return such signed document to the treasurer before the impact fee credit will be awarded. The failure of the applicant to sign, date, and return such document within sixty (60) days shall nullify the credit.
E. Any claim for credit must be made no later than the time of application for a building permit. Any claim not so made shall be deemed waived.
F. Determinations made by the fire authority under this section are final and must be appealed to the appeals commission in the time and manner provided by Section 2.52.060.
G. Pursuant to and consistent with the requirements of RCW 82.02.060, the fee rate in the fee schedule has been reasonably adjusted for other revenue sources which are earmarked for, or prorated to, funding fire protection facilities. (Ord. 669 § 1 (part), 2018)
15.24.060 Exemptions.
A. The following shall be exempted from the payment of fire protection impact fees:
1. Replacement of a structure with a new structure of the same size and use at the same site or lot when such replacement occurs within twelve (12) months of the demolition or destruction of the prior structure.
2. Alterations or expansion or enlargement or remodeling or rehabilitation or conversion of an existing dwelling unit where no additional units are created and the use is not changed.
3. Alterations of an existing nonresidential structure that do not expand the usable space and that do not involve a change in use.
4. Miscellaneous improvements, including but not limited to fences, walls, swimming pools, and signs.
5. Demolition or moving of a structure.
6. Any building permit issued or that should have been issued before March 5, 2018.
B. The building official will determine whether a particular development activity falls within an exemption identified in this section. Determinations by the building official are employee determinations subject to appeal in accord with Section 2.52.030 and must be appealed in accord with those procedures or they are final. (Ord. 669 § 1 (part), 2018)
15.24.070 Appeals.
A. Any taxpayer may pay the impact fees imposed by this chapter under protest in order to obtain a building permit. Appeals regarding the impact fees imposed on any development activity may only be made by the taxpayer of the property where such development activity will occur. No appeal submitted under protest shall be permitted unless and until the impact fees at issue have been paid unless the fee is deferred under Section 15.24.030(F) for single-family dwellings. Alternatively, any taxpayer may appeal the impact fees determined by the building official without first paying the fees, providing the applicant is willing to provide a satisfactory security of the appealed fee amount prior to issuance of the building permit. Alternatively, any taxpayer may appeal the impact fees determined by the building official without first paying the fees, provided the applicant is willing to postpone issuance of the building permit until after the appeal process when the revised final fee is known.
B. Determinations of the building official with respect to the applicability of the impact fees to a given development activity, the fire authority’s valuation of a credit or its decision with respect to the independent fee calculation, or any other determination which the authority or building official are authorized to make pursuant to this chapter, may be appealed to the appeals commission.
C. Appeals must be taken within ten (10) days of the issuance of a written determination or other written notice by filing a notice of appeal with the city clerk specifying the grounds for appeal. The payment of the fee or the liability for the fee is not the determinant triggering the time of appeal unless no written notice or determination has been made.
D. Prior to or subsequent to the filing of an appeal the taxpayer and building official or fire authority may agree to mediation or arbitration of their dispute as an alternative to an appeal. They shall reduce their agreement to writing and agree upon a mediator and arbitrator within a reasonable period of time. If they cannot agree upon an arbitrator or mediator, as the case may be, within a reasonable period of time, then the clerk shall forward the matter to the commission for resolution. If mediation is unsuccessful, then the taxpayer must file an appeal within ten (10) days of the mediation or the decision of the building official or authority is final.
E. The commission may, so long as such action is in conformance with the provisions of this chapter, reverse or affirm, in whole or in part, or may modify the determinations of the building official or fire authority with respect to the amount of the impact fees imposed or the credit awarded upon a determination that it is proper to do so based on principles of fairness, and may make such order, requirements, decision or determination as ought to be made, and to that end shall have the powers which have been granted to the building official and fire authority by this chapter.
F. The commission is authorized to make findings of fact regarding the applicability of the impact fees to a given development activity, the availability or amount of the credit, or the accuracy or applicability of an independent fee calculation. The decision of the commission is final. (Ord. 669 § 1 (part), 2018)
15.24.080 Establishment of impact fee account for fire protection.
A. Impact fee receipts shall be earmarked specifically and deposited in special interest-bearing accounts. The fees received shall be prudently invested in a manner consistent with the investment policies of the city.
B. There is hereby established a separate impact fee account for the fees collected pursuant to this chapter: the fire protection facilities impact fee account. Funds withdrawn from these accounts must be used in accordance with the provisions of Section 15.24.100. Interest earned on the fees shall be retained in the account and expended for the purposes for which the impact fees were collected.
