§ 56-225. Use of monies.

(a)

Educational system impact fees shall, upon receipt by the school board, be deposited in a separate trust account established and maintained by the school board. Such account shall be designated as the "educational system impact fee trust account" and shall be maintained separate and apart from all other accounts of the school board.

(b)

The school board shall: (1) submit to the county a plan outlining the proposed use of the educational system impact fees relied upon prior to the adoption of the annual educational system impact fee ordinance described in subsection 56-221(c) herein; and (2) maintain adequate records to justify all expenditures from the educational system impact fee trust account. Upon reasonable notice, the county shall have access to such books, records and documents relating to the educational system impact fee trust account for the purpose of inspection or audit. The county has the right, but not the duty, to audit the school board's educational system impact fee trust account at the county's sole cost and expense.

(c)

The monies deposited into the educational system impact fee trust account shall be used solely for the purpose of providing growth-necessitated capital improvements to educational plants and ancillary plants of the educational system including, but not limited to:

(1)

Land acquisition, including any cost of acquisition;

(2)

Fees for professional services, including but not limited to architecture, engineering, surveying, landscaping, soils and material testing, legal, appraisals, and construction management;

(3)

Design and construction documents;

(4)

Site development and on-site and off-site improvements incidental to the construction thereto;

(5)

Any permitting or application fees necessary for the construction;

(6)

Design and construction of educational plants and ancillary plants;

(7)

Design and construction of drainage facilities required by the construction of educational plants and ancillary plants or improvements thereto;

(8)

Relocating utilities required by the construction of educational plants and ancillary plants or improvements or additions thereto;

(9)

Acquisition of furniture and equipment necessary to accommodate students, faculty, administrators, staff and the activities of the educational programs and services at educational plants which is necessitated by growth;

(10)

Acquisition of buses for transport of students;

(11)

Repayment of monies borrowed from any budgetary fund of the county or the school board which were used to fund growth necessitated capital improvements to the educational plants or ancillary plants as provided herein;

(12)

Payment of principal and interest, necessary reserves and costs of issuance under any bonds or other indebtedness issued by the school board to fund growth-necessitated improvements and additions to the educational system subsequent to the effective date of this article; and

(13)

Reimbursement to the school board for the costs of developing, implementing and updating the impact fee study and legal expenses to defend the study and this article.

(d)

The moneys deposited into the educational system impact fee trust account as provided in subsection (c) herein, shall be used solely to provide capital improvements to the educational system as necessitated by growth and shall not be used for any expenditure that would be classified as a maintenance or repair expense.

(e)

Any educational system impact fee funds on deposit which are not immediately necessary for expenditure shall be invested by the school board. All income derived from such investments shall be deposited in the educational system impact fee trust account and used as provided herein.

(f)

The educational system impact fees collected pursuant to this article shall be returned to the then current owner of the property on behalf of which such fee was paid, if such fees have not been expended or encumbered prior to the end of the fiscal year immediately following the eighth anniversary of the date upon which such fees were paid. Refunds shall be made only in accordance with the following procedure:

(1)

The then present owner shall petition the superintendent for the refund within six months following the end of the calendar quarter immediately following eight years from the date on which the fee was received.

(2)

The petition for refund shall be submitted to the superintendent and shall contain:

a.

A notarized sworn statement that the petitioner is the present owner of the property on behalf of which the educational system impact fee was paid;

b.

A copy of the dated receipt issued for payment of the educational system impact fee or such other record as would evidence payment; and

c.

A certified copy of the latest recorded deed or a copy of the most recent ad valorem tax bill.

(3)

Within 60 days from the date of receipt of a petition for refund, the superintendent will advise the petitioner and the school board of the status of the educational system impact fee requested for refund, and if such educational system impact fee has not been expended or encumbered within the applicable time period, then it shall be returned to the petitioner. For the purposes of this section, fees collected shall be deemed to be spent or encumbered on the basis of the first fee in shall be the first fee out.

(g)

The county and any permitting municipality which accepts payment of educational system impact fee pursuant to subsection 56-223(a)(2) herein will annually prepare reports reflecting the collection of educational system impact fees during the previous year. The school board annually will prepare a report reflecting expenditures of the educational system impact fees during the previous year.

(Ord. No. 2007-41, § 2.05, 10-18-2007)