§ 24-36. Findings.

The board of county commissioners of Osceola County ascertains, determines and declares:

(1)

That the school board has requested the county to adopt educational system impact fee requiring future residential construction to contribute its fair share of the cost of improvements and additions to the educational system necessary to accommodate such growth.

(2)

That the school board has determined that ad valorem tax revenue, gross receipts tax revenue, and other revenue generated by such future residential construction will not be sufficient to provide the improvements and additions to the educational system required to accommodate such growth.

(3)

That F.S. § 163.3177 requires the county to adopt a comprehensive plan containing a capital improvements element which considers the need and location of public facilities within its areas of jurisdiction and the projected revenue source to be utilized to fund these facilities.

(4)

That future land development shall be restricted unless it is consistent with the county's comprehensive plan and that the necessary public facilities needed for such development exist or are assured.

(5)

That pursuant to F.S. § 1013.33, the school board and the board are required to coordinate the planning of educational facilities with the planning of residential development and the providing of other necessary services. Section 1013.33 further requires educational facilities and their off-site impacts to be consistent with the comprehensive plan. Florida Statutes § 163.3161(3) directs local governments to make efficient and adequate provisions for schools.

(6)

That F.S. § 163.3202(3) encourages the use of innovative land use regulations and impact fees to manage growth and to provide the necessary public facilities. The imposition by a county of impact fees on residential development to fund the capital cost of educational facilities necessitated by such development has been approved by the Florida Supreme Court in St. Johns Co. v. Northeast Florida Builders Association, Inc., 583 So.2d 635 (Fla. 1990).

(7)

That the implementation of an educational system impact fee to require future growth to contribute its fair share of the cost of required capital improvements and additions is an integral and vital element of the regulatory plan of growth management in the county.

(8)

That the projected capital improvements and additions to the educational system and the allocation of projected costs between those necessary to serve existing development and those required to accommodate the educational needs of future residential construction as presented in the study entitled "school impact fee update study" dated December 4, 2017 is hereby acknowledged by the county, and such projections are hereby found to conform with the comprehensive plan. The school impact fee update study contains three (3) different fee schedule options, and after due and thorough consideration of existing county administrative and land use policies, option 1, as set out in the school impact fee update study, has been selected as the most appropriate and equitable fee schedule.

(9)

An interlocal agreement regarding education impact fees was entered into between the county, the school board, St. Cloud and Kissimmee and is dated July 31, 1999, as amended on April 19, 2004, and on August 16, 2010, and on April 20, 2015. It is anticipated that an amended and restated interlocal agreement will be entered into between the county, the school board and the cities to permit the imposition of an educational system impact fee within all areas of the county. Such interlocal agreement will also govern the collection, administration, and use of the impact fee.

(10)

That the establishment of an educational system impact fee is consistent with the comprehensive plan and furthers common welfare and interests of the people of Osceola County, Florida.

(11)

That the implementation of an educational system impact fee to require future growth to contribute its fair share of the cost of growth-necessitated capital improvements to the educational system promotes the general welfare of the citizens of Osceola County and relieves the potential burden on the educational system occasioned by residential construction. The provision of educational facilities which are adequate for the needs of growth is in the general welfare of all county residents and planning for the impact created by residential construction constitutes a public purpose.

(12)

That the county acknowledges that there currently exist deficiencies in the educational system capital improvements which will be addressed by the school board with revenues other then educational system impact fees.

(13)

That the data set forth in the educational system impact fee study, which was employed in the calculation of the educational system impact fee rates, is the most recent and localized data available.

(14)

That the administrative fee established pursuant to section 24-10 hereof constitutes the county's and cities' actual costs for collection of the educational system impact fee including the actual costs related to the administration and the collection process.

(15)

That in F.S. ch. 420, the Florida Legislature directly recognizes the critical shortage of affordable housing in the State of Florida for very low to moderate income families, the problems associated with rising housing costs in the state, and the lack of available housing programs to address these needs. In recognition of these problems and the state's encouragement to local governments to work in partnership with the state and private sector to solve these housing problems, the county finds a need for local programs to stimulate and provide for the development of affordable-workforce housing for income-eligible persons.

(16)

That the board desires to provide incentives to develop and provide affordable-workforce housing stock within the county so that income-eligible persons who desire to live and to work in the county may have access to housing, and thus to offset the negative consequences of the shortage of such housing.

(17)

That to accomplish this objective the board finds that it is fair and reasonable to create an affordable-workforce housing exemption to reduce the burden of educational system impact fees on income-eligible persons and encourage the development of affordable housing.

(Ord. No. 2010-11, § 2, 8-16-10; Ord. No. 2015-26, § 2, 4-20-15; Ord. No. 2018-21, § 2, 3-12-18)