Chowchilla Municipal Code Ch. 17.72 Development Fees for Newly Annexed Parcels

A. Whenever used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the meaning indicated:

"Affordable housing" means residential property which is to be developed as housing for persons and/or families of very low, low or moderate income, as those terms are defined in Section 65915 (b) of the Government Code.

"Benefitted properties" means all properties which are annexed to the city during the term of the tax sharing agreement.

"Tax sharing agreement" means the agreement between the city and the county of Madera dated on or about August 14, 1990.

B. The fees established by this chapter shall apply to an applicant for the annexation of any benefitted property.

(Ord. No. 492-18, § 2(Att. A), 12-11-2018)

A. The city is allowed by law to impose a sales tax of up to one percent of the gross sales which occur within the city and, if the city imposes less than the one percent allowed by law, the county of Madera receives whatever portion of the one percent of gross sales which the city does not receive. The city had, up until the time of the tax sharing agreement, imposed and collected the full one percent sales tax allowed by law and so the county of Madera had received none of this one percent. The local agency formation commission (LAFCO) determined that no annexation of land to the city could proceed without a tax sharing agreement between the city and the county. The county would not enter into a tax sharing agreement with the city unless such agreement included a provision requiring the city to impose less than the one percent sales tax over the ten-year term of the tax sharing agreement.

B. All properties which are annexed to the city from and after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter are benefitted by the tax sharing agreement, when those properties annex to the city, and the owners of those benefitted properties should be required to participate in the reimbursement to the city of the costs incurred by the city described herein.

C. The purpose of the fees set forth in this chapter is to reimburse the city for the costs of obtaining a tax sharing agreement with the county of Madera. A fair and just cost distribution between the benefitted properties for these costs is to base the distribution upon net acreage of each of the properties.

D. Such fees shall be used to reimburse the city's general fund for the cost incurred by the city in entering into said tax sharing agreement, and shall be used by the city in conformity with the limitations placed upon that account.

E. There is a reasonable relationship between the purpose of these fees and the benefitted properties because the benefitted properties will benefit from annexation to the city which could not have occurred, but for the tax sharing agreement and the development of the benefitted properties within the city could not occur without such a tax sharing agreement.

F. The size of the fees shall be determined by the council by resolution. No such fee shall be set unless it is determined by the council to bear a reasonable relationship to the cost of the tax sharing agreement. Each such resolution which sets the amount of the fees shall identify the improvement for which the fee is charged and the method of determining the amount of the fee.

(Ord. No. 492-18, § 2(Att. A), 12-11-2018)

Such fee shall be payable at the time of and as a condition of the city processing an application for annexation to the city. Each of the benefitted properties shall be assessed for a proportional share of the costs to the city of the tax sharing agreement. The council hereby determines that the following formula shall be applied for this purpose:

A. For all property, other than property which is annexed for the purpose of being developed as affordable housing, the amount of the fee shall be determined by determining the level of benefit to the property from the tax sharing agreement. The level of benefit shall be expressed as a fraction which shall be the acreage of that particular benefitted property divided by the total acreage of all the benefitted properties which had annexed to the city between the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter, including the benefitted property, plus one thousand fifteen acres (which is all the property located in the Greenhills annexation).

B. In order to determine the amount of the fees to be paid by this particular benefitted property, that fraction shall then be multiplied by the projected loss in sales tax revenue to the city for the remaining term of the tax sharing agreement.

C. Residential property which is to be developed as affordable housing shall count as having no acreage.

1. If a portion of the land to be annexed is to be used for an affordable housing project and a portion is to be used for some other purpose, then only that land which is to be used for the other purpose shall be counted in determining that benefitted property's fee.

2. If, after land is annexed into the city as property to be developed as affordable housing, the property owner then applies for any development entitlements which are inconsistent with the affordable housing use indicated, the property owner shall be required as a condition of the issuance of that development entitlement to pay all annexation fees which [they] would have had to pay, but for the waiver based on the affordable housing use designation.

3. For the purpose of interpreting this section, the term "development entitlements" shall include each of the following: tentative or final parcel map; tentative or final subdivision map; site plan; building permit; certificate of occupancy.

4. Once a property has been annexed into the city under the terms of this clause, if it is then developed as and used as affordable housing for a period of ten years, then any future development entitlements for that property would not require the payment of the waived annexation fees.

(Ord. No. 492-18, § 2(Att. A), 12-11-2018)

The fees set forth herein shall be adjusted from time to time, but at least annually, after a public hearing, subject to council review and approval, to reflect changes in the cost of the tax sharing agreement based upon the actual sales tax revenue received during the immediately preceding year. The formula for the determination of the amount of these fees for each parcel, based upon the fraction determined under the previous code section, would be to multiply the fraction against the total amount of the cost of the tax sharing agreement projected for the balance of the life of the tax sharing agreement, based on the actual sales tax revenue for the preceding year, as determined by the council.

(Ord. No. 492-18, § 2(Att. A), 12-11-2018)

A. Pursuant to Government Code Section 66006, there is hereby established a separate reserve account, within the general fund. Any fee paid pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be placed into the reserve account established for such fees and used solely for the purpose of replacing the sales tax revenue not received by the city by virtue of the tax sharing agreement. All moneys in the reserve account established by this chapter shall be held separate and apart from other city funds until the council determines otherwise for that year. All interest or other earnings of each such reserve account shall be credited to that account.

B. All moneys and interest in the reserve accounts established by this chapter shall be expended on the implementation of the applicable public purpose for which the fee was established:

1. The reimbursement for all direct and indirect costs incurred by the city for such implementation pursuant to this chapter, including but not limited to, the actual revenue lost due to the setting of the prior year's sales tax at a rate lower than one percent;

2. The reimbursement for all costs incurred by the city and associated with the administration of each account.

(Ord. No. 492-18, § 2(Att. A), 12-11-2018)

A. Each year, during the budget review process, the council shall review the status of compliance with this chapter, and the degree to which fees collected pursuant to this chapter are mitigating the impacts of new commercial and residential development projects and new development entitlement.

B. For the reserve account established by this chapter, the city shall, within sixty days after the close of each fiscal year, make available to the public all the following information:

1. The beginning and ending balance for the fiscal year in that reserve account;

2. The fee, interest, and other income to that reserve account for the fiscal year;

3. The amount of expenditure by line item category from that reserve account during the fiscal year;

4. The amount of refunds made pursuant to Section 66001(e) of the Government Code out of that reserve account during the fiscal year.

C. The council shall review the information described in subsection B of this section, at the next regularly scheduled public meeting not less than fifteen days after the information required by that subsection is made available to the public.

D. Five years after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter, the council shall consider a report by the city administrator reviewing the fee formulae established to implement the provisions of this chapter, and their bases to determine whether any adjustments in the fee formulae are warranted.

E. Once the current tax sharing agreement has been terminated, either by the passage of time or by other means, the council shall determine whether there is any further need for this chapter. If there is none, the council may rescind the ordinance codified in this chapter and provide a final accounting of the reserve accounts created pursuant to this chapter.

(Ord. No. 492-18, § 2(Att. A), 12-11-2018)

Any provision of previously adopted ordinances or resolutions of the city inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter, to the extent of such inconsistency and no further, is repealed or modified to the extent necessary to effect the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 492-18, § 2(Att. A), 12-11-2018)

Any person subject to a fee required by this chapter may apply to the council for a reduction, adjustment or waiver of that fee based upon the absence of a reasonable relationship between the impact of that person's development project and the amount of the fee charged or the type of facilities to be provided.

(Ord. No. 492-18, § 2(Att. A), 12-11-2018)