Indian River County Impact Fee Study Final Report - irccdd.com

• The BCC may establish a policy that pays the calculated impact fees from
revenue sources other than impact fees.
• If the County exempts particular land uses or development projects from the fee
requirement and does not reimburse the affected impact fee accounts with nonimpact
fee revenues, the ordinance may be rendered ineffective as a mechanism
for funding capital improvements necessary to serve new development and may
be subject to legal liabilities.
Updating the Impact Fee Program and Indexing the Fees
• Typically, impact fees are updated every three years to ensure that development
continues to pay a fee that is proportionate to its impact and receives a
proportionate benefit to the fee paid.
• Indexing is a method used to adjust the impact fee on an annual basis between
periodic updates. Indexing of impact fees is becoming increasingly popular as a
way to avoid significant increases when fees are subsequently updated.
o Indexes must reflect cost increases that the County can reasonably expect
to incur in the provision of needed capital facilities and be consistent with
the underlying impact fee methodology.
o Common indexes include the Consumer Price Index, local property
appraiser records, and publications such as the Engineering News Record
(ENR) construction cost index.
Appeals Process
• Typically, provisions for appeals of impact fee decisions made by staff, the
County Administrator, and the BCC must be defined in the ordinance or through
existing County procedures.
• The approach used by many jurisdictions is similar to the appeal process
contained in the County’s current Traffic Impact Fee Ordinance, as summarized
below.
o The County Administrator or designee shall have the right to accept or
reject the decision made by staff concerning an impact fee; and
o Final appeal of the County Administrator’s decision shall be made to the
BCC.
LOS STANDARDS AND FEE REVIEW
Current LOS and adopted LOS standards in IRC were reviewed for each facility service
category being considered in the impact fee study. In addition, performance standards
from impact fees in other Florida counties were compiled and reviewed for comparative
purposes. Summary data from this review of LOS standards and fees are provided in
Tables I-2 and I-3.
Table I-2 provides the current LOS in IRC, the adopted LOS standard in IRC (if any),
and the recommended LOS standard for each program area. It should be noted that, for
Tindale-Oliver & Associates, Inc.
Indian River County
May 2005 I-10 Impact Fee Study