Home Builders Association of Central Arizona v. City of Mesa

The Arizona legislature expressly granted municipalities the power to develop and adopt finance plans for infrastructure and expansion related to tourism. Arizona state law A.R.S. § 9-463.05 (the statute) provided municipalities with the authority to assess development fees to offset costs associated with providing necessary public services to a development. The statute provided that the amount of any development fee must be reasonably related to the burden imposed on the municipality to provide additional necessary services. The city of Mesa (the city) (defendant) amended its impact fee ordinance in 2007. The city had provided and imposed a development fee for cultural facilities since 1998. The city’s amended impact-fee ordinance included a legislative finding that each public service, including cultural facilities, that received a portion of the impact fee was a necessary public service. The city calculated the amount of the impact fee for cultural facilities based on the number of cultural facilities and the number of equivalent dwelling units in the city. Home Builders Association of Central Arizona (HBA) (plaintiff) filed a complaint against the city, seeking a declaration that the cultural-facilities portion of the city’s impact-fee ordinance violated state law because cultural facilities were not necessary public services. The city filed a motion for summary judgment, which was granted by the superior court. HBA appealed.