19.52.090 Collection and transfer of fees.
A. School impact fees shall be due and payable to the city by the developer at the time of issuance of residential building permits for all developments, except as provided in subsection (B) of this section. The city may make alternative arrangements with a school district for collection of impact fees, provided payment is made prior to the issuance of residential building permits for all developments.
B. The deferral of school impact 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 school impact fees 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 impact 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 impact fee.
5. Each applicant eligible to defer impact 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 impact fee 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 impact fee 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 impact fees and issuance of the building permit.
9. After the applicant has paid all deferred impact fees, 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 impact fee payment.
11. If deferred impact fees 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 impact fees.
12. If the city does not institute foreclosure proceedings for unpaid school impact fees within forty-five days after receiving notice from a school district requesting that it do so, the district may institute foreclosure proceedings with respect to the unpaid impact fees.
13. A request to defer school impact fees under this section may be combined in one application with a request to defer transportation impact fees under EMC 18.36.060 or transportation fees under EMC 18.40.140.
C. Districts eligible to receive school impact fees required by this chapter shall establish an interest-bearing account and method of accounting for the receipt and expenditure of all impact fees collected under this chapter. The school impact fees shall be deposited in the appropriate district account within ten days after receipt, and the receiving school district shall provide the city with a notice of deposit.
D. Each district shall institute a procedure for the disposition of impact fees and providing for annual reporting to the city that demonstrates compliance with the requirements of RCW 82.02.070, and other applicable laws. (Ord. 3774-20 § 5(AA) (Exh. 3), 2020.)