Background/Summary:
In 2011, the impact fee statute was adjusted significantly to provide greater transparency in the calculation and assessment of development impact fees across the state. One key new provision was that a municipality shall either a) appoint an infrastructure improvement advisory committee to review the infrastructure improvements plan, monitor and evaluate implementation of the infrastructure improvements plan and file annual reports, or, b) provide for a biennial certified audit of the municipality’s land use assumptions, Infrastructure Improvement plan and development fees. The City of Peoria opted to conduct a biennial impact fee audit.
The audit is required to be conducted by one or more qualified professionals who are not employees or officials of the city and who did not prepare the infrastructure improvement plan. The audit is intended to review the progress of the infrastructure improvement plan, including the collection and expenditure of development fees for each project in the plan and to evaluate any inequities in the implementation of the plan or imposing the development fees.
To this end, the city hired Heinfeld Meech & Co., a local auditing firm to complete an audit based on agreed-upon procedures for the biennial certification of the land use assumptions, infrastructure improvement plan and development fees as described in the statute. The attached report is a summary of their findings.
The first finding was expected, as permit activity is not predictable for any given year. The projections in the plan were based on extensive stakeholder input and agreed upon as the basis for the Infrastructure Improvements Plan. The second finding was not expected, however, staff researched the finding and concur that it was an erroneous charge to this fund. Due to the small amount for this item, it was not identified through the normal review of impact fee expenditures. Staff will transfer $28.52 from the Fleet Fund to the Solid Waste Impact fee fund in FY2017. Going forward, staff will regularly review charges to impact fee funds in more detail to ensure future charges are recorded appropriately.
The audit was released to the public on the city’s website on June 15, 2017 and a public hearing is required within sixty days of the release to the public.