[Ord. 1463, 5-17-2006]
(A) 
New construction of dwelling units and commercial and industrial buildings, as well as the establishment of new and more intense uses in existing buildings, places demands on the city to provide new services, expand and improve public facilities, and accelerate the replacement and repair of existing public facilities.
(B) 
In order to provide an equitable source of funding for these new services and facilities, the City Council finds that it is fair and equitable to charge such new development and new, more intense changes in use of existing buildings, for a proportionate share of the costs of new services and facility improvements and repairs.
(C) 
Charges on new development will ensure that there are appropriate revenues to minimize the potential threat to public health, safety, and welfare caused by new development which incrementally impacts water and sewer supply, drainage, fire and police protection, and other public services and thereby reduce the reliance on other public funds to essentially underwrite the cost of services and facilities generated by new development.
(D) 
This subchapter of the Code of Indio may be referred to as the "Impact Fee Ordinance," and is enacted under the city's police power pursuant to the California Constitution, Article XI, Section 7, and pursuant to Government Code §§ 66000 et seq., (hereinafter "Mitigation Fee Act"). All words, phrases, and terms used in this title shall be interpreted in accordance with the definitions set forth in the Mitigation Fee Act, unless otherwise specifically defined herein.
[Ord. 1463, 5-17-2006]
For the purpose of this subchapter, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL
Any approval or permit from the city, whether discretionary or ministerial, including but not limited to, a development plan, conditional use permit, tentative subdivision map, tentative parcel map, final subdivision map, final parcel map, building permit, or other permit for construction or reconstruction, including but not limited to recreational vehicle space permits and trailer space permits.
DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
Any project undertaken for the purpose of development, as defined in the Mitigation Fee Act, requiring development approval.
DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS
The Director of Public Works of the City of Indio, or any person designated by the City Manager or Director of Public Works to perform the function of the Director of Public Works specified in this subchapter.
DWELLING UNIT
Each single-family dwelling and each habitation unit of an apartment, duplex or multiple-dwelling structure designated as a separate place of habitation.
FEE
A monetary exaction, other than a tax or an assessment, imposed in connection with approval of a development project for the purpose of defraying all or a portion of the cost of providing public facilities related to the development project, as more specifically defined in the Mitigation Fee Act.
FINANCE DIRECTOR
The Finance Director of the City of Indio, or any person designated by the City Manager or Finance Director to perform the function of the Finance Director specified in this subchapter.
IMPACT FEE ORDINANCE
This subchapter of the Code of Indio.
IMPLEMENTING RESOLUTION
A resolution of the City Council of the City of Indio establishing or modifying a fee under this subchapter and in which the findings specified in §§ 33.070 or 33.071 are made.
LOT
An individual undivided parcel of real property described on a final subdivision map or final parcel map approved by the city.
MITIGATION FEE ACT
California Government Code §§ 66000 et seq.
PUBLIC FACILITY
Public improvements, public services, and community amenities, as defined by the Mitigation Fee Act, including, but not limited to: roadways (including streets, traffic signals, and other public right-of-way improvements), storm drainage, water (including supply, treatment, and distribution), wastewater (including collection and treatment), parks, public buildings, parking lots, and other improvements or services identified in implementing resolutions adopted pursuant to this title.
SUBDIVIDER
A person, or other legal entity, who applies to the city to divide or cause to be divided real property into a development project, or who applies to the city to develop or improve (into a development project) any existing parcel of real property.
[Ord. 1463, 5-17-2006]
Pursuant to the Mitigation Fee Act and this title, the city has established fees that shall be imposed upon development projects for the purpose of mitigating the impact of development projects upon the city's ability to provide specified public facilities.
[Ord. 1463, 5-17-2006]
The following development impact fees are hereby established and imposed on the issuance of development approvals for development projects within the city to finance the cost of the following categories of public facilities and improvements reasonably related to development projects. The development impact fees consist of the following fees which are hereby established:
(A) 
Public building fees. In addition to any other fee prescribed by law, every person constructing any development project in the city shall pay to the city a public building fee to be used for public buildings, including but not limited to additions to city yards, city administrative buildings, animal control facilities, senior citizens centers, teen centers, community centers, libraries.
