[HISTORY: Adopted by the Levy Court of Kent
County 11-25-2003 by Ord. No. 03-27. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
All applications
for building permits shall be subject to a surcharge of 1/4 of 1%
of the proposed construction valuation as determined by the Department
of Planning Services for the purpose of establishing a fund to provide
financial assistance to Kent County Volunteer Fire Companies and Kent
County Volunteer Ambulance and Emergency Medical Service providers
that are members of the Kent County Volunteer Firemen’s Association.
B.
This fund
shall be known as the "Kent County Emergency Services Assistance Fund."
Kent County Volunteer Fire Companies and Kent County Volunteer Ambulance
and Emergency Medical Service organizations that are members of the
Kent County Volunteer Firemen’s Association shall be exempt
from paying the building permit surcharge.
C.
Existing
structures destroyed or demolished will not be assessed a surcharge
for the reconstruction, provided that the replacement structure has
the same or less square footage and occurs within 24 months of the
demolition. If the square footage is greater than the original structure,
the surcharge shall be assessed based upon the value of the additional
square footage.
[1]
Editor's Note: Section 2 of this ordinance provided: "Any
applicant who has paid the building permit surcharge for the Emergency
Services Assistance Fund for replacement of a structure since the
most recent disbursement of funds from the Emergency Services Assistance
Fund shall be entitled to a full or partial refund if a written request
for refund is submitted to the Department of Planning Services within
180 days of the effective date of this Ordinance."
Proceeds of the Kent County Emergency Services
Assistance Fund shall be collected on a continuous basis by Kent County
and shall be disbursed twice annually on or before October 31 and
April 30 in accordance with the following schedule:
A.
Twenty-five percent of the total accumulated funds
shall be disbursed directly to the fire companies from whose fire
district the surcharge was generated, on a percentage of total basis.
B.
Seventy-five percent of the total accumulated funds
shall be disbursed to the 18 fire companies and one ambulance company,
known as Ambulance Company 64, in Kent County as follows:
(1)
Two and one-half percent of the remaining 75% of total
accumulated funds shall be disbursed to Ambulance Company 64; and
(2)
The remaining accumulated funds, after disbursement
to Ambulance Company 64 as set forth above, shall be divided and disbursed
equally to each of the 18 fire companies in Kent County.
C.
Within 30 days of receipt of the above-referenced
funds, recipients thereof shall deposit such funds into appropriate
accounts.
D.
Disbursements provided for in Subsection B hereof shall be in accordance with the example attached hereto as “Appendix A.”[1]
[1]
Editor’s Note: Appendix A is included as an attachment to this chapter.
Kent County Department of Planning Services shall determine the fire district location of each property for which a building permit is issued, based upon the official Fire District Boundary Map published by the Delaware State Fire Commission, and shall record the Fire District number and name in the building permit file for purposes of calculating the direct disbursement of funds to fire companies as specified in § 37-2A above.
The amount of total accumulated funds in the
Kent County Emergency Services Assistance Fund available for disbursement
to fire companies and Ambulance Company 64 in any fiscal year shall
be limited to a maximum of $750,000. In the event that total accumulated
funds exceed $750,000.00 in any fiscal year, the accumulated funds
in excess of $750,000 shall be utilized by Kent County Levy Court
to offset capital expenditures and/or operating costs of the Kent
County Department of Public Safety.
As a prerequisite for the disbursement of funds set forth in § 37-2 above, each participating fire company and ambulance service shall submit a copy of its Delaware Volunteer Fire Service — Annual Statement (hereinafter referred to as “DFSAS”) as required by the Delaware Fire School to the Kent County Director of Finance for review on or before August 31 of each year. Failure of a participating fire company or ambulance service to submit the requisite DFSAS to the Director of Finance by the specified date shall result in a withholding of funds; provided, however, that fund recipients may request from Kent County Levy Court an extension of time to submit the DFSAS not to exceed 90 days. Kent County Levy Court is hereby authorized to deny or grant a requested extension upon a showing of cause. Kent County Levy Court reserves the right to reallocate withheld funds for disbursement to fire companies and ambulance services which are in compliance with this requirement.
The Kent County Director of Finance is authorized
to promulgate such rules, procedures and regulations deemed by the
Director to be necessary for the purpose of giving full force and
effect to the provisions of this chapter.
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause,
or provision of this chapter or any application of this chapter is
held invalid, the remainder of the chapter shall not be affected,
and to this end this chapter and its terms are declared to be severable.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former §§ 37-8, Effective
date/sunset provision, and 37-9, Study committee, which immediately
followed this section, were repealed 11-13-2007 by Ord. No. 07-32.
