A BILL to amend article twenty-four, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section eighty-six, relating to authorizing certain municipalities to impose impact fees upon the construction of new development projects to offset the cost of expanding or extending certain public services within the municipalities.

(a) It is the purpose of this section to provide for the fair distribution of costs for municipal development by authorizing the limited assessment and collection of fees by certain municipalities upon the construction of new development projects located within the municipality to offset the cost of expanding or extending certain public services within the municipalities, all in a manner similar to which impact fees are authorized for such use by counties under the provisions of article twenty, chapter seven of this code.

(b) The governing body of a municipality located within a county that levies and collects impact fees pursuant to the provisions of article twenty, chapter seven of this code may levy impact fees upon the construction of new development projects located within the municipality for the purposes described in subsection (a) of this section.

(c)(1) Impact fees imposed by a municipality pursuant to this section shall be determined, imposed and administered in the manner in which impact fees imposed by counties are determined, imposed and administered under the provisions of article twenty, chapter seven of this code as if those provisions were set forth herein and made applicable to municipalities, except as provided in this section and subject to the following:

(A) Revenues collected from the payment of impact fees to the municipality shall be restricted to funding expanded or extended

(B) An impact fee assessed against a development project to fund the expansion or extension of municipal services may not exceed the actual proportionate share of any benefit realized by the project relative to the benefit to the resident taxpayers; and (C) An impact fee imposed by a municipality may not exceed twenty-five percent of the rate of the impact fee imposed by the county.

(2) An impact fee imposed by a county on a project located within a municipality upon which an impact fee is imposed by a municipality under the provisions of this section does not constitute a "double tax" as that term is used in subsection (a), section seven, article twenty, chapter seven of this code.

(d) Notwithstanding any provision of article twenty, chapter seven of this code to the contrary, an impact fee imposed upon a project by a municipality pursuant to this section shall be in addition to the impact fee imposed upon the project by the county.

(e) A municipality that determines to impose impact fees pursuant to this section may, with the concurrence of the county in which the municipality is located, designate the county's collection point of its impact fees as the collection point of the municipal impact fees. Upon the designation, all such collections shall be made at the single point or points designated by the

(f) As used in this section, "municipal services" means: (1) Services provided by administration and administrative personnel, law enforcement and its support personnel; (2) street light service; (3) fire-fighting service; (4) ambulance service; (5) fire hydrant service; (6) roadway maintenance and other services provided by roadway maintenance personnel; (7) public utility systems and services provided by public utility systems personnel, water; and (8) all other direct and indirect municipal services authorized by this code.