Residential projects: fees and charges.

Plain English Breakdown

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Residential Projects: Fees and Charges

This law changes how local agencies can collect fees from residential developments before buildings are ready to be used.

What This Bill Does

• Allows local agencies to collect utility service charges when an application for service is submitted, as long as the costs do not exceed what the utility provider spends on connections.
• Requires that any early collection of fees or charges related to water, sewer, or wastewater services must match the estimated reasonable cost for providing those services.
• Expands the types of public improvements and facilities that can be funded by early fee collections to include parkland and recreational areas needed for fire safety and emergency purposes.

Who It Names or Affects

• Local agencies that impose fees on residential developments
• Developers of designated residential projects

Terms To Know

Certificate of Occupancy

A document issued by a local government saying that a building is safe and ready for people to live in.

Utility Service Fees

Money paid to utility companies for setting up services like water, electricity, or gas.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify when it will take effect.
• It only applies to designated residential developments and does not cover all types of projects.

Official Summary Text

SB 499, Stern.
Residential projects: fees and charges.
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. If a local agency imposes any fees or charges on designated residential developments for the construction of public improvements or facilities, existing law imposes various conditions on the fees and charges. Among these conditions, existing law prohibits the local agency from requiring the payment of those fees or charges until the date the first certificate of occupancy or first temporary certificate of occupancy is issued, whichever occurs first, except as specified. Existing law, for designated residential development projects, authorizes the local agency to collect utility service fees related to
connections at the time an application for service is received if those fees do not exceed the costs incurred by the utility provider resulting from the connection activities.
This bill would additionally authorize a local agency to collect utility service charges related to connections at the time an application is received, as described above.
Existing law also authorizes a local agency to require the payment of fees or charges on designated residential developments for the construction of public improvements or facilities earlier than the date the first certificate of occupancy or first temporary certificate of occupancy is issued if the local agency determines that the fees or charges will be collected for public improvements or facilities
related to providing water, sewer, or wastewater service to the residential development.
This bill would also require the fees or charges to be consistent with an existing provision of law prohibiting a local agency from imposing fees or charges for water or sewer connections that exceed the estimated reasonable cost for providing the service for which the fee or charge is imposed, except as specified.
Existing law also authorizes a local agency to require the payment of fees or charges on designated residential developments for the construction of public improvements or facilities earlier than the date the first certificate of occupancy or first temporary certificate of occupancy is issued if the local agency determines that the fees or charges
will be collected for public improvements or facilities related to providing fire, public safety, and emergency services to the residential development.
This bill would revise that provision to specify that those public improvements or facilities related to providing fire, public safety, and emergency services
include parkland and recreational facilities identified in the local agency’s safety element or local hazard mitigation plan for an emergency purpose, as specified.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF