3.45.080 School impact fee refunds.
(1) The current owner of the property on which a school impact fee has been paid may receive a refund of such fees if the school impact fees have not been expended or encumbered within 10 years of receipt of the school impact fees by the District, unless there exists an extraordinary or compelling reason for fees to be held longer than 10 years. Such extraordinary or compelling reason shall be identified to the City by the District in a written report. In any decision approving such extension, the City shall identify the District’s extraordinary or compelling reasons for the fees to be held longer than 10 years in written findings. In determining whether impact fees have been encumbered, impact fees shall be considered encumbered on a first in, first out basis.
(2) If a school impact fee is not expended or encumbered within 10 years and the City has not approved an extension, the District shall notify potential claimants of their right to request a refund by first-class mail deposited in the United States Postal Service addressed to the current owner of the property as shown in the Franklin County tax records.
(3) An owner’s request for a refund must be submitted to the District in writing within one year of the date the right to claim the refund arises or the date that notice is given, whichever shall last occur. Any impact fees that are not expended or encumbered by the District in conformance with the capital facilities plan within these time limitations, and for which no application for a refund has been made within this one-year period, shall be retained and expended consistently with the provisions of the law. Refunds of impact fees shall include any interest earned on the impact fees.
(4) A developer may request and shall receive a refund, including interest earned on the impact fees, when:
(a) The developer does not proceed to finalize the development activity as required by statute, City code, or the applicable building codes; and
(b) The District or the City has not expended or encumbered the impact fees in good faith prior to the application for a refund. In the event that the District or the City has expended or encumbered the fees in good faith, no refund shall be forthcoming. However, if within a period of three years, the same or subsequent owner of the property for which fees were paid proceeds with the same or substantially similar development activity, the owner shall be eligible for a credit equal to the school impact fees paid and accrued actual interest. The owner must petition the City and the District in writing and provide receipts of impact fees paid by the owner for a development of the same or substantially similar nature on the same property or some portion thereof. The City after consultation with the District shall determine whether to grant a credit, and such determinations may be appealed by following the procedures set forth in PMC 3.40.120, Appeals.
(5) In the event the City seeks to terminate any or all school impact fee requirements, all unexpended or unencumbered funds, including interest earned, shall be refunded to the current owner of the property for which an impact fee was paid. Upon the finding by the City Council that any or all fee requirements are to be terminated, the City shall place a 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 addressed to the owner of the property as shown in the Franklin County tax records. 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 as to funds within its possession and the District as to funds within its possession, but must be expended for the original purposes, consistent with the provisions of this chapter. This notice requirement shall not apply if there are no unexpended or encumbered balances within either the City’s school impact fee fund, or the District’s school impact fee account. [Ord. 4046, 2012; Code 1970 § 3.133.080.]