Section 36-7-4-1333 - Impact fees; appeal of amount before impact review board; judicial review; effect on pending fee payments(a) A person against whom an impact fee has been assessed may appeal the amount of the impact fee. A unit may not deny issuance of a structural building permit on the basis that an impact fee has not been paid or condition issuance of the permit on the payment of an impact fee. However, in the case of an impact fee of one thousand dollars ($1,000) or less a unit may require a fee payer to: (1) pay the impact fee; or(2) bring an appeal under this section; before the unit issues a structural building permit for the development for which the impact fee was assessed.
(b) A person must file a petition for a review of the amount of an impact fee with the unit's impact fee review board not later than thirty (30) days after issuance of the structural building permit for the development for which the impact fee was assessed. An impact fee ordinance may require a petition to be accompanied by payment of a reasonable fee not to exceed one hundred dollars ($100). A fee payer shall receive a full refund of the filing fee if:(1) the fee payer prevails;(2) the amount of the impact fee or the reductions or credits against the fee is adjusted by the unit, the board, or a court; and(3) the body ordering the adjustment finds that the amount of the fee, reductions, or credits were arbitrary or capricious.(c) A unit's impact fee review board shall prescribe the form of the petition for review of an impact fee under subsection (b). The board shall issue instructions for completion of the form. The form and the instructions must be clear, simple, and understandable to a lay person. The form must require the petitioner to specify:(1) a description of the new development on which the impact fee has been assessed;(2) all facts related to the assessment of the impact fee; and(3) the reasons the petitioner believes that the amount of the impact fee assessed is erroneous or is greater than the amount allowed by the fee limitations set forth in this series.(d) A unit's impact fee review board shall prescribe a form for a response by a unit to a petition for review under this section. The board shall issue instructions for completion of the form. The form must require the unit to indicate: (1) agreement or disagreement with each item indicated on the petition for review under subsection (c); and(2) the reasons the unit believes that the amount of the fee assessed is correct.(e) Immediately upon the receipt of a timely filed petition on the form prescribed under subsection (c), a unit's impact fee review board shall provide a copy of the petition to the unit assessing the impact fee. The unit shall not later than thirty (30) days after the receipt of the petition provide to the board a completed response to the petition on the form prescribed under subsection (d). The board shall immediately forward a copy of the response form to the petitioner.(f) An impact fee review board shall: (1) review the petition and the response submitted under this section; and(2) determine the appropriate amount of the impact fee not later than thirty (30) days after submission of both petitions.(g) A fee payer aggrieved by a final determination of an impact fee review board may appeal to the circuit or superior court of the county in which the unit is located and is entitled to a trial de novo. If the assessment of a fee is vacated by judgment of the court, the assessment of the impact fee shall be remanded to the board for correction of the impact fee assessment and further proceedings in accordance with law.(h) If a petition for a review or an appeal of an impact fee assessment is pending, the impact fee is not due and payable until after the petition or appeal is finally adjudicated and the amount of the fee is determined.As added by P.L. 221-1991, SEC.34.