This chapter is enacted to establish the mechanism for the imposition of impact fees upon development to finance the capital costs of acquiring, establishing, upgrading, expanding, and constructing public facilities that are necessary to accommodate such development. This chapter is intended to assure that development bears an appropriate share of the cost of capital expenditures necessary to provide such public facilities within the City of Prescott and its service areas as are required to serve the needs arising out of development, as well as to comply with § 66.0617, Wis. Stats. As provided in § 66.0617(2)(b), Wis. Stats., the City of Prescott, by adopting this chapter, is not intending to limit its authority to finance public facilities by any other means authorized by law, including, without limitation, the means authorized by § 236.13(2) and (2m), Wis. Stats., and Chapter 510, Subdivision of Land, of this Code, and any other statutes or ordinances.

"Residential
equivalent unit (REU)" means a unit of measure for impact fees equivalent
to one residential dwelling unit. For purposes of calculating the
public water or sewer impact fee for residential development, one
REU is equivalent to one dwelling unit. For purposes of calculating
the public water or sewer impact fee for commercial or industrial
development, one REU is considered equal to the basic meter size of
5/8 inch or 3/4 inch. For purposes of calculating the parks impact
fee, one REU is equal to each separate dwelling unit. In all cases,
the City Clerk shall make the decision as to the application of these
standards.

The following City documents contain the needs assessments for the impact fees identified under § 352-3 above, demonstrate City compliance with the requirements of § 66.0617(3) and (4), Wis. Stats., and shall be kept on file and available for public inspection in the office of the City Clerk:

Revenues collected by the City as impact fees shall be placed
by the City Treasury in segregated interest-bearing accounts and shall
be accounted for separately from other funds of the City. Impact fee
revenues and interest earned on impact fee revenues may be expended
by the City only for the capital costs for which the impact fees were
imposed.

An impact
fee that was collected before January 1, 2003, must be used for that
purpose for which it was imposed not later than December 31, 2012.
Any such fee that is not used by that date shall be refunded to the
current owner of the property with respect to which the impact fee
was imposed, along with any interest that has accumulated.

An impact
fee that was collected after December 31, 2002, and before April 11,
2006, must be used for the purpose for which it was imposed not later
than the first day of the 120th month beginning after the date on
which the fee was collected. Any such fee that is not used by that
date shall be refunded to the current property owner with respect
to which the impact fee was imposed, along with any interest that
has accumulated.

With regard
to an impact fee that is collected after April 10, 2006, and that
is collected within seven years after the effective date of the ordinance,
such impact fee must be used for that purpose for which it was imposed
within 10 years after the effective date of the ordinance. Any such
fee that is not used by that date shall be refunded to the current
owner of the property with respect to which the impact fee was imposed,
along with any interest that has accumulated.

With regard
to an impact fee that is collected after April 10, 2006, and that
is collected more than seven years after the effective date of the
ordinance, such impact fees shall be used within a reasonable period
of time after they are collected to pay the capital costs for which
they were imposed, or they shall be refunded to the current owner
of the property with respect to which the impact fees were imposed,
along with any interest that has accumulated.

The Common Council may authorize by resolution the payment of
impact fees in installment payments. If installment payments are authorized,
interest shall be paid on the installment payments at the same rate
then charged by the City on installment payments for special assessments.

No appeal may be commenced pursuant to this section if any applicable
impact fee or installment payment is delinquent. No impact fee payment
obligation shall be suspended during the pendency of any appeal filed
pursuant to this section.

Following the filing of the notice of appeal, the City Clerk shall
compile a record of the ordinance imposing the contested impact fee
and a record of the management and expenditures of the impact fee.
The City Clerk shall transmit these documents to the Common Council.
The City Clerk shall also compile a report for each appeal in which
the appellant is seeking a total or partial refund of the impact fee
paid. This report shall specify the fiscal impact of a successful
appeal on the City of Prescott. The fiscal impact report shall estimate
whether it will be necessary for the City to adjust impact fees or
amend existing ordinances if there is a successful appeal.

The Common Council shall hold a public hearing on the appeal, preceded
by a Class 1 notice, providing fair opportunity for the appellant
to be heard. The burden shall be on the appellant to establish illegality
or impropriety of the impact fee at issue. Following the close of
the public hearing, the Common Council shall deliberate upon the matter
and shall conduct any studies and inquiries it deems appropriate to
decide the appeal.

If the Common Council determines that the appeal has merit, it shall
determine appropriate remedies. These may include reallocation of
the proceeds of the challenged impact fee to accomplish the purposes
for which the fee was collected; refunding the impact fee in full
or in part, along with interest collected by the City thereon; granting
the appellant the opportunity to make the impact fee payment in installments;
or such other remedies as it deems appropriate in a particular case.

A public water impact fee is hereby imposed on all development in
the City of Prescott as specified by this chapter. The public water
impact fee shall be imposed upon any development occurring on land
subsequently annexed to the City of Prescott as of the date of annexation
of such land.

The public water impact fee is hereby imposed for any current (as of the effective date of this chapter) or future development within the City of Prescott. The public water impact fee shall also be imposed on any existing development in which additional residential dwelling units are created or in which a larger water meter is installed, whether such installation is due to a modification of the development or not. Any such public water impact fee due to a larger water meter shall be referred to in this chapter as a "larger meter fee" and shall be imposed based on the size of the new larger meter, subject to the credit described in Subsection G(2) below.

The public water impact fee for commercial or industrial development
shall be $500 per REU, based on the number of REUs applicable to the
particular meter size as specified herein. The total public water
impact fee for a particular commercial or industrial development shall
be based on the size of the water meter installed to service the development
according to the following table of meter equivalents:

Meter Size (inches)

Number of REUs (referred to as "Equivalent Meter Conversion"
in the Report)

The impact fee for a particular development shall be determined by multiplying the applicable public water impact fee specified in Subsection E above by the number of REUs as determined by reference to the table above.

A larger meter impact fee shall be reduced by the amount of any previous
impact fee paid for that same meter installation. In the case of installment
payments, the reduction does not include any interest paid.

A public street impact fee is hereby imposed on all development in
the City of Prescott. The public street impact fee shall be imposed
upon any development occurring on land subsequently annexed to the
City of Prescott as of the date of annexation of such land.

A public parks impact fee is hereby imposed on all residential development
in the City of Prescott. The public parks impact fee shall be imposed
upon any residential development occurring on land subsequently annexed
to the City of Prescott as of the date of annexation of such land.

The public parks impact fee is hereby imposed for any current (as
of the effective date of this chapter) or future residential development
within the City of Prescott. The public parks impact fee shall also
be imposed on any modification to an existing residential development
that results in any additional dwelling units.

A public buildings impact fee is hereby imposed on all development
in the City of Prescott. The public buildings impact fee shall be
imposed upon any residential development occurring on land subsequently
annexed to the City of Prescott as of the date of annexation of such
land.

The public buildings impact fee is hereby imposed for any current
(as of the effective date of this chapter) or future development within
the City of Prescott. The public buildings impact fee shall also be
imposed on any modification to an existing residential development,
which results in any additional residential units.

The Common Council may, at its sole discretion, agree to lessen
the amount of the impact fee imposed on a specific development to
accommodate the construction of state- or federal-funded low- or moderate-income
housing within the City.