4A.10.080 Impact Fee Assessment and Collection.
A. For all development activity located in a service area where fees have been imposed, the County shall determine the total impact fee at the time the impact fee is paid, based on the Capital Facilities Plan element of the Pierce County Comprehensive Plan and the resulting fee schedule in effect at the time of payment.
B. Except as otherwise provided in PCC 4A.10.080 D., school, traffic, and park impact fees for single or multi-family residential uses shall be paid to the County either at the time of recording of the final plat or prior to building permit issuance. Traffic impact fees for non-residential uses shall be paid to the County prior to final building inspection.
C. Except as otherwise provided in PCC 4A.10.080 D., the Department of Planning and Public Works shall not issue the building permit for single or multi-family construction or conduct the final building inspection for non-residential construction unless the impact fees set forth in this Title have been paid in the amount that they exceed exemptions or credits provided pursuant to this Title.
D. The owner/seller of single or multi-family residential property being constructed or improved for resale may request, at the time of submittal of a complete building permit application, that payment of school, traffic and park impact fees be deferred to the time of closing of sale or no later than 18 months after building permit issuance, whichever comes first. The request will be approved, provided the property owner agrees to the following:
1. A lien payable to the County for the estimated amount of the deferred school, traffic and park impact fees plus accrued interest shall be recorded against the subject property prior to building permit issuance.
2. At the time of building permit application, the property owner shall pay a non-refundable fee, the amount of which shall be determined by the Director, to cover all administrative costs incurred by the County to process the lien document, provided that this fee shall not exceed $250.00 unless otherwise approved by the Council through ordinance. In addition, said property owner shall pay the costs of recording the lien and all other related costs.
3. As consideration for the impact fee deferral on traffic and park impact fees, the property owner shall be responsible for either payment of interest on the deferred impact fees based on a rate of 3 percent per annum and accrued from the date of building permit issuance until the date of full payment of said impact fees or shall waive the right to recovery of fees not spent within the 10 year statutory timeframe. Consideration for deferral of school impact fees shall use the payment of interest option only. The consideration option to be utilized for deferral of traffic and park impact fees shall be specified by the property owner prior to the recording of the lien.
4. The County shall be responsible for recording the lien with the Pierce County Auditor prior to building permit issuance.
5. The property seller shall be responsible for full payment of the deferred impact fees by the closing date of sale or no later than 18 months from the date of building permit issuance, whichever comes first. In no case shall building occupancy occur prior to the full payment of the deferred school, traffic and park impact fees. Notice of the prohibition on occupancy shall be included on all certificates of occupancy issued by Pierce County. The actual amount of school, traffic and park impact fees to be paid will be based on the fee schedules in place at the time of building permit issuance.
6. Full payment of the deferred impact fees must be made prior to any segregation of the subject property.
7. Escrow/title companies shall collect the school, traffic and park impact fees, as well as the cost of releasing the lien, from the sale proceeds at the time of closing and shall forward those funds to the County.
8. The County will release the lien after the County has confirmed payment of the deferred school, traffic and park impact fees.
E. In the event that a property constructed or improved for resale is later proposed for lease or rental, all deferred impact fees applicable to the property pursuant to PCC 4A.10.080 D. shall become due and payable. Full payment of all deferred impact fees applicable to the subject property shall occur prior to occupancy. Upon confirmation of full payment of the deferred impact fees, Pierce County shall release the lien recorded against the property for the deferred impact fees.
F. Failure to pay impact fees as required by this Title shall constitute a Class 1 infraction and shall be subject to penalty and enforcement as set forth within Chapter 1.16 PCC.
G. Failure to comply with limitations on occupancy established pursuant to PCC 4A.10.080 D. shall constitute a violation of the Certificate of Occupancy and shall be subject to penalty and enforcement as set forth within Title 17C PCC.
H. Pierce County may decline to allow a property owner to utilize the deferred impact fee payment option established pursuant to PCC 4A.10.080 D. for good cause.
I. Each applicant for a single-family residential construction permit, in accordance with his or her contractor registration number or other unique identification number, is entitled to annually receive deferral for 20 single-family residential construction building permits for school, traffic, and park impact fees. The 20 single-family residential construction building permit limit shall be applied on a county-wide unincorporated area basis for traffic and park impact fees and on a per school district basis for school impact fees. The County may approve requests for more than 20 deferrals for traffic, school, and park impact fees; provided, that approval of such requests for school impact fees shall require concurrence by the affected school district.