Bill Text: DE HB438 | 2015-2016 | 148th General Assembly | Draft
Bill Title: An Act To Amend Titles 9, 14, And 22 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Voluntary School Assessments And Residential Construction In New Castle County.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-06-21 - Introduced and Assigned to Economic Development/Banking/Insurance/Commerce Committee in House [HB438 Detail]
Download: Delaware-2015-HB438-Draft.html
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SPONSOR: |
Rep. B. Short & Sen. Sokola |
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Rep. Baumbach; Sen. Ennis |
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 148th GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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HOUSE BILL NO. 438 |
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AN ACT TO AMEND TITLES 9, 14, AND 22 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO VOLUNTARY SCHOOL ASSESSMENTS AND RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION IN NEW CASTLE COUNTY. |
Section 1.Amend Section 103, Title 14 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§103. Powers, duties and functions of the Secretary.
(c) The Secretary shall calculate a Voluntary School Assessment, which applicants shall have the option of paying in lieu of any school certification required by § 2661 of Title 9 or §842 of Title 22.
(1) Voluntary School Assessments shall be calculated on a per unit basis for each project that seeks to pay such assessments in lieu of certification as follows by:
(1) Calculating the average cost
(including land or, if the school district already owned such land, the
then-fair market value of such land at the time of construction), per child,
for the average new public schools (1 elementary school, 1 middle school, 1
high school) constructed with state assistance in New Castle County as
determined by the State of Delaware School Construction Technical Assistance
Manual prepared by the Delaware Department of Education (as such manual exists
as of June 30, 1999, such manual to be updated for purposes of this calculation
no earlier than July 1, 2005, and thereafter updated as the Department normally
updates such manual);
(2) Multiplying that number by the
local percentage share then required by state law of the local school district
in order to receive state capital assistance;
(3) Multiplying the resulting
figure by 0.50, representing the average number of school-aged children
projected to be housed within each residential unit, provided that in no event
shall the Voluntary School Assessment exceed 5 percent of the total cost of the
residential unit.
a. Calculating the average cost per square foot to build a school in the district where the applicant's project is located, which figure shall be updated at least annually in consultation with the local school district and shall be a standard value for the entire district;
b. Multiplying that number by 0.625%;
c. Multiplying the resulting figure by the square footage of the proposed dwelling unit.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (c)(1) of this section, the Voluntary School Assessment shall be capped as follows for each type of dwelling:
a. $1,000 for an apartment.
b. $2,000 for a townhome.
c. $5,000 for any other dwelling.
Section 2. Amend Chapter 26, Title 9 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§2661. Information from state and local agencies and school districts.
(a) All subdivision plans approved by the County Council shall be filed with the Office of the Recorder of Deeds, and with such other state and local agencies as the County may by ordinance require.
(b) As part of its review of a rezoning or subdivision application, the County Council through its designated local planning agency shall request and review information from all state and local agencies and local school districts identified on a list prepared by the County and shall file as part of the record any written information provided by such state and local agencies or local school districts with respect to the rezoning or subdivision application. If the planning agency makes recommendations that are in conflict with the information supplied by state and local agencies or local school districts, it must explain its reasons for doing so in writing.
(c)(1) This section subsection
shall apply only to residential development and shall apply to all new
major subdivision plans submitted pursuant to the New Castle County Unified
Development Code adopted December 31, 1997, as may be amended. Prior to
recording a major record subdivision plan, as defined by New Castle County, the
applicant shall provide certification to the Department of Land Use from the
Secretary of the Department of Education after consultation with the
superintendent of the appropriate individual school district that the school
district has adequate capacity for the proposed development. The capacity
calculation shall be made on a district wide basis for pre-K through grade 12,
without regard to the particular bus route or feeder pattern on which the
subdivision is located. The Secretary shall respond to any request for
certification or Voluntary School Assessments within 60 days' receipt of a
completed request for such certification. That certification shall include the
following information:
a. Existing classrooms and service levels based upon the Delaware Department of Education Delaware School Construction Manual, September 19, 1996, as may be amended or supplemented from time to time, or based upon other standards accepted as accurate by the Secretary of the Department of Education; and
b. Capacity calculations, which shall include the current student population, increased demand resulting from prior certifications from the Department of Education, and the increased demand that will result from the proposed development. The Department of Land Use shall within 20 days provide the Department of Education with all necessary information regarding the number and type of dwelling units proposed and other information which the Secretary may request.
This subsection shall apply to all new
residential major subdivision plans submitted pursuant to the New Castle County
Unified Development Code adopted December 31, 1997, as may be amended.
