Florida Senate - 2010                                    SB 2524
       
       
       
       By Senator Deutch
       
       
       
       
       30-01624A-10                                          20102524__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to impact fees; amending s. 163.31801,
    3         F.S.; authorizing counties, municipalities, and
    4         special districts to exempt certain affordable housing
    5         from payment of impact fees under certain
    6         circumstances; providing an effective date.
    7  
    8  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
    9  
   10         Section 1. Section 163.31801, Florida Statutes, is amended
   11  to read:
   12         163.31801 Impact fees; short title; intent; definitions;
   13  ordinances levying impact fees; affordable housing exemption.—
   14         (1) This section may be cited as the “Florida Impact Fee
   15  Act.”
   16         (2) The Legislature finds that impact fees are an important
   17  source of revenue for a local government to use in funding the
   18  infrastructure necessitated by new growth. The Legislature
   19  further finds that impact fees are an outgrowth of the home rule
   20  power of a local government to provide certain services within
   21  its jurisdiction. Due to the growth of impact fee collections
   22  and local governments’ reliance on impact fees, it is the intent
   23  of the Legislature to ensure that, when a county or municipality
   24  adopts an impact fee by ordinance or a special district adopts
   25  an impact fee by resolution, the governing authority complies
   26  with this section.
   27         (3) An impact fee adopted by ordinance of a county or
   28  municipality or by resolution of a special district must, at
   29  minimum:
   30         (a) Require that the calculation of the impact fee be based
   31  on the most recent and localized data.
   32         (b) Provide for accounting and reporting of impact fee
   33  collections and expenditures. If a local governmental entity
   34  imposes an impact fee to address its infrastructure needs, the
   35  entity shall account for the revenues and expenditures of such
   36  impact fee in a separate accounting fund.
   37         (c) Limit administrative charges for the collection of
   38  impact fees to actual costs.
   39         (d) Require that notice be provided no less than 90 days
   40  before the effective date of an ordinance or resolution imposing
   41  a new or increased impact fee. A county or municipality is not
   42  required to wait 90 days to decrease, suspend, or eliminate an
   43  impact fee.
   44         (4) Any county or municipality by ordinance or special
   45  district by resolution may wholly or partially exempt housing
   46  that is designed to be affordable, as defined in s. 420.0004(3),
   47  from the payment of any impact fee, provided the county,
   48  municipality, or special district requires the housing to be
   49  affordable to the initial purchaser or renter and affordable to
   50  any subsequent purchaser or renter for such period after
   51  issuance of a certificate of occupancy as the county,
   52  municipality, or special district deems appropriate.
   53         (5)(4) Audits of financial statements of local governmental
   54  entities and district school boards which are performed by a
   55  certified public accountant pursuant to s. 218.39 and submitted
   56  to the Auditor General must include an affidavit signed by the
   57  chief financial officer of the local governmental entity or
   58  district school board stating that the local governmental entity
   59  or district school board has complied with this section.
   60         (6)(5) In any action challenging an impact fee, the
   61  government has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the
   62  evidence that the imposition or amount of the fee meets the
   63  requirements of state legal precedent or this section. The court
   64  may not use a deferential standard.
   65         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.