§ 56-42. Legislative findings applicable to fire protection impact fees.

The Board of County Commissioners of Columbia County, Florida, hereby finds, determines and declares that:

(a)

The county fire protection system benefits all residents of the county and, therefore, the fire protection impact fee shall be imposed in all unincorporated areas of the county and within all municipalities that consent to the imposition of the fire protection impact fee within their municipal boundaries and which participate in the county fire protection system.

(b)

Development necessitated by the growth contemplated in the comprehensive plan and the fire protection impact fee study will require improvements and additions to the county fire protection system to accommodate the new development generated by such growth and maintain the standards of service provided by the county.

(c)

Future growth, as represented by fire protection impact construction, should contribute its fair share to the cost of improvements and additions to the county fire protection system that are required to accommodate the impact generated by such growth.

(d)

The required improvements and additions to the county fire protection system needed to eliminate any deficiencies shall be financed by revenue sources of the county other than fire protection impact fees.

(e)

Implementation of the fire protection impact fee to require future fire protection impact construction within the county to contribute its fair share to the cost of required capital improvements and additions is an integral and vital element of the regulatory plan of growth management of the county.

(f)

The board of county commissioners expressly finds that the improvements and additions to the county fire protection system funded by the fire protection impact fee provide a benefit to all fire protection impact construction within the county in excess of the amount of the fire protection impact fee.

(g)

The purpose of this article is to require payment of fire protection impact fees by those who engage in fire protection impact construction and to provide for the cost of capital improvements to the county fire protection system which are required to accommodate such growth. This article shall not be construed to permit the collection of fire protection impact fees in excess of the amount reasonably anticipated to offset the demand on the county fire protection system generated by such applicable fire protection impact construction.

(h)

The imposition of a fire protection impact fee is to provide a source of revenue to fund the construction or improvement of the county fire protection system necessitated by growth as delineated in the capital improvement element of the comprehensive plan.

(i)

The data set forth in the fire protection impact fee study which was employed in the calculation of the fire protection impact fee rates imposed herein is the most recent and localized data available for the county fire protection system.

(j)

The administrative fee set forth in subsection 56-47(f) hereof constitutes the county's actual costs for collection of the fire protection impact fee including the actual costs related to the administration and the collection process.

(Ord. No. 2007-40, § 3.02, 10-18-2007)