C. On an annual basis, the clerk/treasurer shall provide a report to the council and fire authority on the fire protection impact fee account showing the source and amount of all moneys collected, earned, or received, and the fire protection system improvements that were financed in whole or in part by impact fees.
D. Impact fees shall be expended or encumbered within ten (10) years of receipt, unless the fire authority identifies in written findings an extraordinary and compelling reason or reasons for the delay. (Ord. 669 § 1 (part), 2018)
15.24.090 Refunds.
A. If the city or fire authority fails to expend or encumber the impact fees within ten (10) years of when the fees were paid or, where extraordinary or compelling reasons exist, such other time periods as established pursuant to Section 15.24.080, the current owner of the property on which impact fees have been paid may receive a refund of such fees. In determining whether impact fees have been expended or encumbered, impact fees shall be considered expended or encumbered on a first-in, first-out basis.
B. The city shall notify potential claimants by first-class mail deposited with the United States Postal Service at the last known address of such claimants. A potential claimant or claimant must be the owner of the property.
C. Owners seeking a refund of impact fees must submit a written request for a refund of the fees to the clerk/treasurer within one year of the date the right to claim the refund arises or the date that notice is given, whichever is later.
D. Any impact fees for which no application for a refund has been made within this one-year period shall be paid by the city to the fire authority and expended on the appropriate fire protection facilities.
E. Refunds of impact fees under this section shall include any interest earned on the impact fees by the city.
F. If and when the city seeks to terminate any or all components of the fire protection impact fee program, all unexpended or unencumbered funds from any terminated component or components, including interest earned, shall be refunded pursuant to this section. 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 refunds in a newspaper of general circulation at least two times and shall notify all potential claimants by first-class mail to the last known address of the claimants. 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 city, but must be expended for the appropriate fire protection facilities. This notice requirement shall not apply if there are no unexpended or unencumbered balances within an account or accounts being terminated.
G. The city shall also refund to the developer of property for which impact fees have been paid all impact fees paid, including interest earned on the impact fees, if the development activity for which the impact fees were imposed did not occur. (Ord. 669 § 1 (part), 2018)
15.24.100 Use of funds.
A. Pursuant to this chapter, impact fees:
1. Shall be used for fire protection system improvements that will reasonably benefit the new development; and
2. Shall not be imposed to make up for deficiencies in fire protection facilities serving existing developments; and
3. Shall not be used for maintenance or operations.
B. As a general guideline, fire protection impact fees may be used for any fire protection system improvements which could otherwise be funded by a bond issue of the city or fire authority.
C. Fire protection facilities impact fees may be spent for fire protection system improvements, including but not limited to fire trucks, apparatus, and fire stations, including planning, land acquisition, site improvements, necessary off-site improvements including mitigation, construction, engineering, architectural, permitting, financing, and administrative expenses, applicable impact fees or mitigation costs, and any other expenses which can be capitalized.
D. Impact fees may be used to recoup fire protection system improvement costs previously incurred by the authority to the extent that new growth and development in the city will be served by the previously constructed improvements or incurred costs.
E. In the event that bonds or similar debt instruments are or have been issued for the advanced provision of fire protection system improvements for which impact fees may be expended, impact fees may be used to pay debt service on such bonds or similar debt instruments to the extent that the facilities or improvements provided are consistent with the requirements of this section and are used to serve the new development. (Ord. 669 § 1 (part), 2018)
15.24.110 Impact fee schedule.
A. Fee Schedule. Service area is the city of Rainier.
|
Development Activity |
Fee or Deposit |
|---|---|
|
New Construction |
$0.36 per square foot of Construction |
|
Deposit for administrative fees for independent fee calculation |
$500.00 or $150.00 per unit if more than three units |
B. The fee schedules set forth in the fee schedule will be reviewed by the fire authority as it may deem necessary and appropriate in conjunction with the city’s annual update of the capital facilities plan element of the city’s comprehensive plan. (Ord. 669 § 1 (part), 2018)
15.24.120 Miscellaneous provisions.
A. Existing Authority Unimpaired. Nothing in this chapter shall preclude the city from requiring the taxpayer or the proponent of a development activity to mitigate adverse environmental impacts of a specific development pursuant to the State Environmental Policy Act, Chapter 43.21C RCW, based on the environmental documents accompanying the underlying development approval process, or Chapter 58.17 RCW, governing plats and subdivisions; provided, that the exercise of this authority is consistent with the provisions of RCW 82.02.050(1)(c).
B. Captions. The chapter and section captions used in this chapter are for convenience only and shall not control or affect the meaning or construction of any of the provisions of this chapter.
C. Severability. If any portion of this chapter is found to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, such finding shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other section of this chapter. (Ord. 669 § 1 (part), 2018)