TO: Honorable Mayor & Members of the North Port Commission
FROM: A. Jerome Fletcher II, ICMA-CM, MPA, City Manager
TITLE: An Ordinance of the City of North Port, Florida, Amending the Code of the City of North Port, Florida, Section 58-5 - Fee Tables; Updating Impact Fee Rate Schedule for the City’s Transportation Impact Fee; Providing for Findings; Providing for Conflicts; Providing for Severability; Providing for Codification; and Providing an Effective Date.
Recommended Action
Option 1: Continue Ordinance No. 2026-26 as presented to second reading on October 6, 2026.
City Commission Options
Option 1: Continue Ordinance No. 2026-26 as presented to second reading on October 6, 2026.
• Pros: Reduces Transportation Impact Fees assessed on new development; restores the fee schedule to 75% of the rates calculated in the September 13, 2011 Transportation Impact Fee Study; and aligns with Chapter 2025-190, Section 28 of Florida State Statutes.
• Cons: Reduces future revenue available for eligible transportation capacity improvements necessitated by growth.
Option 2: Deny Ordinance No. 2026-26 and retain the Transportation Impact Fee schedule currently in effect.
• Pros: Preserves the current Transportation Impact Fee revenue structure and the amount of revenue available for eligible transportation capacity improvements.
• Cons: Does not return Transportation Impact Fees for new development to the schedules in place prior to the August 1, 2024, activation date of Chapter 2025-190, Section 28 of Florida State Statutes.
Background Information
The following provides a chronological order of events pertinent to the City’s Transportation Impact Fees:
Ø September 13, 2011: Tindale-Oliver Transportation Impact Fee Study established the City's methodology and calculated rates.
Ø June 11, 2019: Ordinance No. 2019-06 established Transportation Impact Fees at 75% of those rates.
Ø February 9, 2021: Ordinance No. 2020-42 subsequently established schedules at 100%.
Ø September 28, 2021: Ordinance No. 2021-39 reinstated the schedules established by Ordinance No. 2019-06 after retroactive state legislation invalidated Ordinance No. 2020-42.
Ø September 10, 2024: Ordinance No. 2024-12 increased Transportation Impact Fees by 12.5% upon adoption and provided for a second 12.5% increase effective October 1, 2025, resulting in the schedule currently in effect.
Ø 2025: Chapter 2025-190, Laws of Florida, was updated to restrict specified municipalities from adopting more restrictive or burdensome development regulations and procedures through October 1, 2027, retroactively to August 1, 2024.
Ø 2026: Ordinance No. 2026-26 reduces the current Transportation Impact Fee schedule back to 75% of the rates calculated in the 2011 Impact Fee Study, effective immediately upon adoption on second reading. The complete proposed Fee Schedule is included in the Ordinance attachment.
The City recognizes that Impact Fees are an essential tool for ensuring that new growth contributes its proportionate share toward the infrastructure and capital improvements necessary to serve that growth. To support the continued development of a fair, legally defensible, and data-driven Impact Fee Program, the City issued a Request for Letters of Interest (RLI) on September 10, 2026, to identify a qualified consultant to conduct a Comprehensive Citywide Impact Fee Study, with responses due by September 30, 2026. The Study will comply with the legislative changes made under Section 163.31801, Florida Statutes, commonly known as the Florida Impact Fee Act. Current law requires Impact Fees adopted or increased after July 1, 2026, to be supported by a Demonstrated-Need Study that is plan-based and uses the most recent and localized data available within four (4) years of the Impact Fee Update. If an Impact Fee is increased, the new Study must also be adopted within 12 months after initiation of the Study.
Florida Statutes Section 163.31801 provides that a local government is not required to wait 90 days to decrease, suspend, or eliminate an Impact Fee.
Ordinance No. 2026-26 was reviewed by the City Attorney and is legally correct as to form.
Strategic Plan Pillar
Good Governance
Financial Impact
The adoption of Ordinance No. 2026-26 would reduce Transportation Impact Fee (Fund 153) revenues by 25%. The Fiscal Year 2027 tentative budget estimates include $13,298,190 in revenue from Transportation Impact Fee revenues. Applying the 25% reduction to the Fiscal Year 2027 Tentative Budget would result in an estimated loss of revenue in the amount of $3,324,548 to the Transportation Impact Fee (Fund 153).
No expenditure is directly authorized by Ordinance No. 2026-26.
Procurement
Not applicable.
Attachments:
1. Ordinance No. 2026-26 - First Reading
2. Ordinance No. 2024-12
Prepared by: Chelsea Buell, Administrative Services Specialist
Department Director: Chuck Speake, Public Works Director