§ 19-1013. Accounting for fees.

(a)

Accounting for Fees. All development impact fee proceeds collected pursuant to this chapter shall be accounted for and invested as directed by the chief financial officer of the City of Atlanta. Restrictions on the investment of such funds shall be the same that apply to investment of all city funds generally.

(b)

Separate Accounting Required. Separate accounting records shall be maintained for each service category of impact fees within each service area wherein development impact fees are collected.

(c)

Investment Earnings. Investment earnings derived from invested development impact fees shall be subject to all restrictions placed on the use of development impact fees under this chapter and under the Act.

(d)

Expenditures.

(1)

Expenditure of development impact fees shall be made only for the category of system improvements within the service area for which the development impact fee was assessed and collected.

(2)

Except as provided in subsection 19-1013(d)(4) and subsection 19-1013(e) of this section 19-1013, development impact fees shall not be expended for any purpose that does not involve building or expanding system improvements that create additional capacity available to serve new growth and development. Funds shall be expended in the order in which they are collected.

(3)

No funds shall be used for periodic or routine maintenance or for any purpose not in accordance with the requirements of section 36-71-8 of the Act.

(4)

Except as set forth in this section 19-1013, development impact fees collected by the city to recover the cost of excess capacity in existing system improvements may be spent only on the same category of public improvements and within the service area in which they were collected.

(e)

Expenses of Administration. An amount not to exceed three percent (3%) of the total of all development impact fees collected may be allocated and applied for administration of this chapter.

(f)

Annual Reports. By June 30th of each year the department of finance shall prepare and present to the mayor and council an annual report describing the amount of any development impact fees collected, encumbered and spent during the preceding year by category of public facility and service area.

(g)

Payment of Bonds. Development impact fees may be used for the payment of principal and interest on bonds, notes or any other obligations issued by or on behalf of the city to finance the category of public facilities in the service area for which such fees were collected.

(h)

Accounting for Recoupment Fees. That portion of development impact fees imposed by the city pursuant to subsection 19-1008(e) hereof to recoup, on a proportionate basis, improvement costs incurred by the city in the provision of excess capacity, shall be accounted for in a recoupment account and may be applied as necessary to reimburse the city for development impact fees that are waived pursuant to section 19-1016 hereof, with respect to affordable housing units and economic development projects. As initially adopted, parks and recreation impact fees for the Northside, Southside and Westside service areas and public safety impact fees are recoupment fees, and exemptions from these fees shall not require reimbursement of the respective impact fee accounts. At the beginning of each fiscal year, the chief financial officer (CFO) shall determine a percentage of total recoupment fees anticipated to be collected that will be necessary to reimburse nonrecoupment impact fee accounts for anticipated exemptions during the course of the year, and the CFO may periodically revise this percentage. All such recoupment fees collected shall be placed in a recoupment account to cover said exemptions. Provided further that monies accumulated in a recoupment account in excess of what is necessary for reimbursement for waived fees may be used for any public purpose not inconsistent with the provisions of the Act.

The provisions of this section shall be administered by the department of finance.

(Code 1977, § 19-1013)