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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes CC - 01/27/2014 - MINS 01 27 14 WS (Migrated from Optiview)Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, January 27, 2014 at 6:00 pm Page 1 of4 This summary is provided as a convenience and service to the public, media, and staff. It is not the intent to transcribe proceedings verbatim. Any reproduction of this summary must include this notice. Public comments are noted and heard by Council, but not quoted. This document includes limited presentation by Council and invited speakers in summary form . This is an official record of the Milton City Council Meeting proceedings. Official Meetings are audio and video recorded. The Work Session of the Mayor and Council of the City of Milton was held on January 27, 2014 at 6:00 PM. Councilmembers Present: Councilmember Karen Thunnan, Council member Matt Kunz, Councilmember Bill Lusk, Councilmember Rick Mohrig and Councilmember Joe Longoria. Councilmembers Absent: Councilmember Burt Hewitt. Mayor Joe Lockwood: • Work Sessions are an infonnal setting to update Council on business items. • No votes will be taken during these sessions. • There is one (I) item on our Agenda tonight. • Public comment is allowed that is gennane to an Agenda Item. • If you wish to speak you are required to fill out a comment card and turn it into the City Clerk staff. • Public comment will be allowed for a total of 10 minutes per agenda item and no more than 2 minutes per person. • Public comment will be heard at the beginning of each Item. • Once the item is called, no other comment cards will be accepted. ADMINISTER OATH OF OFFICE TO ELECTED OFFICIAL • Joe Longoria (District 3/Post I Councilmember) • Mayor Pro Tern Agenda Item #1 was read. I. Discussion of Impact Fee System. (Presented by Ken Jarrard, City Attorney & William F. Ross. President -Ross + Associates) Kathleen Field, Community Development Director I would like to introduce Bill Ross, President of Ross + Associates. He is known throughout the state for his work on impact fees. Ken Jarrard is also going to help with the presentation as well. Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, January 27,2014 at 6:00 pm Page 2 of 4 Bill Ross, President, Ross + Associates Thank you Mr. Mayor and Council. I am not here to sell you anything. Whenever I am asked by a city to give a presentation regarding Impact Fees; I give the good, the bad, and the ugly. We are a city plalIDing firm. We conduct comprehensive plalIDing, zomng, land development codes, and implementation of financing. Impact fees are one of the things we do in terms of funding capital facilities and public improvements that come out of these plans. Our firm has done the vast majority of impact fees that have been adopted in Georgia. What does the Georgia impact fee cover? The bill has been in place for almost 20 years so there is an enormous amount of experience throughout the state with these fees. Every city and county in the state of Georgia comes under the impact fee law. The law applies to everyone whether you adopt impact fees or not. It applies to the City of Milton particularly with regard to exactions. A key element of impact fees is development actions. Anything the city or county requires of a developer with regard to the payment of money, the dedication of land, the building of a major road, etc. These are exactions if they are required in order for that developer or builder to get a permit. System improvements become the focus of development impact fees. Cities and counties may impose development exactions for system improvements only by way of development impact fees imposed in accordance with the provisions of the Development Impact Fee Act (DIFA). You have to have an Impact Fee Program. The law only covers the following categories of public facilities: • Water supply, treatment & distribution. • Wastewater collection, treatment & disposal. • Roads, streets, and bridges. • Storm-water and flood control facilities. • Parks, open space, and recreation. • Law enforcement, fire, emergency medical, and rescue. • Libraries. The law only looks at two categories of Capital Improvements: Project Improvements which are site improvements and facilities that are plalIDed and designed to provide service for a particular development project. For example, a subdivision; the roads in a subdivision provide service to the lots in the subdivision. System Improvements are capital improvements that are public facilities and are designed to provide service to the community at large. For example, local highways and major streets that are adjacent to a development but serve many other properties as well. Six examples of capital improvements that could be built in a community are the following. These are referred to as exactions: • Local subdivision street. • Deceleration lane for a shopping center. • Land for a school. Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, January 27,2014 at 6:00 pm Page 3 of4 • Land for a county courthouse. • Land for a library. • Highway widening. These qualify if they are required to be built or funded as part of a development project or issuance of a permit. If you have a system improvement that is not on the list; can you charge a fee or require developers to contribute to them? No, because those would be exactions. Public schools and landfills were left off the list on purpose. Public schools were left off because 25 years ago the state constitution limited school funding to only property taxes . A capital improvement according to state law is an improvement with a useful life of ten years or more by new construction or other action which increases the service capacity of a public facility. For example, a fire truck. I would like to make you aware of the difference between funding and financing. Funding is the money provided for a particular purpose; the money that will be used to pay for something. For example, your income. Financing is how money is provided to carry out a project; the method of applying funding (often debt). For example, a mortgage, car loan, or credit card. There are several safeguards that would need to be built in to any Impact Fee ordinance that you adopt. The law allows the government to provide exemptions for either of two categories as follows: Exemptions allowed; affordable housing; extraordinary economic development or employment growth. Types of appeals; individual assessment; appeal to a governing body. In the Capital Improvement Element (CIE) which you are required to file with the state, if you intend to adopt or even consider adopting exemptions, you have to incorporate language that states your intentions. However, keep in mind that anything you exempt; the difference in funds has to be made up from other revenue. One of the key words is extraordinary. You must be able to show that your community had an extraordinary need for the economic development or employment growth. If you decide to establish an impact fee ordinance, you will need to form an advisory committee. The Planning Connection consists of your Comprehensive Plan which should focus on your capital improvements for the city. Those capital improvements tum into a capital improvements program and impact fees are actually how you pay for those capital improvements. The Planning Connection consists of municipalities and counties which have adopted a comprehensive plan containing a capital improvements element are authorized to impose by ordinance development impact fees as a condition of development approval on all development pursuant to and in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. You will have to do annual updates. One of the requirements of the Capital Improvement Program is that everything has to be calculated in present dollars. The Capital Improvements Element sets out projected needs for system improvements during a planning horizon established in the comprehensive plan, a schedule of capital improvements that will meet the anticipated need for system improvements, and a description of anticipated funding sources for each required improvement. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs administers the Comprehensive Planning Act. It adopts minimum standards for preparation of Comprehensive Plans and their Capital Improvement Elements. It requires annual updates of Short Term Work Programs and Financial Reports from impact fee jurisdictions. Work Session of the Milton City Council Monday, January 27,2014 at 6:00 pm Page 4 of 4 It publishes guidelines for: • Adoption of impact fees. • Preparation of CIEs and annual CIE updates. • Preparation of Short Term Work Program updates. The Adoption Process consists of the following: • Kick-off public hearing and advisory committee. • Prepare population, housing, employment and tax base forecasts. • Determine Level of Service and capital projects to meet LOS needs. • Schedule projects based on need. • Calculate all project costs in 2014 dollars. • Consider funding strategies. • Public hearing and ARC/DCA review. • Adopt CIE and Impact Fee Ordinance. The Advisory Committee has to have at least 5 people but no more than 10 people. Half of the people on the Advisory Committee must come from the building, real estate, mortgage financing, etc. You must have an impact fee ordinance in order to collect impact fees . The ordinance must have a schedule of fees. The schedule of fees can be modified in the future. The Capital Improvements are sent to ARC and the state for review. Once you receive approval from the state that the CIE meets all of the requirements. When it is time to adopt the CIE you can then have the required public hearing and the process is complete. After no further discussion, the Work Session adjourned at 7:26 p.m. Date Approved: February 19, 2014. Sudie AM Gordon, City Clerk Joe Loc