(2) Notwithstanding
the foregoing provisions of this subsection, no certificate of adequate school
capacity shall be required where either any of the following
conditions is met:
(i) the a. The residential development is restricted
by recorded covenants to provide housing or shelter predominantly for
individuals 55 years of age or older pursuant to the Federal Fair Housing Act
[42 U.S.C. §3601 et seq.];.
(ii) the b. The residential development is for low
income housing, which, for purposes of this section, shall be defined to mean
any housing financed by a loan or mortgage that is insured or held by the
Secretary of HUD or the Delaware State Housing Authority or which is developed
by a nonprofit corporation certified under §501(c)(3) of the United States
Internal Revenue Code [26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3)]; or.
(iii) the c. The applicant has pledged, in a writing
recorded and running with the subject property, to pay a Voluntary School
Assessment in an amount determined pursuant to §103(c) of Title 14, for each
lot for which the applicant would otherwise be required to obtain a
certificate.
(3) Voluntary
School Assessments will be calculated on a per unit basis pursuant to the
formula laid out in §103(c) of Title 14 as of the time of the issuance of the
first each building permit, and the assessment shall remain
constant throughout the development of the subdivision (and shall not be
increased for any reason, including but not limited to any resubdivision);
provided, however, that after 5 years the Voluntary School Assessment amount
may be recalculated. Any Voluntary School Assessments paid under this
subsection shall be paid to the Department of Education at the time that a
certificate of occupancy is obtained for each unit, and shall be deposited by
the Department into an interest-bearing account as set forth below. With the
approval of the Secretary, after consultation with the superintendent of the
affected school district, an applicant may receive a credit against voluntary
assessments to be paid in an amount equal to the fair market value of any lands
or properties set aside by the applicant and deeded to the school district in
which the applicant's project is located for school uses. Any such lands
shall not be used for nonschool purposes, other than as parkland or open space.
All voluntary assessments paid shall be held in an interest-bearing account by
the State for the school district in which the applicant's project is located
until such time as the school district engages in construction activities that
increase or sustain school capacity, at which time such assessments
shall be released to the school district by the State in the amount of the
Voluntary School Assessments paid into an interest-bearing account for such
district. It is the intent of this section that lands or properties required to
be conveyed by the applicant to New Castle County as a condition to subdivision
approval shall not be eligible to be used for purposes of obtaining a credit
against the voluntary school assessment notwithstanding the fact that such
lands or properties may subsequently be conveyed by the county to a school
district.
(4) To the extent New Castle County has adopted (or in the future attempts to adopt) any regulations or ordinances linking or tying residential development to school capacity, or otherwise restricting residential development in the absence of school capacity, such regulations and ordinances are hereby preempted and of no force and effect.
Section 3.Amend Section 842, Title 22 of the Delaware Code by making deletions as shown by strike through and insertions as shown by underline as follows:
§842 School capacity application for municipal corporations in New Castle County.
(a) This section shall apply only to residential development and shall apply to all new residential subdivision plans over 5 units in size for lands annexed into a municipality on or after July 1, 1992, and first submitted for review after July 1, 1999.
(b) Prior to recording a residential subdivision plan for over 5 units in
size for any lands annexed into any municipality located in New Castle County
on or after July 1, 1992, and notwithstanding any home rule or charter
provision to the contrary, the applicant shall provide certification from the
Secretary of the Department of Education, after consultation with the
superintendent of the appropriate individual school district, that the school
district has adequate capacity for the proposed development. The capacity
calculation shall be made on a district wide basis for pre-K through grade 12,
without regard to the particular bus route or feeder pattern on which the
subdivision is located. The Secretary shall respond to any request for
certification or voluntary school assessments Voluntary School
Assessments within 60 days of receipt of a completed request for such
certification. That certification shall include the following information:
(1) Existing classrooms and service levels based upon the Delaware Department of Education, Delaware School Construction Manual, September 19, 1996, as may be amended or supplemented from time to time, or based upon other standards accepted as accurate by the Secretary of the Department of Education; and
(2) Capacity calculations, which shall include the current student population, increased demand resulting from prior certifications from the Department of Education, and the increased demand that will result from the proposed development. The municipality shall, within 20 days, provide the Department of Education with all necessary information regarding the number and type of dwelling units proposed and other information which the Secretary may request.
This subsection
shall apply to all new residential subdivision plans over 5 units in size for
lands annexed into a municipality on or after July 1, 1992, and first submitted
for review after July 1, 1999.
