|
Title:
|
Public Hearing - Biennial Certified Audit of Land Use Assumptions, Infrastructure Improvement Plan and Development Fees
|
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 (LUA), infrastructure improvements plans (IIP) 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, 2018, through June 30, 2020. City Council approved changes to the development impact fee program that took effect during the audit period on April 13, 2020. As such, the audit considered two sets of LUAs, IIPs and development fees - those that were in effect from April 6, 2015 through April 12, 2020, as well as the current LUAs, IIPs and development fees that have been in place since April 13, 2020.
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, 2020, through June 30, 2022.
The final audit report titled: City of Phoenix Biennial Certified Audit of Land Use Assumptions, Infrastructure Improvement Plan and Development Fees (July 1, 2018 - June 30, 2020) 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 the impact fee areas was less than the average two-year forecast from the 2015 Infrastructure Financing Plan Update. RFC noted that these trends should be monitored but were not an issue of immediate concern. RFC further noted that the LUAs have been updated as part off the 2020 Infrastructure Financing Plan Update; illustrating the correcting aspect of the LUA forecasts as part of regular five-year updates.
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 discrepancy was found:
Five permits with Water Resources Acquisition Fee (WRAF) charges (out of 3,786 total WRAF transactions) were identified that were assessed the 2015 WRAF fee amounts resulting in over-charges. The over-payments were refunded by the City.
Review of expenditures found that all costs incurred against impact fee funds went towards eligible projects that are identified in the approved IIPs.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Deputy City Manager Ginger Spencer and the Planning and Development Department.