Appendix A. Park Impact Fee Study

Impact Fees for Park and Recreational Facilities
in Osceola County, Florida
Henderson Young & Company

List of Tables

Table 1: Osceola County Countywide Parks Inventory and Value

Table 2: Osceola County Unincorporated Area Parks Inventory and Value

Table 3: Osceola County Recreational Facilities Inventory and Value

Table 4: Persons Per Dwelling Unit

Table 5: Park and Recreational Facilities Cost Per Dwelling Unit

Table 6: Park and Recreational Facilities Impact Fees

1.

Introduction.

Purpose of This Study

This study of impact fees for park and recreational facilities in osceola county, florida presents the methodology, summarizes the data, and explains the calculation of the fees. The methodology is designed to comply with the requirements of florida law.

Definition and Rationale of Impact Fees

Impact fees are charges paid by new development to reimburse local governments for the capital cost of public facilities that are needed to serve new development and the people who occupy the new development. New development is synonymous with "growth".

Local governments charge impact fees on either of two bases. First, as a matter of policy and legislative discretion, they may want new development to pay the Full cost of its share of new public facilities because that portion of the facilities would not be needed except to serve the new development. In this case, the new development is required to pay for all the cost of its share of new public facilities.

On the other hand, local governments may use other sources of revenue to pay for the new public facilities that are required to serve new development. If, however, such revenues are not sufficient to cover the entire costs of new facilities necessitated by new development, the new development may be required to pay an impact fee in an amount equal to the difference between the total cost and the other sources of revenue.

There are many kinds of "public facilities" that are needed by new development, including park and recreational facilities, libraries, schools, roads, water and sewer plants, correctional facilities, and other government facilities. For some impact fees, new development includes new residential, retail, office, commercial, industrial and all other new construction. Impact fees for park and recreational facilities, however, are charged only to new residential development: houses, apartments, mobile home parks, and other residential construction. Non-residential new development is not charged park and recreational impact fees, as explained in chapter 2.

Rules Governing Impact Fees in Florida

Impact fees for public facilities have been upheld by the Florida Supreme Court. Several court cases provide direction in three broad areas of the development of impact fees: (1) who pays, and how much (the "fair share" rules), (2) where and how the fee can be used (the dual "nexus of benefit" rules), and (3) offsets against the fee (the "credits" rules).

First, the "fair share" rules require that impact fees can be charged only for the portion of the cost of public capital facilities that is attributable to new development. Impact fees cannot be charged to pay for the cost of reducing or eliminating deficiencies in existing facilities. Within this broad rule, specific guidance is given in several areas:

•

It is permitted to distinguish among the impacts of different types of growth in establishing fee amounts (i.e., single family homes can be shown to have different impacts than multi-family dwelling units or mobile homes, therefore the impact fees for each type of dwelling can be different than the other types).

•

Fee-payers should be able to pay a smaller fee if they can demonstrate that their development will have less impact than is presumed in the calculation of the impact fee schedule for their classification of property. Such reduced impact must be permanent and enforceable (i.e., through land use restrictions).

•

Costs of facilities that will be used by new development and existing users must be apportioned between the two groups in determining the amount of the fee. For example, the cost of the facility can be divided by its capacity to calculate the cost per unit of capacity. New development and existing development are both charged the same cost per unit, thus ensuring equitable cost apportionment.

Second, the dual "nexus of benefit" rules require a demonstrated reasonable connection (1) between the need for public capital facilities and the growth from the fee-paying development, and (2) between the expenditure of fee revenue and the benefits received by the fee-paying development. These two conditions limit where and when impact fees can be collected and used.

There are many ways that the nexus of benefit can be established, including personal use and use by others in the family (direct benefit), use by persons who provide goods or services to the fee-paying property (indirect benefit), and geographical proximity (presumed benefit). The connections among needs, benefits and fees will vary according to the type of facility: park and recreational facilities will have different nexus of benefits criteria than roads. The nexus of benefit for park and recreational facilities will be based on the value of park land and recreational facilities per dwelling unit. A detailed description of this data is presented later in this study.

Another connection among needs, benefits and fees can be the geographical relationship between a fee-paying development and the impact on a public capital facility. Some impact fees use geographical zones for calculating, collecting and spending impact fees. Osceola County's park and recreational impact fees are based on the County investing a uniform amount of money per person to provide the types of park land and recreational facilities that are included in calculating that investment per dwelling unit. This level of service provides flexibility to meet needs throughout the unincorporated area, however the uniform fees for park and recreational facilities in the unincorporated area are collected and expended in "districts" which are described in Chapter 2.