(B) 
Park fees. In addition to any other fee prescribed by law, every person constructing any development project in the city shall pay to the city a park fee to be used for improvements and facilities to park lands for recreation and leisure activities. The city's use of these fees shall be independent of and shall complement the development of new and/or rehabilitation of existing neighborhood or community park or recreational facilities through Quimby Fees collected per Code of Indio §§ 156.130 et seq.
(C) 
Fire and police capital impact fees. In addition to any other fee prescribed by law, every person constructing any development project in the city shall pay to the city a fire and police capital impact fee to be used for police and fire department buildings, equipment and training facilities.
(D) 
Water impact fees. In addition to any other fee prescribed by law, every person constructing any development project in the city on land that has not had prior water service, shall pay to the city a water impact fee to be used for water system facilities and improvements, including, but not limited to, wells, pipelines, pump stations, reservoirs, and related facilities. The fees shall be due and payable for residential development concurrent with the recording of the final map and for commercial development, upon application to the city for a building permit for the construction of any dwelling unit or building or addition.
(E) 
Storm drain facilities fees. In addition to any other fee prescribed by law, every person constructing any development project in the city shall pay to the city a storm drain facilities fee to be used for defraying the costs of constructing planned drainage facilities for the removal of surface waters and storm waters from local or neighborhood drainage areas established pursuant to the master plan of drainage.
(F) 
Road, bridge and thoroughfare fees. In addition to any other fee prescribed by law, every person constructing any development project in the city shall pay to the city a road, bridge and thoroughfare fee to be used for defraying the actual or estimated costs of construction of roads, bridges, and major thoroughfares as identified in the Circulation Element of the General Plan that serve the development project.
(G) 
Traffic signal fees. In addition to any other fee prescribed by law, every person constructing any development project in the city shall pay to the city a traffic signal fee for traffic signal improvements.
[Ord. 1463, 5-17-2006]
(A) 
Exemptions. Unless otherwise provided in the implementing resolution, the following types of development projects are exempt from paying development impact fees pursuant to this subchapter:
(1) 
Addition of habitable living space to an existing single-family dwelling.
(2) 
Addition of an accessory structure to a single-family dwelling.
(3) 
Second dwelling units on residential single-family lots.
(B) 
Credits. The city may within its sole and absolute discretion negotiate credits as to fees charged for a development project per this subchapter, when such a development project is also covered by assessment districts, Mello-Roos Community Facilities Districts, or other financing mechanisms.
[Ord. 1463, 5-17-2006]
The fees imposed by the city pursuant to this subchapter shall be solely used (1) to pay for the cost of providing specified public facilities, as described in § 33.068 and in implementing resolutions, and (2) for reimbursing developers who have constructed public facilities determined by the city to be beyond that needed to mitigate the impacts of the developer's project or projects.
[Ord. 1463, 5-17-2006]
(A) 
Pursuant to the Mitigation Fee Act, the City Council shall establish the amount of each type of impact fee in an implementing resolution, that is a legislative act.
(B) 
Notice and hearing. Prior to approving or amending a fee, the City Council shall hold at least one regularly scheduled public meeting at which oral or written presentations may be made. Notice of said meeting shall be given as provided in Government Code §§ 66016, 66017, and/or 66018. No new fee shall be imposed sooner than 60 days following the City Council's final action on the adoption or increase of the fee.
(C) 
Required findings. The implementing resolution shall identify the findings required by the Mitigation Fee Act, including:
(1) 
The purpose of the fee.
(2) 
The use to which the fee is to be put, including a description of the specified public facilities to be provided.
(3) 
The reasonable relationship between the fee's use and the type of development project on which the fee is imposed.
(4) 
The reasonable relationship between the need for the specified public facilities and the type of development project within the specified geographical area.
(5) 
The reasonable relationship between the amount of the fee and the cost of the specified public facilities attributable to the development project on which the fee is imposed.
[Ord. 1463, 5-17-2006]
By resolution, the City Council may periodically update and adjust each fee, as authorized and/or required by the Mitigation Fee Act. Any resolution updating or adjusting any fee shall comply with the notice and hearing provisions and contain the findings required by § 33.071.
[Ord. 1463, 5-17-2006]
Any fees established pursuant to this subchapter shall be revised annually by means of an automatic adjustment on July 1 of each year based on the average percentage change over the previous calendar year set forth in the Engineering News Record Construction Cost Index for the City of Los Angeles or, if the index is no longer published, an index determined by the Director of Public Works to be a recognized standard of the construction industry.
[Ord. 1463, 5-17-2006; Ord. 1586, 2-2-2011]
The fee to be paid for each lot or dwelling unit within a development project shall be the amount of the fee in effect, pursuant to implementing resolution, at the time that full payment is made to the city. The fee for each lot or dwelling unit within a development project shall be paid in-full prior to the issuance of any certificate of occupancy, unless otherwise authorized by the Mitigation Fee Act.
[Ord. 1463, 5-17-2006]
The provisions of this subchapter shall not release any owner of residential or nonresidential property from:
(A) 
The obligation of paying other applicable fees relating to development of property, including, without limitation, the application fees, processing fees, mitigation fees, Quimby Fees, and other development fees within the control of the city;
(B) 
Compliance with any public facility or improvement requirements imposed pursuant to applicable law, including, without limitation, the provisions of the Code of Indio and the Government Code, at the time of approval of a tentative subdivision map, tentative parcel map, certificate of compliance, building permit, or other land use entitlement; and/or
(C) 
Compliance with any obligation to pay fees or exactions, or to comply with mitigation requirements of identified project-related environmental effects.
[Ord. 1463, 5-17-2006]
(A) 
Compliance with mitigation fee act. The fees collected pursuant to this subchapter shall be accounted for and invested as required by California Government Code Sections 66001 and 66006, or such other requirements as the law may impose with respect to such fees.
(B) 
Placement of fees in separate city account. The Finance Director shall create a separate capital facilities account for each type of fee imposed and collected pursuant to this subchapter. The Finance Director shall receive all fees paid and place them in the appropriate capital facilities account. Within the capital facilities account, the Finance Director shall create sub-accounts as necessary. The Finance Director shall keep account of all funds received, their source, all expenditures therefrom and the purpose of all expenditures. All interest earned on investment of the funds in the capital facilities accounts shall be deposited in the capital facilities accounts and the sub-accounts therein and shall be expended only for the purpose for which the fee was originally collected.
(C) 
Annual report. The Finance Director shall prepare an annual report thereon pursuant to Government Code 66006, and make such report available to the public stating: (1) the type of fee in the account, (2) the amount of the fee, (3) the beginning and ending balance of the account or fund, (4) the amount of the fees collected and the interest earned, (5) information relating to the public improvements on which the fees were expended, (6) the approximate date by which the construction of the improvement will commence if sufficient funds have been collected, (7) a description of inter-fund transfers or loans and (8) the amount of any refunds.
(D) 
Review of annual report. The City Council shall review said annual report at the first regularly scheduled public meeting more than 15 days after the report is made available to the public. Notice of such meeting shall be mailed at least 15 days prior to the meeting to any interested person who files a written request with the local agency for mailed notice of the meeting pursuant to Government Code Section 66006.
[Ord. 1463, 5-17-2006]
(A) 
Commencing with the fifth fiscal year following the first year of receipt of any revenues from the fees established, assessed and levied pursuant to the provisions of the Impact Fee Ordinance, and each fiscal year thereafter, the Finance Director shall provide the City Council with a report that sets forth the total amount of all the fee revenues that were received and deposited in the capital facilities accounts in each fiscal year prior to the date of the report, but that remain unexpended or unappropriated as of the date of the report; provided, however, that no report shall be required for any year in which there were no unspent or unappropriated fee revenues in the capital facilities accounts that were received and deposited in the capital facilities accounts more than five years prior to the date of the required report.
(B) 
Upon review of the report described in division (A) of this § 33.077, the City Council shall take one of the following actions with respect to any unexpended or unappropriated fee revenue in a capital facilities account that was received and deposited in the capital facilities account five or more years prior to the date of the report:
(1) 
Appropriate all or any part of the unexpended or unappropriated fee revenue for the design, construction, or installation of the facilities for which the fee was imposed;
(2) 
Make all of the following findings with respect to that portion of the capital facilities account remaining unexpended, whether committed or uncommitted:
(a) 
Identify the purpose to which the fee is to be put;
(b) 
Demonstrate a reasonable relationship between the fee and the purpose for which it is charged;
(c) 
Identify all sources and amounts of funding anticipated to complete financing in incomplete improvements for which the fee is charged; and
(d) 
Designate the approximate dates on which the funding referred to in division (B)(2)(c) is expected to be deposited into the appropriate sub-account.
