Mitigation Fee Act.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary and digest do not specify the exact conditions under which refunds or credits are prohibited, only that they cannot be applied to offset other charges or fees when the existing capacity exceeds the proposed one.

Mitigation Fee Act

This act modifies how local agencies calculate fees for development projects involving demolition or changes in water and sewer connections, ensuring the fees reflect only the incremental impact of these changes.

What This Bill Does

• Requires local agencies to adjust fees when a project involves demolition or change in use so that the fee covers only the new impact on public facilities.
• Limits capacity charges for water and sewer connections based solely on proposed changes, not total existing capacity.

Who It Names or Affects

• Local agencies imposing fees on development projects
• Developers working on projects involving demolitions or changes to water and sewer connections

Terms To Know

capacity charge

A fee charged by a local agency for the use of water or sewer systems, based on the amount of capacity needed.

incremental impact

The additional effect that a new development project has on public facilities and services beyond what already exists.

Limits and Unknowns

• Does not specify how refunds or credits should be handled if the proposed capacity is less than the existing one.
• Does not provide details about how local agencies will implement these changes in practice.

Official Summary Text

SB 1036, as amended, Grayson.
Mitigation Fee Act.
Existing law, the Mitigation Fee Act, imposes various requirements with respect to the establishment, increase, or imposition of a fee by a local agency as a condition of approval of a development project, including requiring the local agency to identify the use to which the fee is to be put and determine how there is a reasonable relationship between the fee’s use and the type of development project on which the fee is imposed.
Existing law further provides that when a local agency imposes a fee for water connections or sewer connections, or imposes a capacity
charge, as defined, those fees or charges shall not exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing the service for which the fee or charge is imposed, except as specified.
This bill would require the amount of a fee
or charge described above
that is imposed on a development project that demolishes or changes an existing use to be offset to account for the demolition or change so that the amount of the fee
or charge
is attributable only to the development project’s incremental impact on public facilities or services, as provided.
Existing law provides that when a local agency imposes a fee for water connections or sewer connections, or imposes a capacity charge, as
defined, those fees or charges shall not exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing the service for which the fee or charge is imposed, except as specified.
This bill would provide that when a change in the capacity of an existing water or sewer connection is proposed, a local agency, in calculating the estimated reasonable cost of a capacity charge, shall only calculate an amount attributable to the change in the capacity. If the existing capacity exceeds the proposed capacity, the bill would prohibit any amount from being refunded, credited, transferred, assigned, or otherwise applied to offset any other charge or fee.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF