(1) This section may be cited as the “Florida Impact Fee Act.”

(2) The Legislature finds that impact fees are an important source of revenue for a local government to use in funding the infrastructure necessitated by new growth. The Legislature further finds that impact fees are an outgrowth of the home rule power of a local government to provide certain services within its jurisdiction. Due to the growth of impact fee collections and local governments’ reliance on impact fees, it is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that, when a county or municipality adopts an impact fee by ordinance or a special district adopts an impact fee by resolution, the governing authority complies with this section.

(3) At a minimum, an impact fee adopted by ordinance of a county or municipality or by resolution of a special district must satisfy all of the following conditions:

(a) The calculation of the impact fee must be based on the most recent and localized data.

(b) The local government must provide for accounting and reporting of impact fee collections and expenditures. If a local governmental entity imposes an impact fee to address its infrastructure needs, the entity must account for the revenues and expenditures of such impact fee in a separate accounting fund.

(c) Administrative charges for the collection of impact fees must be limited to actual costs.

(d) The local government must provide notice not less than 90 days before the effective date of an ordinance or resolution imposing a new or increased impact fee. A county or municipality is not required to wait 90 days to decrease, suspend, or eliminate an impact fee.

(e) Collection of the impact fee may not be required to occur earlier than the date of issuance of the building permit for the property that is subject to the fee.

(f) The impact fee must be proportional and reasonably connected to, or have a rational nexus with, the need for additional capital facilities and the increased impact generated by the new residential or commercial construction.

(g) The impact fee must be proportional and reasonably connected to, or have a rational nexus with, the expenditures of the funds collected and the benefits accruing to the new residential or nonresidential construction.

(h) The local government must specifically earmark funds collected under the impact fee for use in acquiring, constructing, or improving capital facilities to benefit new users.

(i) Revenues generated by the impact fee may not be used, in whole or in part, to pay existing debt or for previously approved projects unless the expenditure is reasonably connected to, or has a rational nexus with, the increased impact generated by the new residential or nonresidential construction.

(4) The local government must credit against the collection of the impact fee any contribution, whether identified in a proportionate share agreement or other form of exaction, related to public education facilities, including land dedication, site planning and design, or construction. Any contribution must be applied to reduce any education-based impact fees on a dollar-for-dollar basis at fair market value.

(5) If a local government increases its impact fee rates, the holder of any impact fee credits, whether such credits are granted under s. 163.3180, s. 380.06, or otherwise, which were in existence before the increase, is entitled to the full benefit of the intensity or density prepaid by the credit balance as of the date it was first established. This subsection shall operate prospectively and not retrospectively.

(6) Audits of financial statements of local governmental entities and district school boards which are performed by a certified public accountant pursuant to s. 218.39 and submitted to the Auditor General must include an affidavit signed by the chief financial officer of the local governmental entity or district school board stating that the local governmental entity or district school board has complied with this section.

(7) In any action challenging an impact fee or the government’s failure to provide required dollar-for-dollar credits for the payment of impact fees as provided in s. 163.3180(6)(h)2.b., the government has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the imposition or amount of the fee or credit meets the requirements of state legal precedent and this section. The court may not use a deferential standard for the benefit of the government.

(8) A county, municipality, or special district may provide an exception or waiver for an impact fee for the development or construction of housing that is affordable, as defined in s. 420.9071. If a county, municipality, or special district provides such an exception or waiver, it is not required to use any revenues to offset the impact.

(9) This section does not apply to water and sewer connection fees.

History.—s. 9, ch. 2006-218; s. 1, ch. 2009-49; s. 5, ch. 2009-96; s. 5, ch. 2011-14; s. 1, ch. 2011-149; s. 1, ch. 2019-106; s. 5, ch. 2019-165.

1Note.—As amended by s. 5, ch. 2019-165. For a description of multiple acts in the same session affecting a statutory provision, see preface to the Florida Statutes, “Statutory Construction.” Section 163.31801 was also amended by s. 1, ch. 2019-106, and that version reads:

163.31801 Impact fees; short title; intent; minimum requirements; audits; challenges.—

(1) This section may be cited as the “Florida Impact Fee Act.”

(2) The Legislature finds that impact fees are an important source of revenue for a local government to use in funding the infrastructure necessitated by new growth. The Legislature further finds that impact fees are an outgrowth of the home rule power of a local government to provide certain services within its jurisdiction. Due to the growth of impact fee collections and local governments’ reliance on impact fees, it is the intent of the Legislature to ensure that, when a county or municipality adopts an impact fee by ordinance or a special district adopts an impact fee by resolution, the governing authority complies with this section.

(3) At a minimum, an impact fee adopted by ordinance of a county or municipality or by resolution of a special district must satisfy all of the following conditions:

(a) The local government must calculate the impact fee based on the most recent and localized data.

(b) The local government must provide for accounting and reporting of impact fee collections and expenditures. If a local governmental entity imposes an impact fee to address its infrastructure needs, the entity must account for the revenues and expenditures of such impact fee in a separate accounting fund.

(c) The local government must limit administrative charges for the collection of impact fees to actual costs.

(d) The local government must provide notice no less than 90 days before the effective date of an ordinance or resolution imposing a new or increased impact fee. A county or municipality is not required to wait 90 days to decrease, suspend, or eliminate an impact fee.

(e) The local government may not require payment of the impact fee before the date of issuance of the building permit for the property that is subject to the fee.

(f) The impact fee must be reasonably connected to, or have a rational nexus with, the need for additional capital facilities and the increased impact generated by the new residential or commercial construction.

(g) The impact fee must be reasonably connected to, or have a rational nexus with, the expenditures of the revenues generated and the benefits accruing to the new residential or commercial construction.

(h) The local government must specifically earmark revenues generated by the impact fee to acquire, construct, or improve capital facilities to benefit new users.

(i) The local government may not use revenues generated by the impact fee to pay existing debt or for previously approved projects unless the expenditure is reasonably connected to, or has a rational nexus with, the increased impact generated by the new residential or commercial construction.

(4) Audits of financial statements of local governmental entities and district school boards which are performed by a certified public accountant pursuant to s. 218.39 and submitted to the Auditor General must include an affidavit signed by the chief financial officer of the local governmental entity or district school board stating that the local governmental entity or district school board has complied with this section.

(5) In any action challenging an impact fee, the government has the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the imposition or amount of the fee meets the requirements of state legal precedent or this section. The court may not use a deferential standard.

(6) This section does not apply to water and sewer connection fees.