Okaloosa County BOCC — 2013 meeting #1122 (date undetermined) — 2013-2014 Strategic Plan-Rev Sources — reading text

2010 Franchise Fees. The Board of County Commissioners can explore utility franchise fees on electric and gas companies for the use of public rights-of-way. In the current environment of difficult economic times, the revenue enhancement of the imposition of franchise fees in the unincorporated area, similar to those  imposed in the incorporated areas already, would potentially generate $7,500,000 of additional revenue. The enactment of any franchise fee would likely require the participation of the electric or gas utilities. User Fees. Rates and charges for all of the enterprise funds are evaluated on a routine basis. Enterprise fund rates are established in Okaloosa County to provide services related to Water & Sewer, Airport, Solid Waste, Inspection, Emergency Medical Services and Convention Center activities. Many of the current rates and charges for enterprise activity are not sufficient to support some of the levels of service maintained in the past, partly due to the current difficult economic times. Regulatory Fees Home Rule Authority Section 163.31801, Florida Statutes Regulatory fees are home rule revenue sources that may be imposed pursuant to a local government’s police powers in the exercise of a sovereign function. Examples of regulatory fees include building permit fees, impact fees, inspection fees, and stormwater fees. Two principles guide the application and use of regulatory fees. The fee should not exceed the regulated activity’s cost and is generally required to be applied solely to the regulated activity’s cost for which Impact Fee History $35,000,000 $20,887,926 $19,222,939 $30,000,000 $16,419,323 $13,308,031 $25,000,000 $12,401,420 $11,560,576 $9,515,667 $9,289,567 $20,000,000 $8,564,302 $7,821,851 $7,633,150 $6,124,000 $5,995,120 $5,567,689 $4,995,896 $4,073,670 $15,000,000 $3,932,878 $3,049,685 $2,653,602 $2,441,398 $2,361,441 $2,336,505 $2,131,348 $1,804,083 $1,699,263 $1,603,218 $1,461,832 $1,387,611 $1,291,055 $10,000,000 $1,088,657 $632,984 $546,438 $477,577 $483,979 $460,927 $436,807 $343,658 $219,474 $114,161 $71,389 $82,009 $20,157 $5,067 $5,000,000 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 Alachua Bay Charlotte Hernando Okaloosa Osceola St. Johns St. Lucie Santa Rosa Crestview Destin FWB 2007 2008 2009 2010 the fee is imposed. Rather than imposing costs of additional capital facilities upon the general public, the purpose of impact fees is to shift the expense burden to newcomers. Impact Fees. The Board of County Commissioners has the authority to institute an impact fee ordinance. Impact fees are charges imposed by local governments against new development. Such charges represent a total or partial reimbursement for the cost of additional facilities or services necessary as the result of the new development. Impact fees have successfully been used to fund road improvements, water and sewer facilities, the construction of school facilities and park expansion. Determination of an impact fee begins with calculating demand-to-capacity ratios for different capital facilities and then estimating the number and cost of facilities that will be necessary for meeting a prescribed level of service for a growing population. An impact fee ordinance can distinguish among impacts of different types of growth in establishing fee amounts. For example, single-family homes can be shown to have different impacts than office buildings or retail stores. Impact fees cannot be charged to pay the cost of reducing or eliminating deficiencies in existing facilities. Special Assessments Home Rule Authority Sections 125.01, 125.271, and Chapter 170, Florida Statutes Special assessments are a home rule revenue source used to construct and maintain capital facilities and to fund certain services. Additionally, state law authorizes the levy of special assessments for county and municipal governments and for county emergency medical services. Special districts derive their authority to levy special assessments through general law or special act. As established by Florida case law, two requirements exist for the imposition of a valid special assessment. First, the assessed property must derive a special benefit from the improvement or service provided. Second, the assessment must be fairly and reasonably apportioned among the properties that receive the special benefit. In order for an assessed property to derive a special benefit from the service provided, there should be a logical relationship between the provided service and the benefit to real property. This logical relationship to property legal test defines those services that can be funded by special assessments versus those that cannot. General government services, such as general law enforcement and indigent health care, fail to satisfy the logical relationship to property test and cannot be funded by special assessments. Many improvements and services have been upheld by the courts as providing a special benefit to assessed properties. Examples of such improvements and services include downtown redevelopment, garbage disposal, fire and rescue services, fire protection, parking facilities, sewer improvements, stormwater management services, street improvements, and water and sewer line extensions. Once the service or capital facility satisfies the special benefit test, the assessment must be fairly apportioned among the benefited property in a manner consistent with the