P.R. Laws tit. 17, § 902

2019-02-20 00:00:00+00
§ 902. Regulation of fees and moratorium on impact fees

(a) Owners, developers, and/or builders of affordable housing, construction, and rehabilitation projects, as defined in this chapter, shall not be subject to the payment of impact fees that may be charged by the Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, Electric Power Authority, Highway and Transportation Authority, municipalities, and/or any other Commonwealth entity or public corporation authorized by law or regulation of the Department of Housing to charge such fees, on account of projects or project phases that either begin construction or are approved during the next three (3) years as of the date of approval of this act. Provided, That after said three (3)-year term has elapsed and more than fifty percent (50%) of the housing project’s units built during the moratorium have been sold, the pertinent entity shall require the payment of impact fees subject to the moratorium provided in this Section without any interest or penalty. The Department of Housing shall regulate any public fee whose maximum value is not specified by law and affects affordable housing projects in order to ensure the feasibility of their development and acquisition.

(b) Nothing shall impede a project developer or builder of affordable housing during the next three (3) years as of the date of approval of this act from negotiating the voluntary payment of impact fees with any state public corporation for one or more projects or project phases during the term of the moratorium provided in this section.

(c) Within the three (3) years following the date of approval of this act, nothing shall prevent a developer or builder of affordable housing projects from negotiating the voluntary payment of impact fees with any Commonwealth public corporation for one or more projects or project phases during the term of the moratorium provided in this section. In these cases, special discounts shall apply as regulated by advance payments.

(d) As for mixed-use developments that include affordable housing, exemption from impact fees during the moratorium shall be prorated according to the number of affordable housing units in the project.

(e) For the purposes of this chapter, the term “impact fees” shall only refer to the payment for service connection that a public corporation charges a developer for each housing unit built. For the purposes of this chapter, the term “impact fees” shall not include any such contributions charged by a public corporation on account of any work outside the city or any infrastructure improvement or work required to endorse a housing project.

(f) Under no circumstances shall the advanced payment of taxes, fees, or charges be required as a requirement for granting endorsements. Projects co-developed by the Department of Housing and/or financed by the Housing Finance Authority whose sales price is up to eighty percent (80%) of the corresponding cap for affordable housing shall be exempt.

History —June 26, 1987, No. 47, p. 152, added as § 12 on Mar. 23, 2010, No. 33, § 1; Aug. 10, 2011, No. 171, § 1, retroactive to July 1, 2011.