SANTA ANA : Trustees Opt to Hike Development Fees

In a move intended to protect hundreds of thousands of dollars slated for construction projects, the Santa Ana Unified School District Board of Trustees has decided to increase residential development fees by 60%.

The board voted 4 to 1 last week to raise the fees it charges developers from $1.65 to $2.65 per square foot on residential developments.

Trustee Rosemarie Avila cast the dissenting vote.

Avila said that when government agencies raise fees and taxes, they harm the economy and generate short-term revenue at the expense of long-term financial stability.

“I’m not going to succumb to that,” she said. “I’m going to vote no.”

However, Trustee Robert W. Balen pointed out that if the board did not raise the fees, construction projects would drain the district’s financially strapped general fund.

That fund is used, for example, to pay teachers’ salaries and buy textbooks.

“I also really abhor having to tack on an additional cost to residents,” Balen said.

However, he added, “it would be fiscally irresponsible to not pass this fee even though it’s painful for businesses and the community.”

Under a law that went into effect Jan. 1, school boards can increase the fees they charge developers to $2.65 a square foot for residential projects.

Santa Ana Unified and other districts that receive matching building funds from the state must turn over to Sacramento $2.65 for every square foot developed within their boundaries, regardless of whether the districts collect that much.

Such districts stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars by failing to adopt the fee increase.

District Controller Robert Giritz said that Santa Ana Unified would save tens of thousands of dollars this year as a result of the increase, which becomes effective March 27.

Once the economy picks up and development increases, the amount saved is likely to be hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, he said.