19.51.140 Procedure for payment and use of fees.
A. Payment of all transportation fees shall be made prior to building permit issuance, except as provided in subsection (B) of this section.
B. The deferral of transportation fees shall be allowed only for single-family attached and detached construction being constructed by an applicant having a contractor registration number or other unique identification number and in accordance with the following:
1. For this subsection:
a. “Applicant” includes an entity that controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the applicant.
b. “Common control” means two or more entities controlled by the same person or entity.
c. “Control” means the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of an entity, whether through the ownership of voting shares, by contract, or otherwise.
2. An applicant wishing to defer the payment of fees for transportation system improvements shall:
a. Submit a signed and notarized deferred fee application and completed lien form concurrent with the building permit application for the building subject to the fee; and
b. Submit a certification that the applicant has requested no more than a total of twenty deferred transportation system improvement fee requests in the calendar year within the city; and
c. Pay a nonrefundable two hundred fifty dollar administration fee for each unit or lot of a single development project for which the deferral of the fee is requested. Beginning January 1, 2018, and each January 1st thereafter, this fee shall be adjusted in accordance with the most recent change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or other official measurement of inflation used by the city. If the change in the CPI or other official measurement of inflation used by the city indicates an increase of less than one percent since the last adjustment of the fees listed herein, there shall be no increase for that year. At such time that the change in the CPI or other official measurement of inflation used by the city for one or more years indicates an increase of one percent or more since the last adjustment of the fees, the cumulative percentage increase since the last adjustment of fees shall be applied.
3. The lien shall:
a. Be in a form approved and provided by the city;
b. Be signed by all owners of the property, with all signatures acknowledged as required for a deed;
c. Include the legal description, property tax account number, and address for each lot or unit the lien will encumber;
d. Be binding and subordinate on all successors in title after the recording;
e. Be junior and subordinate to a first mortgage for the purpose of construction upon the same real property granted by the person who applied for the deferral of impact fees, but in no case shall the lien be in less than second place.
4. The lien shall be recorded by the applicant, at their own expense, and a conformed copy of the recorded document shall be provided to the city prior to the issuance of the building permit that is subject to the fee for transportation improvements.
5. Each applicant eligible to defer transportation fees shall only be entitled to annually receive deferrals for no more than a total of twenty building permits within the city.
6. The applicant shall be responsible for the payment of all recording fees.
7. The deferred fee for transportation improvements shall be paid in full prior to whichever of the following occurs first:
a. Issuance of a certificate of occupancy;
b. The closing of the first sale of the property occurring after the issuance of the applicable building permit for which the fees were deferred; or
c. Eighteen months from the date of building permit issuance.
8. If the building for which the deferral of the fee for transportation improvements is requested is located within a subdivision, unit lot subdivision or short subdivision, the subdivision, unit lot subdivision or short subdivision shall be recorded prior to recording the lien for fees and issuance of the building permit.
9. After the applicant has paid all deferred fees for transportation improvements, the applicant is responsible for submitting a lien release application to the city. The applicant, at their own expense, will be responsible for recording lien releases.
10. Compliance with the requirements of the deferral option shall constitute compliance with subdivision or short subdivision conditions pertaining to the timing of the fee payment.
11. If deferred fees for transportation improvements are not paid in accordance with terms authorized by state law and this section, the city may initiate foreclosure proceedings for the unpaid impact fees and all costs associated with the collection of the unpaid fees.
12. A request to defer transportation fees under this section may be combined in one application with a request to defer school impact fees under EMC 19.52.090.
C. All fees collected under this chapter shall be obligated or expended on transportation improvements. Fees collected for specific projects shall be expended on those projects or may be expended on replacement projects that provide similar or greater improvements.
D. The fees shall be obligated or expended in all cases within five years of collection. Any fees not so obligated or expended shall be refunded with interest at the rate applied to judgments to the property owners of record at the time of refund; however, if the payment is not obligated or expended within five years due to delay attributable to the project applicant, the payment shall be refunded without interest.
E. An applicant’s commitment to specific performance to construct or to pay a fair share of a transportation improvement (as specified in EMC 19.51.100(A)(2)), including any bonds or financial assurance associated with the improvement, shall not be considered a fee, regardless of whether a monetary value has been assigned to the improvements in the traffic analysis or other project review documents or agreements. (Ord. 3774-20 § 5(Z) (Exh. 3), 2020.)