The Georgia Development Impact Fee Act (DIFA) was enacted into law in 1990.
It sets rules for local governments that wish to charge new development for a portion of the additional capital facilities needed to serve it. Under DIFA, local governments may impose exactions on developers to help finance the expansion of their infrastructure systems only through an impact fee system and only for the specific types of facilities and infrastructures listed in the law.
The intent of the Act is to:
- Ensure that adequate public facilities are available to serve new growth and development;
- Promote orderly growth and development by establishing uniform standards by which municipalities and counties may require that new growth and development pay a proportionate share of the cost of new public facilities needed to serve new growth and development;
- Establish minimum standards for the adoption of development impact fee ordinances by municipalities and counties; and
- Ensure that new growth and development is required to pay no more than its proportionate share of the cost of public facilities needed to serve new growth and development and to prevent duplicate and ad hoc development exactions.
Local governments that wish to impose development impact fees must have an adopted comprehensive plan that meets the Minimum Standards and Procedures for Local Comprehensive Planning. The comprehensive plan must include a Capital Improvements Element (CIE) in order to be in compliance with DIFA.
A current plan can be amended to include a CIE.
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