[ Council Communication ]  [ Proposed Resolution ]

Council Communication

Title:	A Resolution for the Purpose of Urging Amendment of ORS 223.297, et. seq. Relating to Impact Fees and System Development Charges to include Facilities for Police, Fire, Libraries and Schools.
Dept:	Legal Department
Date:	September 3, 2002
Submitted By:	Paul Nolte, City Attorney
Reviewed By: ........................	Greg Scoles, City Administrator

Synopsis:	The Council first discussed this issue at the August 20, 2002 city council meeting at the request of Councilor Hartzell. Following council discussion, it was agreed to bring back a resolution for adoption.
Recommendation:	Staff recommends that Council adopt the resolution.
Fiscal Impact:	Should this initiative pass legislation, the City will need to address the methodology to justify such SDCs. The department assigned to implement SDCs for local services will incur additional expenditure with staff time.
Background:	This resolution is non-binding and will simply be a tool for building political support to address the issues of implementing SDCs for local services in the 2003 legislative session. Current state laws prohibit local governments from implementing SDCs for police, fire, schools and libraries. Amendment of the System Development Act of 1989 means that jurisdictions will be able to recover the cost of growth that impacts our schools, libraries, police and fire services. With increasing growth, cities are currently challenged to maintain public services.

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RESOLUTION NO. 2002-

A RESOLUTION FOR THE PURPOSE OF URGING AMENDMENT OF ORS 223.297, ET SEQ. RELATING TO IMPACT FEES AND SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT CHARGES TO INCLUDE FACILITIES FOR POLICE, FIRE, LIBRARIES AND SCHOOLS.

Annotated to show deletions and additions to the draft resolution considered by the council at its August 20, 2002, meeting. Deletions are lined through and additions are underlined.

Recitals:

A. Growth can create significant fiscal impacts on the citizens and governments of our community;

B. The purpose of ORS 223.297 to ORS 223.314, the system development charges statutes, serve to provide a uniform framework for establishing SDCs by local governments;

C. ORS 223.299(1)(a) currently excludes facilities for police, fire, libraries, and schools from the list of urban capital improvements for which local jurisdictions may collect impact fees or system development charges;

D. Prohibiting communities from being able to collect the full costs of providing for police, fire, library and school facilities is a tax on existing residents;

E. Inequity can occur when broad-based taxes paid by all residents of a community are used to fund facilities and services that primarily benefit relate directly to new development;

F. Subsidy of new development can distort the balance of supply and demand and cause overproduction or overbuilding; and

G. Providing a free market without government subsidies that mask the true costs of population growth can help to establish a carrying capacity process for our community and region.

The City of Ashland Resolves as Follows:

SECTION 1. ORS 223.299(1) should be amended to add police, fire, library, and school facilities to the list of capital improvements for which local jurisdictions may collect impact fees and system development charges.

SECTION 2. This resolution takes effect upon signing by the Mayor.

This resolution was read by title only in accordance with Ashland Municipal Code §2.04.090 duly PASSED and ADOPTED this ________day of ________, 2002.
Barbara Christensen, City Recorder

SIGNED and APPROVED this ________day of _________, 2002.
Alan W. DeBoer, Mayor

Reviewed as to form: Paul Nolte, City Attorney

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