Sec. 1332. (a) A fee payer is entitled to a refund of an impact fee if an infrastructure agency:

(1) has failed to complete a part of the infrastructure for which the impact fee was imposed not later than:

(A) twenty-four (24) months after the time described in section 1331 of this chapter; or

(B) a longer time as is reasonably necessary to complete the infrastructure if unforeseeable and extraordinary circumstances that are not in whole or in part caused by the unit have delayed the construction;

(2) has unreasonably denied the fee payer the use and benefit of the infrastructure during the useful life of the infrastructure; or

(3) has failed within the earlier of:

(A) six (6) years after issuance of the structural building permit; or

(B) the anticipated infrastructure completion date as specified in the zone improvement plan existing on the date the impact fee was collected;

to make reasonable progress toward completion of the specific infrastructure for which the impact fee was imposed or thereafter fails to make reasonable progress toward completion.

(b) An application for a refund under subsection (a) must be filed with the unit that imposed the impact fee not later than two (2) years after the right to a refund accrues. A unit shall issue a refund in part or in full or shall reject the application for refund not later than thirty (30) days after receiving an application for a refund.

(c) If a unit approves a refund in whole or in part, the unit shall pay the amount approved, plus interest from the date on which the impact fee was paid to the date the refund is issued. The interest rate shall be the same rate as the rate that the unit's impact fee ordinance provides for impact fee payments paid in installments.

(d) If a unit rejects an application for refund or approves only a partial refund, the fee payer may appeal not later than sixty (60) days after the rejection or partial approval to the unit's impact fee review board established under section 1338 of this chapter by filing with the board an appeal on a form prescribed by the board. 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.

(e) An impact fee ordinance shall designate the employee or official of the unit who is responsible for accepting, rejecting, and paying a refund and interest.

(f) A unit's impact fee review board shall hold a hearing on all appeals for a refund under this section. The hearing shall be held not later than forty-five (45) days after the application for appeal is filed with the board. A unit's impact fee review board shall provide notice of the application for refund to the infrastructure agency responsible for the infrastructure for which the impact fee was imposed.

(g) An impact fee review board holding a hearing under subsection (f) shall determine the amount of a refund that shall be made to the fee payer from the account established for the infrastructure for which the fee was imposed. A refund ordered by the board must include interest from the date the impact fee was paid to the date the refund is issued at the same rate the ordinance provides for impact fee payments paid in installments.

(h) A party aggrieved by a final decision of an impact fee review board in a hearing under subsection (f) 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.

As added by P.L.221-1991, SEC.33.