The development fees that the Village of Blue Mounds considers
to be impact fees shall be exclusively the following:
Wis. Stats., § 66.0617 does not prohibit or limit
the authority of a political subdivision to finance public facilities
by any other means permitted by law. Although the Village does not
deem the following to be impact fees, the Village has conducted needs
assessments and followed the substantive and procedural requirements
of Wis. Stats., § 66.0617 with respect to the following
fees.
A. Initial capital contributions for reserve capacity of waste treatment facility ("wastewater connection fees"), as provided in Chapter
282 of the Village Code.
The following Village documents contain the public facilities
needs assessments for the impact fees listed above and other fees,
as specified. The needs assessments document complies with the public
notice and hearing requirements of Wis. Stats., § 66.0617(3).
A. Facilities Plan for Wastewater Treatment Plant Reconstruction in
the Village of Blue Mounds, November 1994, prepared by Town &
Country Engineering, Inc.
B. Report on Public Facility Needs Assessment for Wastewater Treatment
Facility and Methodology and Calculations for Wastewater Connection
Fee, August 1997.
All fees shall be paid to the Village prior to the issuance by the Village of a building permit or other required approval. Fees shall be paid by the developer, as "developer" is defined in Wis. Stats., § 66.0617(1)(b), or the developer's representative or successor in interest. Payments shall be made in full unless installment payments are provided for in the ordinance referenced in §§
213-2 and
213-3 or, pursuant to Wis. Stats., § 66.0617(6)(g), the Appeal Board has authorized the payment of a particular fee that is otherwise payable at the time of issuance of a building permit or other required municipal approval in installment payments. The ordinance specified or the Appeal Board may require that interest be paid on installment payments at a rate comparable to the rate charged by the Village of Blue Mounds on installment payments of special assessments or modified to reflect then-current interest costs plus 1%.
Appeals may be brought by developers, as that term is defined
in Wis. Stats., § 66.0617(1)(b), as provided herein:
A. It shall be a condition precedent to filing such an appeal that the
impact fee appealed from shall be paid as and when the fee or any
installments thereof become due and payable. Upon default in timely
making any such payment, such appeal shall be dismissed.
B. The only questions that are appealable under this section are the
following, pursuant to Wis. Stats., § 66.0617(10):
(1) The amount of fee charged to and paid by the appellant developer.
(2) The method of collection of said fee.
(3) The use of the particular fee charged to and paid by the appellant
developer.
C. A challenge to the use of impact fees that are collected shall address
solely the question of whether the fees are being used for the purposes
for which they were collected within the allowable time established
under this chapter. Appeals as to use of proceeds are not entitled
to challenge the Village's public facility plans or needs assessments.
(1) Appeals must be brought within 30 days of the date of payment of
the impact fee by the appellant, or the appeal right shall be deemed
waived.
(2) For purposes of this chapter, the Village Board of the Village of
Blue Mounds shall be the hearing and appeals board, and appeals and
notices of appeal shall be filed with the Village Clerk/Treasurer.
(3) An application fee to bring an appeal shall be paid at the time of
the filing of the appeal in the amount of $200. The appeal fee is
nonrefundable and failure to pay this amount within 30 days of the
date of payment of the impact fee by the appellant shall cause the
appeal to be dismissed.
D. Following the filing of appeal, the Village Clerk/Treasurer shall
compile a record of the ordinance imposing the impact fee that is
the subject of the appeal, a record of the management and expenditure
of the proceeds of such fee and shall transmit same, with the appeal
documents to the appeal board. In consultation with appropriate departments,
the Village Clerk/Treasurer shall also compile a report on each appeal
in which the appellant is seeking a reduction or total refund in the
fee paid by the appellant. This report shall identify the fiscal impact
on the Village of Blue Mounds if the request to the appellant is granted.
If this fiscal impact report indicates that the granting of the appeal
will cause a revenue shortfall that otherwise had not been expected
with respect to the public facility, and if this revenue shortfall
cannot be reconciled by reduction in impacts caused by development
on the appellant's property, the report shall estimate whether
it will be necessary for the Village to adjust impact fees to amendment
of existing ordinances, to make up the revenue shortfall.
E. The appeals board shall hold a public hearing on the appeal proceeded
by a Class 1 notice under Wis. Stats. Chapter 985, providing fair
opportunity for the appellant to be heard. The burden shall be on
the appellant to establish illegality or impropriety of the fee from
which the appeal has been taken. Following the close of the public
hearing, the appeal board shall deliberate upon the matter, conducting
such studies and inquiries as it deems appropriate, and shall decide
the appeal.
F. If the appeal board determines that the appeal has merit, the appeal
board may determine the appropriate remedies. These may include redirection
of the proceeds of the impact fee in question to accomplish the purposes
for which the fee was collected, refunding in full or in part the
impact fee that was collected along with interest collected by the
Village thereon or granting the appellant the opportunity to make
the impact fee payment in installment payments as described above
or such other remedies as the appeal board deems appropriate to the
cause.
G. Pursuant to Wis. Stats., § 66.0617(6)(g), the appeal board
may authorize the payment of a fee that is otherwise payable at the
time of issuance of a zoning permit or other required municipal approval
as specified within the ordinance imposing the particular impact fee
in installment payments. The appeal board may require that interest
be paid on installment payments at a rate comparable to the rate charged
by the Village of Blue Mounds on installment payments of special assessments
modified to reflect then-current interest costs or interest cost estimates.