At the public hearing on December 11, 2007, the BCC approved Ordinance 2007-60 amending Chapter 22 of the Lake County Code.  Section 22-11, which is effective April 1, 2008, reinstates prepayments with the following conditions. 

• All prepayment certificates must be obtained from the Lake County Impact Fee Office, even those for property within incorporated municipalities.
• The final plat must be recorded in the public records of Lake County.
• A lot of record determination, or official proof that the lot is buildable, must be obtained from Lake County Zoning or the appropriate municipality and presented at the time of prepayment.
• Once paid, the prepayment will not be subject to adjustment unless the proposed development is modified in such a fashion that the impact is increased.
• If the building permit or final development order is not obtained within 12 months of the date of prepayment, the prepayment will convert to a cash credit towards the impact fee schedule in place at the time the building permit or final development order is obtained.
• Prepaid impact fees are not transferrable to any other lot.
• An administrative fee of $20.00 will be charged for each prepayment certificate issued. If prepaying for multiple lots, each lot must have its own prepayment certificate.

Prepayment Process

1. Complete application. A separate application must be submitted for each lot. The application can be filled out electronically and then printed.
2. Bring printed application, property record card, lot of record determination, and payment to the Lake County Impact Fee Office, located at 315 W. Main Street, 5th floor, Tavares, FL 32778.
   • Appointments, especially for prepaying for multiple lots, can be scheduled by calling (352) 343-9467.
   • A 1% convenience charge will be added if payment is by credit card.
   • Property record cards can be obtained on the Lake County Property Appraiser’s website.

Prepayment of Impact Fees Ordinance

The following can be found at Municode, Section 22-11
The Board of County Commissioners recognizes that in some instances some persons may wish to secure firm estimates of impact fees that may be due in connection with a proposed development and not be subject to increases in the fee schedules prior to the issuance of the building permit or, where no building permit is required, issuance of the final development order. In such a case, prior to issuance of the building permit, or where no building permit is required, issuance of a final development order, Lake County shall or the municipality may, at its option, accept payment of the estimated impact fees. The provisions of this section are optional for municipalities, and no municipality shall be required to accept prepayments of impact fees, except that a municipality shall accept a valid prepayment certificate if issued by the county.

Should a person utilize the option of prepayment allowed by this section, the following rules shall apply:

(1)   For new single-family residential development, pre-payment of impact fees shall not be permitted until the final plat is recorded in the public records of Lake County, Florida.

(2)   The amount of impact fees shall not be subject to adjustment at the time of building permit or final development order so long as the proposed development has not been modified to the extent that the impact is increased by a change in the plans. If the plans for the proposed development are changed in such a way that the impact has been increased, the impact fee will be determined at the time of building permit or final development order utilizing whatever fee schedules are in effect at that time, with credit being provided for the amount of prepayment. As provided in (3) below, if a building permit or final development order is not obtained within twelve (12) months from the date of prepayment, the amount of impact fees will be recalculated at the time the building permit or final development order is obtained, with the applicant obtaining a credit for the amount of the prepayment.

(3)   Prepaid impact fees can only be used for the particular project and on the particular land, or in the case of a recorded plat, the particular lot, which is the subject of the building permit or final development order. Prepaid impact fees cannot be transferred to any other real property. Such prepaid impact fees shall only be valid to avoid adjustment of the impact fees based on a new fee schedule for a period of twelve (12) months from the date of issuance. If the building permit or final development order is not obtained by that date, or after being obtained, is allowed to expire, impact fees shall be recalculated at the time of issuance of the permit (or new permit as the case may be) using the then current impact fee schedules with a credit being given for the amount of the previous prepayment.

(4)   The prepaid impact fee shall not be refundable for any reason other than failure of the impact fee being expended as required by section 22-13(b), below. If the plans for the proposed development are changed in such a way that the impact has been decreased, or if a building permit or final development order has not been issued, the prepaid impact fee (or portion thereof, as the case may be) shall not be refundable. Credit will be given for a different project on the same site in the future in an amount equal to the prepayment, however, the fees shall be determined using the fee schedule in existence at the time of approval of the new development.

(5)   Payment of capacity reservation fees as required by Chapter V, Lake County Code, Appendix E, Land Development Regulations, entitled Concurrency, shall not constitute prepayment of impact fees. However, a developer, at the time the capacity reservation fee is paid, may elect to utilize the provisions of this section and prepay any applicable impact fees in full.

(6)   An administrative fee as set by the board of county commissioners by resolution shall be charged each time an applicant elects to use the prepaid impact fee method.

(Ord. No. 2007-60, § 1, 12-11-07)