(b) Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, no certificate of adequate school capacity shall be required where either:
(1) The residential development is restricted by recorded covenants to provide housing or shelter predominantly for individuals 55 years of age or older pursuant to the provisions of the Federal Fair Housing Act [42 U.S.C. §3601, et. seq.];
(2) The residential development is for low income housing, which, for purposes of this section; shall be defined to mean any housing financed by a loan or mortgage that is insured or held by the Secretary of HUD or the Delaware State Housing Authority or which is developed by a nonprofit corporation certified under § 501(c)(3) of the United States Internal Revenue Code [26 U.S.C. §501(c)(3)]; or
(3) The
applicant has pledged, in a writing recorded and running with the subject
property, to pay a voluntary school assessment Voluntary School
Assessment in an amount determined pursuant to §103(c) of Title 14 for
each lot for which the applicant would otherwise be required to obtain a
certificate.
(c) Voluntary school
assessments School Assessments will be calculated on a per unit
basis pursuant to the formula laid out in §103 as of the issuance of the
first each building permit, and the fee shall remain constant
throughout the development of the subdivision (and shall not be increased for
any reason, including but not limited to any resubdivision); provided, however,
that after 5 years the voluntary school assessment amount may be recalculated.
Any voluntary school assessments Voluntary School Assessments paid
under this subsection shall be paid to the Department of Education at the time
that a certificate of occupancy is obtained for each unit, and shall be
deposited by the Department into an interest-bearing account as set forth
below. With the approval of the Secretary, after consultation with the
superintendent of the affected school district, an applicant may receive a
credit against voluntary assessments to be paid in an amount equal to the fair
market value of any lands or properties set aside by the applicant and deeded
to the school district in which the applicant's project is located for
school uses. Any such lands shall not be used for nonschool purposes, other
than as parkland or open space. All voluntary assessments paid shall be held in
an interest-bearing account by the State for the school district in which the
applicant's project is located until such time as the school district engages
in construction activities which increase or sustain school capacity, at
which time such assessments shall be released to the school district by the
State in the amount of voluntary school assessments paid into an
interest-bearing account for such district. It is the intent of this section
that lands or properties required to be conveyed by the applicant to a
municipality as a condition either to annexation or subdivision approval shall
not be eligible to be used for purposes of obtaining a credit against the voluntary
school assessment Voluntary School Assessment, notwithstanding the
fact that such lands or properties may subsequently be conveyed by the
municipality to a school district.
(d) To the extent any municipality located in New Castle County has adopted (or in the future attempts to adopt) any regulations or ordinances linking or tying residential development to school capacity or otherwise restricting residential development in the absence of school capacity for lands covered by this section, such regulations and ordinances are hereby preempted and of no force and effect.
Section 4. All agreements regarding the Voluntary School Assessment fee between the Department of Education and any applicant that are in place as of the effective date of this Act, and govern a development that has not been completed may, at the developer's discretion, be reevaluated and assessed pursuant to the provisions of this Act.
Section 5. The Department of Education may promulgate rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this Act.
Section 6. This Act shall take effect 60 days after its enactment into law.
SYNOPSIS
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Since 1999, residential developers in New Castle County have been required to seek either a certificate from the Department of Education declaring that the local school district has the capacity to absorb additional students from the new development, or alternatively pay a Voluntary School Assessment which is held in trust for the local school district to be used for new construction and expansion projects. Developments submitted at different times could be assessed quite different fees, and some pay no fee at all based only on fortuitous timing of their application submission or which district or particular bus route the applicant's project was located in. The current Assessment formula is also insensitive to the size of new dwelling units – so that an assessment for a 10,000 square foot, 6-bedroom single family home could be the same as the assessment for a 1,500 square foot, 2-bedroom townhome. Assuming some or all of the Voluntary Assessment is passed on to the purchaser of the home, there is a regressive effect whereby purchasers of lower-income housing are shouldering a proportionally higher burden. This bill attempts to improve the process by taking into account the size of new dwellings, and making the fee standard across each school district since the advent and prevalence of school choice makes it more difficult to predict which schools will absorb potential new students. The bill ties the new school assessment to the cost of new construction in a local school district, multiplied by 0.625%. The resulting figure is then multiplied by the square footage of the new dwelling. The assessment is capped at $1,000 for an apartment, $2,000 for a townhome, and $5,000 for any other dwelling unit. Rather than a flat fee assessed at the time the plan is filed with the County, each unit will be assessed individually at the time a building permit is issued, and the assessment will be due when a Certificate of Occupancy is issued. Where the local school district has adequate capacity to absorb new students, a developer may still seek a certificate of adequate capacity from the Department of Education. Current contracts regarding the voluntary assessment fee between the Department of Education and any developer that are in place when this Act takes effect may be reevaluated and assessed pursuant to the new formula if the developer so wishes. |
