City Council
MEETING DATE: 11/16/2015
TITLE:
Title
AB 1600 Development Fee Report
End
FROM:
Tami Scott, Administrative Services Director
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends the City Council accept the Annual AB 1600 Development Fee Report for the City of Cathedral City, Fiscal Year 2014/15 and adopt a resolution accepting the report concerning certain development fees pursuant to Government Code 66006.
Body
BACKGROUND:
Following the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978, many cities began charging fees on new development to fund public improvements and services. These fees are commonly known as development impact fees. In order to ensure that these fees were spent in a timely manner and on projects for which they were being collected, the State Legislature passed AB 1600 (known as the Mitigation Fee Act). This bill applies to developer fees that are increased or imposed on or after January 1, 1989.
DISCUSSION:
State law (Government Codes 66000 through 66006) requires cities to annually review the status of development fees they collect (otherwise known as the AB 1600 report). Development fees are defined by the State as a “monetary exaction, other than a tax or special assessment, which is charged by a local agency to the applicant in connection with the approval of a development project for the purpose of defraying all or a portion of the cost of public facilities related to the development project, but does not include fees such as application fees, building permit fees, etc. The AB 1600 report must include the beginning and ending balances, fees collected, interest earned, other income (if any) and expenditures made for each established fee. The report also identifies the capital projects to be funded by the respective development fees. Staff has determined that the City currently collects fourteen (14) such fees that are subject to review under State law. The fees are collected as follows:
|
Project Area |
Fee Title / Purpose |
Fee |
|
Citywide |
Transit Development Fee |
$5.00/lineal foot for arterial streets |
|
Citywide |
Traffic Signalization |
33.33% of $150 to $450 per 1,000 sq. ft. of Building Area |
|
Citywide |
Fire & Police Facilities Fund |
66.67% of $150 to $450 per 1,000 sq. ft. of Building Area |
|
Citywide |
Master Underground Plan (MUP) |
$0.15 per sq. ft. of Building Area |
|
Citywide |
City Yard Vehicle Storage |
Res. $95/unit; Retail Comm. $587/acre; Non-Retail Comm./Ind. $454/acre |
|
Citywide |
Police Community Center |
Res. $21 per unit; Retail Comm. $132/acre; Non-Retail Comm./Ind. $102 per acre |
|
Citywide |
Public Safety Training Site |
Res. $18 per unit; Retail Comm. $110/acre; Non-Retail Comm./Ind. $85 per acre |
|
Citywide |
Public Safety Facilities |
Res. $570 per unit; Retail Comm. $3,513 per acre; Non-Retail Comm./Ind. $2,714 per acre |
|
Citywide |
Road and Traffic Facilities |
Res. $987/unit; Retail Comm. $30,066/acre; Non-Retail Comm./Ind. $10,165/acre |
|
Citywide |
Interchange and Bridges |
Res. $86/unit; Retail Comm. $4,145/acre; Non-Retail Comm./Ind. $1,500/acre |
|
Citywide |
Bikeways Facilities |
Res. $51/unit; Retail Comm. $167/acre; Non-Retail Comm./Ind. $129/acre |
|
Citywide |
Trail Facilities |
Res. $53/unit; Retail Comm. $173/acre; Non-Retail Comm./Ind. $134/acre |
|
Citywide |
Park and Recreation Facilities |
Res. $1,577/unit; Retail Comm. $5,141/acre; Non-Retail Comm./Ind. $3,973/acre |
|
Citywide |
Art in Public Places |
In-lieu Fee is 1% of 90% of Project Valuation |
On September 29, 2015, a courtesy copy of the draft AB 1600 report was emailed to the Executive Director of the Desert Valley Builders Association (DVBA) for any questions or comments. In a letter dated October 5, 2015, the DVBA responded that they were satisfied with the report except for a question related to the Station 413 expenditures. An explanation for the expenditures was provided to the Executive Director via email. However, another DVBA representative replied to the email taking exception to the expenditures as he believed they were long deferred maintenance costs of an existing facility; therefore, an improper use of the fees collected under the Mitigation Fee Act. Additional information was provided to DVBA; however, our responses did not change their position.
Government Code Section 66001 (g) states: “A fee shall not include the costs attributable to existing deficiencies in public facilities, but may include the costs attributable to the increased demand for public facilities reasonably related to the development project in order to (1) refurbish existing facilities to maintain the existing level of service or (2) achieve an adopted level of service that is consistent with the general plan.” (underlines added)
Fire Station 413 was completed in 1992. The City’s population has increased from 35,473 in 1996 to 52,571 in 2014, an increase of 48.2%. Calls responded to by Station 413 personnel have increased from 604 in 1995, to 1,412 in 2014, a 134% increase. In addition, various developers currently have projects in the city serviced by Station 413 that are going to increase demand for City services, including fire services (i.e., Desert Princess, Staybridge Hotel, Verano - just to name a few.)
During fiscal year 2015, structural issues related to the bathrooms at Station 413 were identified. As these issues were related to the initial design and construction of the station, correcting these issues would not be considered operations/maintenance. If the identified issues were not corrected, the station could not have been inhabited by our firefighters. Therefore, to maintain the existing level of service to the developments serviced by Station 413, including the new developments that came into existence subsequent to 1992, a refurbishing of the existing facility, specifically, the bathroom areas, was required. The work completed was (1) waterproofing the subfloor, (2) improving/leveling the drainage towards the floor drains, (3) installing two new floor drains; (4) removing floor tiles, cover base and tiles up the walls and replacing all such tiles, and (5) replacing the shower doors and tracks. The word ‘repair’ means to fix or mend something suffering from damage. The work described previously is not fixing something that has been damaged. The bathrooms in Station 413 were refurbished (‘renewing or restoring to a new condition’). Based on Government Code Section 66001(g), we believe that the expenditures incurred were proper and in accordance with this section. It should be noted that similar refurbishing has been done in other fire stations over the years from the same source of funds and the DVBA has never objected to the interpretation until now.
The law requires that the City make the fund accounting information available to the public and that a public meeting be held to review the accounts no less than 15 days from the release of that information. Attached you will find the summary.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Annual AB 1600 Development Fee Report for the City of Cathedral City, Fiscal Year 2013/14
2. Resolution accepting the Annual Report (Fiscal Year 2014/15 on certain Development Fees pursuant to Government Code 66006