§ 23-143. Use of monies.

(a)

School impact fees shall, upon receipt by the school board, be deposited in a separate trust account established and maintained by the school board. Such account shall be designated as the "school impact fee trust account" and shall be maintained separate and apart from all other accounts of the school board.

(b)

The monies deposited into the school impact fee trust account shall be used solely for the purpose of providing growth-necessitated capital improvements to educational plants and ancillary plants of the school system which are approved by the school board in its capital improvements budget consistent with the state school plant survey including, but not limited to:

(1)

Land acquisition, including any cost of acquisition;

(2)

Fees for professional services including, but not limited to, architecture, engineering, surveying, landscaping, soils and material testing, legal, appraisals, and construction management;

(3)

Design and construction documents;

(4)

Site development and on-site and off-site improvements incidental to the construction thereto;

(5)

Any permitting or application fees necessary for the construction;

(6)

Design and construction of educational plants and ancillary plants;

(7)

Design and construction of drainage facilities required by the construction of educational plants and ancillary plants or improvements thereto;

(8)

Relocation of utilities required by the construction of educational plants and ancillary plants or improvements or additions thereto;

(9)

Acquisition of furniture, vehicles and equipment necessary to accommodate students, faculty, administrators, staff and the activities of the educational programs and services at educational plants which are necessitated by growth;

(10)

Repayment of monies borrowed from any budgetary fund of the county, the cities or the school board subsequent to the effective date of this article, which were used to fund growth-necessitated capital improvements to the educational plants or ancillary plants as provided herein, provided, however, that the intent of this provision is not to allow the use of impact fees as a pledge for any bonds; and

(11)

Payment of principal and interest, necessary reserves and costs of issuance under any bonds or other indebtedness issued by the county, the cities or school board to fund growth-necessitated improvements and additions to the school system subsequent to the effective date of this article, provided, however, that the intent of this provision is not to allow the use of impact fees as a pledge for any such bonds.

(c)

The moneys deposited into the school impact fee trust account shall be used solely to provide capital improvements to the school system as necessitated by growth and shall not be used for any expenditure that would be classified as a maintenance or repair expense.

(d)

Any school impact fee funds on deposit which are not immediately necessary for expenditure shall be invested by the school board. All income derived from such investments shall be deposited into the school impact fee trust account and used as provided herein.

(e)

The impact fees collected pursuant to this article shall be returned to the then current owner of the property on behalf of which such fee was paid, if such fees have not been expended or encumbered prior to the end of the fiscal year immediately following the sixth anniversary of the date upon which such fees were paid. Refunds shall be made only in accordance with the following procedure:

(1)

The then present owner shall petition the school board for the refund within one (1) year following the end of the calendar quarter immediately following five (5) years from the date on which the fee was received.

(2)

The petition for refund shall be submitted to the superintendent and shall contain:

a.

A notarized sworn statement that the petitioner is the present owner of the property on behalf of which the impact fee was paid;

b.

A copy of the deed certified by a title company to be the latest recorded deed or a copy of the most recent ad valorem tax bill.

(3)

Within three (3) months from the date of receipt of a petition for refund, the superintendent will advise the petitioner and the school board of the status of the impact fee requested for refund, and if such impact fee has not been expended or encumbered within the applicable time period, then it shall be returned to the petitioner, with interest paid at the rate of six (6) percent per annum, or the average net interest rate earned by the school board in the school impact fee trust account during the time such refunded impact fee was on deposit, whichever is less. For the purposes of this section, fees collected shall be deemed to be spent or encumbered on the basis of the first fee in shall be the first fee out.

(f)

In the event that a building permit, issued for residential construction, expires or otherwise becomes invalid prior to completion of the residential construction for which it was issued and for which a school impact fee was paid, the applicant may, within one hundred twenty (120) days of the expiration or invalidity of the building permit, apply for a refund of the school impact fee. Failure to timely apply for a refund of the school impact fee shall waive any right to a refund.

(1)

The application for refund shall be filed with the local government that issued the subject building permit, with a copy to the superintendent, and contain the following:

a.

The name and address of the applicant;

b.

The location of the property which was the subject of the building permit;

c.

The date the school impact fee was paid;

d.

A copy of the receipt of payment for the school impact fee; and

e.

The date the building permit was issued and the date of expiration or that it was declared invalid.

(2)

After verifying that the building permit has expired or become invalid and that the residential construction has not been completed, the governing entity holding such fee shall refund it. The school board and one or more municipalities may, by separate agreement, modify the process for issuance of impact fee refunds.

(3)

A building permit which is subsequently issued for residential construction on the same property which was the subject of a refund shall pay the school impact fee based on the rate effective as of the date of the subsequently pulled building permit as required herein.

(Ord. No. 92-28, § 2.03, 9-22-92; Ord. No. 98-31, § 5, 11-3-98; Ord. No. 2011-05 , § 2, 6-7-11; Ord. No. 2016-08 , § 2, 5-10-16)