501-A, 502-A, 503-A

• The governing body of each municipality, other than a county, may enact, amend, and repeal impact fee ordinances and may establish impact fees to be paid by property owners to help fund offsite public transportation improvements necessitated by new development
• No municipality may impose fees for or require construction of or payment for offsite improvements except as provided for in the MPC and Article V-A
• Impact fees may be used for acquisition of land, legal and planning costs, engineering, construction, and debt service where same are for identified transportation capital improvements attributable to new development
• Impact fees may not be used for facilities not included in the transportation capital improvements plan, operation or maintenance, upgrades not attributable to new development, upgrades to remedy lack of municipal funding of maintenance, and preparation of the transportation capital improvements plan except as specified further in Section 503-A(d)(5)
• Section 502-A has specific definitions for Article V-A

503-A, 505-A

• Ordinances shall include but not be limited to:
• Standards for the determination of impact fees
• Agency designated to administer impact fees
• Method and procedure for payment of impact fees and for issuance of any credits due to applicants
• Exemptions and credits, including 100% credit for development of affordable housing to low and moderate income persons, 100% credit for development serving an overriding public interest, and de minimus exemptions
• Ordinances shall describe boundaries and impact fee schedules for each transportation service area
• The ordinance must be available to the public at least 10 days prior to adoption; a municipality may publish notice of intent to adopt an impact fee ordinance, the first not before adoption of the impact fee advisory committee resolution, the second 1-3 weeks later
• Impact fee provisions may be applied retroactively no more than 18 months in accord with Section 505-A(c)(2)

504-A

• A transportation capital improvements plan must be prepared and adopted by the governing body prior to enacting an impact fee ordinance
• Qualified professionals shall assist in preparing the plan and in calculating impact fees
• An impact fee advisory committee created by resolution assists in preparing the plan
• Transportation capital improvements plan shall include:
• A land use assumptions report – details at 504-A(c)
• A roadway sufficiency analysis – details at 504-A(d)
• Proposed transportation capital improvement projects – details at 504-A(e)
• The advisory committee must hold public hearings pursuant to public notice prior to issuance of the land use assumptions report and after completion but prior to adoption of the transportation capital improvements plan
• The governing body, no more than annually, may ask the advisory committee to review the plan and impact fee charges and make recommendations for change based on new development, completion of capital improvements, delays in implementation, changes in land use assumptions, or changes in costs or funding

504-A

• The advisory committee shall consist of 7 to 15 members, either residents or business people in the municipality, appointed by the governing body
• At least 40% must be from real estate, residential and commercial development, and building industries
• Traffic engineers and planners may be appointed upon approval by the rest of the committee
• Municipal employees or officials or consultants employed in preparation of the transportation capital improvements plan may not be appointed
• The municipal planning commission may be designated as the impact fee advisory committee
• If the planning commission lacks 40% membership as specified above, the governing body shall appoint ad hoc members from the aforementioned industries who may vote when the commission acts as the impact fee advisory committee

505-A

• Impact fees shall be based on the total costs of road improvements included in the adopted capital improvements plan attributable to new development divided by the number of anticipated peak hour trips generated by all new development consistent with the adopted land use assumptions – details at 505-A(a)
• Municipality may require preparation of a study to determine traffic generation for new non-residential development, or a municipality or developer may voluntarily prepare one
• Collected impact fees shall be deposited in an interest-bearing account and spent only for improvements for which the fees were collected; there are some exceptions – details at 505-A(d)
• Impact fees are payable when building permit is issued
• An applicant shall be given a credit for fair market value of land dedicated for road improvements or for value of any construction of improvements in the capital plan performed at the applicant’s expense
• Previously collected impact fees shall be refunded in circumstances specified in Section 505-A(g)
• An additional impact fee may be imposed on new developments that generate 1,000+ new peak-hour trips

506-A

• Any person required to pay an impact fee has the right to contest the transportation capital improvements plan and fees by appeal to the court of common pleas following provisions specified in Section 506-A

508-A

• One or more municipalities which have adopted a multi-municipal comprehensive plan in accord with Article XI may cooperate to enact, amend, or repeal an impact fee ordinance following procedures in Article V-A
• Each municipality party to the joint impact fee ordinance shall approve the advisory committee and shall adopt the land use assumptions, roadway sufficiency analysis, capital improvements plan and ordinance or amendment thereto; no such ordinance shall become effective until adopted by all participating municipalities