Senate Bill 2967

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE MUNICIPALITIES AND COUNTIES TO IMPOSE DEVELOPMENT IMPACT FEES; TO ENACT DEFINITIONS; TO REQUIRE THE LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL UNIT TO ENACT THE IMPACT FEES VIA ORDINANCE; TO IMPOSE REQUIREMENTS ON THE ORDINANCES; TO RESTRICT THE PURPOSES FOR WHICH THE PROCEEDS OF THE FEES MAY BE APPLIED; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed to them unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(a) "Capital plan" means a description of new public facilities or of new capital improvements to existing public facilities or of previous capital improvements to public facilities that continue to provide capacity available for new development that includes cost estimates and capacity available to serve new development;

(b) "Development" means any residential, multifamily, commercial, or industrial improvement to lands within a municipality or county;

(c) "Development impact fee" means a fee or charge imposed by a municipality or county upon or against a development in order to generate revenue for funding or for recouping expenditures of the municipality or county that are reasonably attributable to the use and occupancy of the development.

(d) "Development impact fee" shall not include:

(i) Any ad valorem real property taxes;

(ii) Any special assessments for an improvement district;

(iii) Any utility hookup fees or access fees; or

(iv) Any fees for filing development plats or plans for building permits or for construction permits assessed by a municipality or a municipal service that are approximately equal to the cost of the plat, plan, or permit review process to the municipality or the municipal service agency;

(e) "Public facilities" means publicly owned facilities that are one or more of the following systems or a portion of those systems:

(i) Water supply, treatment, and distribution for either domestic water or for suppression of fires;

(ii) Wastewater treatment and sanitary sewerage;

(iii) Storm water drainage;

(iv) Roads, streets, sidewalks, highways, and public transportation;

(v) Library;

(vi) Parks, open space, and recreation areas;

(vii) Police or public safety;

(viii) Fire protection;

(ix) Public schools; and

(x) Ambulance or emergency medical transportation and response.

(2) A municipality or county may assess by ordinance a development impact fee to offset costs reasonably attributable to providing necessary public facilities to new development. The development impact fee is to be assessed against the owner and not the builder or contractor of the property, or, if the builder or contractor is the owner, against the first purchaser of the property from the builder or contractor who is the owner. A development impact fee may not exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).

(a) Development impact fees may assessed, collected, and expended only for the planning, design, and construction of new public facilities or of capital improvements to existing public facilities that expand its capacity or for the recoupment of prior capital improvements to public facilities that created capacity available to serve new development.

(b) The development impact fee may be pledged to the payment of bonds issued by the municipality or county to finance capital improvements or public facilities for which the development impact fee may be imposed.

(c) No development impact fee shall be assessed for or expended upon the operation or maintenance of any public facility or for the construction or improvement of public facilities that does not create additional capacity.

(d) The proceeds of development impact fees may not be deposited to nor transferred to the local governmental unit's general fund.

(3) (a) A municipality or county may assess and collect

impact fees only from new development and only against a particular new development in reasonable proportion to the demand for additional capacity in public facilities that is reasonably attributable to the use and occupancy of that new development.

(b) The owner, resident, or tenant of a property that was assessed an impact fee and paid it in full shall have the right to make reasonable use of all public facilities that were financed by the impact fee.

(4) (a) A municipality or county may assess, collect, and

expend impact fees only under a development impact fee ordinance adopted or amended under this section.

(b) A development impact fee ordinance shall be adopted or amended by the governing body of a municipality or county only after the municipality or county has adopted a capital plan and

level of service standards for all of the public facilities that are to be so financed.

(i) A statement of the new public facilities and capital improvements to existing public facilities that are to be financed by impact fees and the level of service standards included in the capital plan for the public facilities that are to be financed with impact fees;

(ii) The actual formula or formulas for assessing the impact fee, which shall be consistent with the level of service standards; and

(iii) The procedure by which impact fees are to be assessed and collected.

(5) (a) The municipality or county shall collect the development impact fee at the time and manner and from the party as prescribed in the ordinance and shall collect the fee separate and apart from any other charges to the development.

(b) A development impact fee shall be collected at either the closing on the property by the owner or the issuance of a certificate of occupancy or its equivalent by the municipality or county. Alternatively, and subject to subsection (2) of this section, a development impact fee may be collected in connection with and as a condition to the installation of the water meter serving the property.

(c) At closing, the development impact fee that has been paid or will be paid for the property shall be separately enumerated on the closing statement.

(d) The ordinance may include that the development impact fee may be paid in installments at a reasonable interest rate for a fixed number of years or that the municipality or county may negotiate agreements with the owner of the property as to the time and method of paying the impact fee.

(6) The funds collected under a development impact fee ordinance shall be deposited into a special interest-bearing account. The interest earned on the monies in the separate account shall be credited to the special fund and the funds deposited into the special account and the interest earned shall be expended only in accordance with this section.

(7) This section does not invalidate any development impact fee or a similar fee adopted by a municipality or county before July 1, 2005; provided that existing ordinances shall be amended to conform to this act in order to remain valid after October 1, 2005.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2005.