Furthermore the fee revenue must be expended within a reasonable period of time, but there is no single maximum limit that applies to all impact fee expenditures. Explicit limitations on the expenditure of fees must be adequate to guide government personnel, and fee revenue must be earmarked for specific uses related to the public capital facilities. These and other requirements pertaining to the use of impact fees are contained in the impact fee ordinance.

Finally, the "credits" rules allow a fee-payer to have an impact fee reduced to reflect (1) contributions of land, cash, facilities, or other assets that meet the same need as the fee, and (2) future payments of taxes that would ordinarily be used for the same public capital facilities for which the impact fee is being charged. Without such credits, the fee-paying development might pay more than its fair share. Court cases and legislation do not prohibit a local government from establishing reasonable constraints on determining credits. For example, the location, quality and design of a donated public facility should conform to adopted local standards for such facilities.

The credit for contributions of land, cash, facilities and other assets is addressed in the impact fee ordinance. The credit for future payments of taxes is addressed in this rate study.

Data Sources

The data in this study of impact fees for park and recreational facilities in Osceola County, Florida was provided by Osceola County unless a different source is specifically cited.

Data Rounding

The data in this study was prepared using computer spreadsheet software. In some tables in this study, there will be very small variations from the results that would be obtained using a calculator to compute the same data. The reason for these insignificant differences is that the spreadsheet software was allowed to calculate results to more places after the decimal than is reported in the tables of these reports. The calculation to extra places after the decimal increases the accuracy of the end results, but causes occasional differences due to rounding of data that appears in this study.

2.

Nexus of Benefits of Park and Recreational Facilities.

As described in the introduction, there must be a nexus between the benefits of park and recreational facilities and new development that is charged an impact fee to pay for a portion of the park and recreational facilities that it needs. This chapter is devoted to an analysis of the nexus.

There are several considerations that affect the "rational nexus of benefits" for park and recreational facilities impact fees: (A) responsibility for park and recreational facilities, (B) the need for new park and recreational facilities for new development, (C) the type of property that receives the benefits from new park and recreational facilities, and (D) the location of the property in relation to the new park and recreational facilities.

A.

Responsibility for Park and Recreational Facilities.

Osceola County is legally and financially responsible for the County-owned park and recreational facilities system, therefore the analysis of service level requirements and growth's impact on park and recreational facilities includes all of the County's park system in the unincorporated area. It is acknowledged that some users of the County's parks are from cities or locations outside unincorporated Osceola County. The County chooses to charge its park and recreation impact fees only in the unincorporated area.

The County is not responsible for State, municipal or private parks and recreational facilities. The County cannot control access to or usage of park and recreational facilities operated by other agencies or private parties, therefore such facilities and their collections are excluded from the analysis of County park and recreational facilities impact fees.

The Osceola County parks system includes 643.9 acres of regional parks, 169.3 acres of community parks, 8.3 acres of boat ramp parks, and 1,782.0 acres of nature preserves/environmental areas. Osceola County's park system also contains a wide variety of recreational facilities. An inventory of Osceola County's parks and recreational facilities is listed in Tables 1 - 3. The types of parks (regional, community, etc.) and the specific parks assigned to each type are from Osceola County's Parks and Recreation Master Plan. Neighborhood parks are not included in the impact fee because they are acquired through site design or land dedication requirements.

B.

The Need for New Park and Recreational Facilities for New Development.

One way that Osceola County determines its need for park and recreational facilities is by comparing standards for the capacity of various park and recreational facilities to the number of residents that it must serve.

For the purpose of calculating this impact fee, the level of service is the value of park and recreation capital investment per person. A level of service is calculated for three components: (1) countywide (regional) parks that generally serve the entire County, (2) unincorporated area (community) parks that generally serve unincorporated portions of the County, and (3) recreational facilities at all kinds of parks.

The investment value per person is based on the existing value of existing park land and the replacement cost of existing recreational facilities. Using existing land and facilities, rather than other standards is more conservative because it ensures that there are no existing deficiencies, and that new development will receive the same level of service as is provided the existing population. The details of these levels of service are explained in Chapter 3.

C.

Types of Property Benefiting from New Park and Recreational Facilities.

