§ 58-175. Credits.

(a)

Credit shall be given for the present value of any construction of improvements or construction or dedication of land or money required or accepted by Fulton County from a developer or his/her predecessor in title or interest for system improvements of the category for which a development impact fee is being collected. Credits shall not be given for any construction of improvements or contribution or dedication of land or money which occurred more than ten years prior to the effective date of this article.

(b)

Calculation of development impact fees shall include credits for the present value of revenues reasonably expected, on the basis of historic funding patterns, to be generated by new growth and development insofar as such revenues are expected to be available to pay for system improvements (see Appendix A: Credit for Property Tax Revenue, attached hereto as section 58-239).

(c)

Credits under subsection (a) of this section shall be valued using the following guidelines:

(1)

For the present value of the construction of any system improvements required or accepted, in conjunction with the project for which approval is being sought, by the county from the developer or predecessor in title or interest for the category of system improvements in the service area for which the development impact fee is being collected, the county will utilize a standard construction cost as established by the department of public works for the assessment of applicable credits. Should unusual circumstances such as difficult topography or wetlands cause the standard costs to be restrictive, a developer may present documentation to the county demonstrating such circumstances for consideration in the calculation of credits.

(2)

For the present value of any contribution or dedication of land required or accepted for system improvements, in conjunction with the project for which approval is being sought, by the county from the developer or predecessor in title or interest for the category of system improvements in the service area for which the development impact fee is being collected, the value of contributed land shall be the same as that attributed to the property by the current validated Fulton County tax appraisal at the time of dedication; present value shall be calculated from time of dedication using the Bloomberg AAA GO Municipal Bond Yield Index (or equivalent).

(3)

For the present value of any contribution or dedication of money required or accepted, in conjunction with the project for which approval is being sought, by the county from the developer or predecessor in title or interest for the system improvements in the service area for which the development impact fee is being collected, the value of contributed money shall be the same as that at the time of contribution or dedication; present value shall be calculated from time of contribution or dedication using the Bloomberg AAA GO Municipal Bond Yield Index (or equivalent).

(4)

In the event a developer is issued a building permit for a land use which is determined by the county to result in a reduction in demand for system improvements from an existing land use on the property in the service area for which the development impact fee is being collected, the developer or predecessor in title or interest shall be given a credit for the difference which shall be applied against that parcel of land for which the development impact fee was or will be paid; present value shall be calculated from time of contribution or dedication using the Bloomberg AAA GO Municipal Bond Yield Index (or equivalent).

(d)

In the event a building permit is abandoned, for the present value of any previously paid development impact fee for the system improvements in the service area for which the development impact fee is being collected, credit shall be in the amount of the development impact fee paid inflated from the date of payment using the Bloomberg AAA GO Municipal Bond Yield Index (or equivalent) and shall be applied against that parcel of land for which the development impact fee was paid.

(e)

In the event that a developer enters into an agreement with the county to construct, fund, or contribute system improvements such that the amount of credit created by such construction, funding, or contribution exceeds the development impact fee calculated for the project, the developer shall be compensated for such excess contribution by the county or, at the county's option, from development impact fees paid by other development located in the service area benefitted by such improvements. The present value of any such construction or contribution shall be established by:

(1)

Use of documented prices actually paid by the developer for the system improvements with such prices inflated by use of the Bloomberg AAA GO Municipal Bond Yield Index (or equivalent); or

(2)

Use of documented prices which would have been paid by the county for such system improvements with such prices inflated by use of the Bloomberg AAA GO Municipal Bond Yield Index (or equivalent), whichever is less.

(3)

The county is under no obligation to make immediate compensation, but will make compensation as funds are available.

(f)

Except as provided in subsection (g) of this section, no credit shall be given for construction, contribution, or dedication of any system improvement or funds for system improvements made before the effective date of this article, nor shall credit be given for system improvements or funds for system improvements constructed, contributed, or dedicated after the effective date of this article if an agreement to do so was entered into before the effective date of this article for projects which have already received a building permit.

(g)

In the event that a feepayor has, under previously established conditions of zoning, constructed, contributed, or dedicated system improvements or funds when receiving permits to proceed with only a portion or phase of a project as defined by a particular zoning case, but the construction, contribution, or dedication is in excess of that required by the portion or phase permitted, the excess construction, contribution, or dedication shall be credited against future development impact fees which shall be required as additional portions or phases of the zoned project seek building permits.

(h)

In no event shall credit be given for project improvements.

(i)

The developer must present evidence of the cost and age of the improvement from which present value may be calculated using the Bloomberg AAA GO Municipal Bond Yield Index (or equivalent) estimates of inflation and depreciation.

(j)

Credits required under subsection (b) herein shall be automatically given at the time of fee imposition. Any other credits shall be given only upon request of the developer to the county manager. To receive consideration for such other credits a developer must present evidence or proposals for creditable activities and evidence of value to the county manager at or before the time of application for building permit.

(k)

The county manager shall review all claims for allowance and valuation of credits and make determinations regarding:

(1)

Allowance of any claimed credit.

(2)

Value of any allowed credit.

(l)

Any credit shall be acknowledged in writing and calculated at the time of imposition of the development impact fee.

(1)

Any credit shall be acknowledged in writing and calculated at the time of imposition of the development impact fee.

(2)

A developer may appeal any such determination under the provisions of this article dealing with appeals.

(m)

Approved credits which are in excess of impact fees due for a particular project may be transferred to another project located within the same service area and shall apply only to the same public facility category for which the credits were originally approved. Such transfers of approved credits shall follow those procedures established by the county manager.

(94-RM-121, pt. 1, art. X, §§ 1—12, 5-18-94; Ord. No. 98-0846, § 1, 7-1-98)

State law reference

Credits, O.C.G.A. § 36-71-7.