Subject:
Title
Board Direction RE: Impact Fee Study and Associated Matters; Legislative Intent and Permission to Advertise Amendments to Chapter 94, Article IV, Division 3, “Impact Fees,” and Chapter 62, Article V, “Impact Fees,” Brevard County Code of Ordinances
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Fiscal Impact:
None (Any fiscal impacts based on impact fee adjustments would be realized through future Board action at a Public Hearing).
Dept/Office:
Planning and Development/Budget Office
Requested Action:
Recommendation
It is requested that the Board of County Commissioners take the following action:
1. Adopt the attached Impact Fee Update Study
2. Provide direction to staff to draft amendments to the impact fee rate schedules at the maximum impact fee rate justified through the study or as capped by Florida Statute, whichever is lower, and amend impact fee districts to provide maximum flexibility.
3. Issue legislative intent and permission to advertise amendments to Chapter 94, Article IV, Division 3, “Impact Fees,” and Chapter 62, Article V, “Impact Fees,” Brevard County Code of Ordinances, consistent with the Board’s direction.
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Summary Explanation and Background:
On February 25, 2025, the Board of County Commissioners directed staff to advertise for consultant services to conduct a study of the County’s impact fees, as provided for in the Florida Impact Fee Act (Section 163.31801, Florida Statutes). Staff, through a competitive procurement process, recommended Benesh, and the Board approved that selection on May 6, 2025. Additionally, the Board on that day approved proceeding with an impact fee study for all of the County’s impact fee programs (not including Educational Facilities impact fees). After staff undertook certain preliminary measures and analysis, the study formally initiated on September 15, 2025. Per the Florida Impact Fee Act, “the new study must be adopted by the local government within 12 months of the initiation of the new impact fee study if the local government increases the impact fee.” As such, for the impact fee study to be used to justify any amendments to its impact fees, the study must be adopted prior to January 16, 2027 (this does not require the Board to adopt the corresponding fee schedule within that time period, as the study generally remains valid for four years after adoption).
In addition to the Impact Fee Study, attached is a document labeled “Impact Fee Summary Table”, which contains (1) a summary of current impact fee rates, (2) rates the county could justify adopting based on the Impact Fee Study in the absence of any statutory caps, and (3) the maximum rate allowable under the Florida Impact Fee Act (which is the lower of the rate justified by the study or an increase of 50% over current rates).
Staff requests that the Board provide staff with the following direction:
A. To prepare Amendments to the impact fee schedules and impact fee rates for the following programs:
a. Fire Rescue Facilities
b. Correctional Facilities
c. Transportation Facilities
d. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Facilities
e. Library Facilities
f. Solid Waste Facilities
B. Staff is requesting that the Board provide direction to increase at the maximum
justifiable or statutorily capped rates (whichever is lower). It should be noted that any increases must be implemented as follows:
a. No individual fee increases may exceed 50% over the current rate.
b. An increase up to 25% must be implemented in two equal increments (12.5% increase in year 1, with an additional 12.5% increase in year 2).
c. An increase which exceeds 25% but is less than or equal to 50% must be I mplemented in four equal installments (12.5% per year increases over 4 years).
C. To prepare associated amendments to Brevard County Code of Ordinances and make internal preparations necessary to amend impact fee districts. The consultant has identified three programs, Transportation Facilities, Fire Rescue Facilities, and EMS Facilities, for which the Board may consider amending impact fee districts. The Impact Fee Study has shown that there is sufficient mobility between the users of these facilities to expand the districts. Expansion of the districts will increase flexibility on where funds collected may be expended. A single, countywide district is recommended for Fire Rescue & EMS impact fee programs. Proposed Transportation Facilities districts can be found on the document labeled “Brevard County Benefit District Boundaries,” attached. Additionally, there have been exemptions to industrial land use impact fee rates since 1995; staff is requesting to include the removal of these exemptions in these amendments.
D. Any other direction of the Board.
Should the Board choose to increase any impact fee rates, a 90-day notice must be provided prior to the required public hearing where the Board would adopt the rates. Depending on Board direction, staff may also require additional time to make internal modifications to procedures prior to the new rates and district boundaries being effective. Staff therefore recommends that the earliest implementation of such amendments be January 1, 2027.
Clerk to the Board Instructions:
None