Impact fees are charged to properties which benefit from new park and recreational facilities. Osceola County's park system is used, for the most part, by individuals rather than businesses or other non-residential land uses. Impact fees for park and recreational facilities are charged only to residential development because the dominant stream of benefits redounds to the occupants of dwelling units. There is insufficient data to objectively allocate the value of the benefit of the park system to non-residential property.

D.

Location of Property Receiving Benefits from New Park and Recreational Facilities.

One method of satisfying the nexus requirement connecting houses and park and recreational facilities would be to establish impact fee "districts" within the service area. All impact fees paid by new houses in the district would be required to be spent on new park and recreational facilities in the same district.

There are two levels of districts in the unincorporated area that correspond to the two level of services: countywide and unincorporated. The countywide impact fee is collected and expended in a single district that covers all of the unincorporated area in Osceola County. The use of districts provides area parks and recreational facilities in reasonable proximity to new development. The unincorporated impact fees are collected and expended in five districts, as shown in Figure 1, on the next page.

Figure 1: Map of Park Impact Fee Districts in Osceola County

Parks and Recreation Park Planning Areas

3.

Value of Park and Recreational Facilities Per Person.

This chapter identifies the value of park and recreational facilities per person that is the basis for the park and recreational facilities impact fees. Osceola County's impact fees for park and recreational facilities are based on a level of service that insures that all residents of the unincorporated County, present and future, will receive an equal capital investment per person.

The investment per person is determined by three elements: (1) the quantity of existing park land and recreational facilities, (2) the value of park land and recreational facilities, and (3) the population. The quantity of each type of park or recreational facility is multiplied times the current value per unit to compute the total value. The total value of all types of park and recreational facilities is summed to calculate the total value of the inventory. The resulting value of the current inventory is divided by the population to compute the value per person for park land and facilities.

(Quantity of Inventory × Value per Unit) ° Population = >Value Per Person

There are two reasons for converting the ratios of land and facilities to dollars of investment per person. First, dollar values are easier to use than ratios of land or facilities. For example, the dollar value is readily converted to the impact fee, and both numbers can be revised easily during reviews and updates of the Comprehensive Plan and the impact fee study. Another convenience of using dollars to measure the level of service is the fact that dollars allow direct comparison of facilities that are otherwise difficult to compare (i.e., comparing tennis courts to softball fields).

The second reason for using dollars to measure the level of service is the flexibility it permits in determining the precise mix of facilities that the County builds to meet the needs of its residents. If the level of service were the number of facilities, the County would be obliged to build each facility, even if residents indicate a preference for a different facility. By using dollars as the level of service, the County can exchange one type of facility for another (i.e., build 4 small pavilions or 1 small playground) as long as the total investment per person attains the required level of dollars per person. A level of service measured in dollars requires the County to make an equitable investment per person, and it avoids the problem of building unwanted facilities.

Value of Park and Recreational Facilities Per Person

Table 1 lists the park and recreational facilities that generally serve the entire County, such as regional parks, nature preserve/environmental parks, and boat ramp parks. Table 2 lists the community parks that serve portions of the County in the unincorporated areas. Table 3 lists the recreational facilities.

Table 1 lists each park that generally serves the countywide population and identifies the current value of that inventory. The value of the land is based on the average value per acre of appraisals prepared in October 2005 of a sample of regional park properties and boat ramps owned by the County.

The total inventory value of Countywide land is divided by the countywide population to determine the countywide park value per person. The "bottom line" of Table 1 is the capital investment (excludes operating and maintenance) to provide Countywide parks for each person.

Table 1: Osceola County Countywide Parks Inventory and Value

Type of Facility	Existing Inventory (Acres)	Appraised Value Per Unit	Inventory Value
Regional Parks
Austin Tindall Park	94.55
Mac Overstreet Park	396.07
Ralph V. Chisolm Park	153.34
Regional Parks Total	643.96	40,005.65	25,762,038
Nature Preserve/Environmental
Lake Lizzie	986.00
Shingle Creek	796.00
Nature Preserve/Environ. Total	1,782.00	16,500.00	29,403,000
Boat Ramps & Boat Ramp Parks
Lake Cypress	2.00
Lake Marion	1.61
Sexton	1.00
Smith's	1.00
Trout Landing	0.68
Whaley's Landing	2.00
Boat Ramp Total	8.29	123,915.46	1,027,754
Total Countywide Value			56,192,793
Population (Countywide)			240,700
Value Per Capita (Countywide)			$233.46

 

Table 2 lists each park that generally serves the unincorporated population and identifies the current value of that inventory. The value of the land is based on the average value per acre of appraisals prepared in October 2005 of a sample of community park properties owned by the County.

