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Title:
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Public Hearing - Biennial Certified Audit of Land Use Assumptions, Infrastructure Improvement Plan and Development Fees
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Title
Public Hearing - Biennial Certified Audit of Land Use Assumptions, Infrastructure Improvement Plan and Development Fees
Description
Request to hold a public hearing regarding the Biennial Certified Audit of Land Use Assumptions, Infrastructure Improvement Plan and Development Fees, as required by State statute.
Report
Summary
Arizona Revised Statute 9-463.05 requires a biennial certified audit of municipalities land use assumptions, infrastructure improvements plans and development fees to be conducted by a qualified professional, and the City is required to conduct a public hearing on the audit within 60 days of posting the findings of the audit on the City's website. Raftelis Financial Consultants (RFC) was retained to perform the biennial audit. The audit reviewed development impact fees and water resource acquisition fees for the period of July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2018. The land use assumptions (LUA), infrastructure improvements plan (IIP) and development fees audited were adopted by Phoenix City Council on Jan. 21, 2015, and took effect on April 6, 2015. The intent of the audit is to allow stakeholders who pay the impact fees to receive a third party analysis of the assumptions, plans and how fees are spent by each municipality. The next required biennial audit will review the period of July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2020.
The final audit report titled: City of Phoenix Biennial Certified Audit of Land Use Assumptions, Infrastructure Improvement Plan and Development Fees (July 1, 2016 - June 30, 2018) is attached (Attachment A) and available on the Planning and Development website at : www.phoenix.gov/pdd/devfees/impactfeedocs
Biennial Audit Conclusions
The audit of LUAs found that actual new development in impact fee areas was less than forecasted in the approved LUAs. RFC noted that these trends should be monitored but are not an area of immediate concern as growth often occurs in a non-linear fashion and can be influenced by various external factors.
The revenue audit (review of charges) did not find material discrepancies between adopted development fees and actual charges assessed to permits over the audit period. The following discrepancies were found:
Five Fire Protection fee records were charged an expired fee amount instead of the current fee at the time the permits were purchased. These instances resulted in overcharges that have been refunded to the customer.
32 Water Resources Acquisition Fee (WRAF) records were undercharged. These instances resulted in an under-collection of <1 percent of WRAF charges over the audit period. In accordance with State development fee rules, the Water Services Department completed a funds transfer from an internal account to make up the difference.
18 WRAF records were charged an expired fee amount instead of the current fee at the time the permits were purchased. These instances resulted in overcharges that have been refunded to the customer.
The expense audit found that all costs incurred against impact fee funds went toward projects that are identified in the approved IIPs.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Mario Paniagua and the Planning and Development Department.