Mitigation Fee Act.

Plain English Breakdown

The candidate explanation includes a claim about prohibiting refunds or credits which is supported by the official text but was overly broad in its wording. The exact phrasing and scope of prohibitions are clarified in the official summary.

Mitigation Fee Act

This act requires local agencies to adjust fees for development projects involving demolition or changes in water/sewer connections, so the fees only cover new impacts and prohibits refunds if existing capacity exceeds proposed capacity.

What This Bill Does

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

Who It Names or Affects

• Local agencies that set fees for development projects
• Developers working on projects involving demolition or changing water/sewer connections

Terms To Know

capacity charge

A fee charged by a local agency to cover the cost of providing additional capacity in public services like water and sewer systems.

incremental impact

The new effect or change that happens because of a development project, not including what was already there before.

Limits and Unknowns

• Does not specify how refunds or credits should be handled if the proposed capacity is less than existing.
• Does not provide details on enforcement mechanisms for these changes.
• The bill's final status and any executive action are not provided in the given information.

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