The total inventory value of community park land is divided by the unincorporated population to determine the community park value per person. The "bottom line" of Table 2 is the capital investment (excludes operating and maintenance) to provide community parks for each person in the unincorporated area.

Table 2: Osceola County Community Parks Inventory and Value

Type of Facility	Existing Inventory (Acres)	Appraised Value per Unit	Inventory Value
Community Parks
BVL/Archie Gordon Park	23.57
Deerwood Park	35.78
Hickory Tree Sports Fields	28.11
Holowpaw Community Park	33.22
Kings Highway (undeveloped	11.00
Oren Brown Park	37.67
Regional Parks Total	169.35	27,311.97	4,625,172
Population (Unincorporated)			156,937
Value Per Capita (Unincorporated)			$29.47

 

Table 3 lists each recreational facility and identifies the current value of that inventory. The value of recreational facilities is the estimated replacement cost of each type of facility, including site preparation, and construction. The replacement cost estimates are based on either actual quotes from providers of specific facilities or recent cost experience from public agencies. The value of facilities does not include land as the facilities are customarily located at a park, and the value of the land is calculated separately. Recreational facility impact fees are collected and expended in the same five impact fee districts as the unincorporated area community parks.

Table 3: Osceola County Recreational Facilities Inventory and Value

Type of Facility	Existing Inventory	Value per Unit	Inventory Value
Recreational Facilities	Fields, Courts
Baseball 300' Without Lights	1	190,000.00	190,000
Baseball/Softball (300' With Lights)	4	319,776.00	1,279,104
Baseball/Softball (200' With Lights)	5	186,218.00	931,090
Basketball-With Lights	4	35,898.00	143,592
Boat Ramps	11	35,734.33	393,077
Concession Building	6	118,000.00	708,000
Football-With Lights	1	241,948.00	241,948
Football-Without Lights	5	140,000.00	700,000
Pavilion-Small	12	10,745.30	128,943
Pavilion-Medium	4	17,490.60	69,962
Pavilion-Large	1	51,420.68	51,420
Playground-Small	1	44,454.41	44,454.41
Playground-Medium	3	59,901.22	179,703.66
Playground-Large	2	105,553.21	211,106
Restroom-Small	9	35,000.00	315,000
Restroom-Large	5	75,000.00	375,000
Soccer-With Lights	8	243,224.00	1,945,792
Soccer-Without Lights	9	108,000.00	972,000
Tennis Courts-With Lights	2	52,796.00	105,592.00
Tennis Courts-Without Lights	1	14,000.00	14,000.00
Path-Unpaved Hiking Trail (miles)	16	35,000.00	560,000
Trail-Paved Miles	21.5	500,000.00	10,750,000
Volleyball	1	1,100.00	1,100
Total Recreational Facilities			20,310,886
Population (Unincorporated)			156,937
Value Per Capita (Unincorporated County)			$129.42

 

4.

Impact Fee Per Dwelling Unit.

In this chapter the park and recreational facilities impact fee per dwelling unit is calculated by multiplying the investment per person (from Chapter 3) by the average number of persons per dwelling unit. The calculation is performed separately for each type of dwelling unit for the countywide investment per person and the unincorporated county investment per person. This chapter also addresses the credits for payments of other revenues. The result is the park and recreational facilities impact fee rates for Osceola County.

Park and Recreational Facilities Impact Per Dwelling Unit

Value per Person × Persons per Dwelling Unit _t  = Cost per Dwelling Unit ^[] _t

Park and recreational facilities impact fees are calculated for three types of residential development (i.e., single family, multi-family, and mobile home) for the countywide and unincorporated areas. The number of persons per dwelling unit is the factor used to convert the value of park and recreational facilities per person into the cost of park and recreational facilities per dwelling unit. The value per person (from Tables 1—3) is multiplied by the number of persons per dwelling unit to calculate the cost per dwelling unit.

The US census collects detailed information about population and dwelling units. The data includes the number of persons in different types of dwelling units. Table 4 shows the population in dwelling units and the number of dwelling units from the 2000 Census for both the entire county and the unincorporated area, along with the calculation of the persons per dwelling unit for single family, multi-family and mobile homes.

Table 4: Persons Per Dwelling Unit

Housing Type	Population in Dwelling Units	°	Dwelling Units	=	Average Persons Per Dwelling Unit
Countywide
Single Family	113,679		43,679		2.62
Multi Family	35,298		17,449		2.02
Mobile Home	20,763		10,989		1.89
Unincorporated County
Single Family	74,966		28,736		2.61
Multi Family	9,653		5,416		1.78
Mobile Home	18,320		9,367		1.96

 

Table 5 calculates the cost per dwelling unit by multiplying the persons per dwelling unit (from Table 4) by the value per person (from Tables 1 - 3). The result is the cost per dwelling unit for both the countywide and unincorporated areas.

Table 5: Park and Recreational Facilities Cost per Dwelling Unit

Housing Type	Average Persons Per Dwelling Unit	Value Per Person	Cost Per Dwelling Unit
Countywide Parks
Single Family	2.62	223.46	611.65
Multi Family	2.02	223.46	471.58
Mobile Home	1.89	223.46	441.23
Unincorporated Parks
Single Family	2.61	29.47	76.92
Multi Family	1.78	29.47	52.46
Mobile Home	1.96	29.47	57.76
Recreational Facilities
Single Family	2.61	129.42	337.79
Multi Family	1.78	129.42	230.37
Mobile Home	1.96	129.42	253.66

 

Park and Recreational Facilities Impact Fee Per Dwelling Unit

The final step in determining the park and recreational facilities impact fee is to reduce the cost per dwelling unit by subtracting any credits for other revenues from existing and new development that Osceola County will use to pay for part of the cost of new park and recreational facilities.

Cost per Dwelling Unit

-

Credit for Other Revenue

=

Impact Fee per Dwelling Unit

 

New development will be given credit for future payments of other revenues that are used to pay for the same new park and recreational facilities that are required to serve the new development.

Credits are not given for other payments that are not used for new park and recreational facilities needed for new development. If credits were given for taxes used for other purposes it would contradict the well-established system of restricting fees, charges, and many taxes for specific public facilities and services . Credits are not given for revenues that are used for repair, maintenance or operating costs because impact fees are not used for such expenses.

The only revenue sources to be credited are those which are used for park and recreational facility capacity expansion according to law and local practice or policy.

The revenue credit adjustment of parks and recreational facilities costs is a "policy based credit" that is determined by calculating the cost to provide parks and recreational facilities to new development and determining what portion of that cost to serve new development will be paid by the County as a matter of County policy.

This impact fee is based on the assumption that most other revenues will be used to increase the level of service for the current population (therefore such revenues are not a credit against the impact fee). It is assumed that the County will use other money to pay for 10% of growth's costs.

This impact fee rate calculation is based on an assumption that the County will use non-impact fee revenue to pay for 10% of the annual cost of providing countywide park and recreational facilities and 10% of park and recreational facilities in the unincorporated area for new development. As a result, the impact fee rate is calculated by reducing the countywide and unincorporated county park and recreational facilities cost per dwelling unit by 10%. Table 6 shows the cost per dwelling unit from Table 5, the dollar amount of the 10% credit adjustment, and the impact fee after the credit is subtracted from the full cost per dwelling unit.

Table 6: Park and Recreational Facilities Impact Fees

Type of Dwelling Unit	Cost per Dwelling Unit	Credit Percent	Credit Adjustment	Impact Fee Per Dwelling Unit (Col 2 - Col 3)
Countywide
Single Family	611.65	10%	61.17	550.49
Multi Family	471.58	10%	47.16	424.42
Mobile Home	441.23	10%	44.12	397.11
Unincorporated County
Single Family	76.92	10%	7.69	69.23
Multi Family	52.46	10%	5.25	47.21
Mobile Home	57.76	10%	5.78	51.99
Recreational Facilities
Single Family	337.79	10%	33.78	304.01
Multi Family	230.37	10%	23.04	207.33
Mobile Home	253.66	10%	25.37	228.30
Combined Total
Single Family	1,026.36	10%	102.64	923.73
Multi Family	754.41	10%	75.44	678.97
Mobile Home	752.66	10%	75.27	677.39

 

(Ord. No. 06-10, App. A, 6-26-06)