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� ® r producing capital improvements. In fact, some of this revenue is restricted for roadway maintenance activities rather than for general transportation improvements. Since the County currently maintains approximately 650 miles of paved and unpaved roadways and approximately 85 bridges, the county expends a substantial sum for transportation related maintenance activities. Due to the large number of roads and bridges that must be maintained, the County tends to spend all of its gas tax revenue for maintenance, with little or none left for capital facilities expansions. Since gas tax revenues are used primarily for maintenance activities, that leave impact fees as the principal source of capital expansion funding for roads. Without impact fees, transportation capital improvements would need to be funded from other sources such as the County's General Revenue Fund, an account which receives money through a number of methods. The most substantial method of funding the County's General Fund is the levying of ad -valorem property taxes, a source which contributes approximately forty percent (40%) of the county's total revenues. Some roadway improvements may be funded by the state using federal transportation funds. These funds, however, are limited and cannot meet all of the county's needs. Since impact fees are the county's principal source of funds for transportation capital improvements, any elimination or reduction of traffic impact fees will require more reliance on the County's other general revenue funding, unless the impact fee funds are replaced or somehow paid by another source. • Water & Sewer Impact Fees As noted, both Indian River County and the City of Vero Beach assess water and sewer impact fees for new development. The County implemented its water and sewer impact fee charges in 1981, and the City of Vero Beach implemented its water impact fee in 1981 and its sewer impact fee in 1987. Both the Indian River County'Utilities Department and the City of Vero Beach Utilities Department are established as enterprise funds which must operate- as financially self-sufficient entities, separate from "their respective governments. As such, the departments cannot. receive general funding from their governments' respective General Revenue Funds. Instead, the two departments must rely on their revenue stream to fund operations and capital improvements. o Indian River County The County Utilities Department is effectively divided into separate water and sewer operations, and their related. improvements must be funded by the respective utility operations. Impact fees are collected from developers constructing projects in the County's water and sewer service areas when the project will be connecting to a county water or sewer facility. As with Transportation Impact Fees, water and sewer impact fees may be refunded to developers, should the developer not complete the project for which the impact fees were paid. Once a project has been completed and connected to the water or sewer facility, however, the impact fees paid will not be refunded. Between 1981 and 1991, the County Utilities Department collected a total of $20,132,884.00 in water and sewer impact fees. From the collected fees, however, some refunds were issued. The remaining fees have effectively been spent by the Utilities Department in order to fund the Utilities Department's ongoing capacity improvement programs. Furthermore, the Utilities Department's capital improvements plan identifies ;120,778,000.00 in anticipated water and sewer system capacity improvements to accommodate the County's projected growth through the year 2002. Since the 19 MAY 189 1995 BOOK 95 FACE 128 I1