(3) 
Provide for the refund of all or any part of the unexpended or unappropriated fee revenue, together with any actual interest accrued thereon, in the manner described in Government Code Section 66001(e), to the current record owner of the development project, or any portion thereof, for which a fee was paid; provided that if the administrative costs of refunding the fee revenue exceed the amount to be refunded, the City Council, after considering the matter at a public hearing, notice of which is given in the manner proved for in Government Code Section 66001(f), may appropriate the revenue for any other facility for which impact fees are charged or otherwise imposed pursuant to the Impact Fee Ordinance and which the City Council determines will benefit the properties for which the fee was charged or otherwise imposed; and further provided that the portion of any fee revenue received by the city as reimbursement of its costs in administering the provisions of this subchapter shall not be refunded.
(C) 
The provisions of divisions (d), (e), and (f) of Government Code Section 66001 shall apply fully to any refund of fees remaining unexpended or uncommitted in the capital facilities account for five or more years after deposit, and the provisions of this section shall be subordinate to the Mitigation Fee Act and shall be applied consistently therewith.
[Ord. 1463, 5-17-2006]
(A) 
A subdivider subject to a fee established pursuant to this subchapter may apply to the Director of Public Works for a reduction, adjustment, or waiver or any one or more of the fees, or any portion thereof, based upon the absence of a reasonable relationship or nexus between the impacts of the subdivider's development project and either the amount of the fee charged or the type of public infrastructure to be financed, or both. The application shall state in detail the factual basis for the claim of reduction, adjustment, or waiver, and shall include any and all written materials which the landowner deems appropriate in support of the application.
(B) 
The application shall be made in writing and filed with the Director at or before the time required for the filing of protests under Government Code Sections 66020 and 66021. For purposes of determining the applicable limitations period set forth in Government Code Section 66020, the date of the imposition of fees under this subchapter shall be the date of the earliest discretionary approval by the city of the subject development project. In the case of a development project where no discretionary approval is granted by the city, the date of the imposition of the fees under this subchapter shall be the date of the earliest ministerial approval by the city of the subject development project. The application shall be accompanied by the payment of a filing fee in an amount established by the City Council. The applicant shall be liable for the actual cost of the city in processing and ruling upon the application to the extent such cost exceeds the filing fee. Such excess amount may be deducted from any refund found due and owing to the applicant or may be added to the amount of development impact fees to be due or owing from the applicant, as the case may be.
(C) 
Notwithstanding the filing of an application and the pendency of any hearing or procedure under this section, the subdivider shall pay the development impact fees originally determined by the city in a timely manner pursuant to § 33.074. Such payment shall be deemed to be a payment under protest pursuant to Government Code Sections 66020 and 66021.
(D) 
An application for a reduction, adjustment, or waiver or any one or more of the fees, or any portion thereof, shall be reviewed by the Director of Public Works. The Director of Public Works shall approve a fee adjustment application only if he or she determines that there is the absence of a reasonable relationship or nexus between the impacts of the subdivider's development project and either the amount of the fee charged or the type of public infrastructure to be financed, or both. No formal public hearings need be conducted nor any notice given except to the applicant in connection with the granting or denial of such a fee adjustment application. The decision of the Director of Public Works shall be final and not appealable, except as provided in § 33.079.
(E) 
The protest procedures set forth in this section are administrative procedures which must be exhausted prior to the institution of any judicial proceeding concerning the fees protested. Any petition seeking judicial review of a decision by the City Council shall be made under Code of Civil Procedure § 1094.5 and shall be filed by or before (1) 90 days following the date of which such decision is mailed to the applicant or (2) the expiration of the limitation period set forth in subsection (d) of Government Code Section 66020, whichever occurs later.
[Ord. 1463, 5-17-2006]
Any person aggrieved by determination of the City Council or the Director of Public Works under this subchapter may appeal to the City Council as provided in § 30.89 of this Code.