BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1084
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 29, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Anna Marie Caballero, Chair
AB 1084 (Adams) - As Amended: April 27, 2009
SUBJECT : Local planning: development projects: fees.
SUMMARY : Provides a time frame for notice relating to an
increase or change in fee levied under the Mitigation Fee Act
and establishes procedures for requesting an audit of those
fees. Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires a local agency that is a city, county, or city and
county to mail notice of the time and place of the meeting
that will be held regarding adoption of a new fee or
increasing an existing fee under the mitigation fee act.
2)Requires that the mailing, which must be sent 14 days prior to
the hearing, include a general explanation of the matter to be
considered and a statement of the proposed costs.
3)Provides that any written request for mailed notice is valid
for one year and the legislative body of the city, county, or
city and county may establish a reasonable annual charge for
sending these notices.
4)States that at least 10 days prior to the meeting, a local
agency that is a city, county, or city and county shall make
available to the public the data indicating the amount of cost
or estimated cost, required to provide the public facilities
and the revenue sources anticipated to fund those public
facilities.
5)Prohibits any new or increased fee adopted by a local agency
that is a city, county, or city and county from going in to
effect until 60 days after the final adoption, unless
otherwise provided in law.
6)States that any person can request an audit in order to
determine whether any fee or charge levied by a local agency
that is a city, county, or city and county exceeds the amount
reasonably necessary to cover the cost of any product, public
facility, or service provided.
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7)Specifies that any costs incurred by a city, county, or city
and county by having an independent audit conducted may be
recovered from the person who requests the audit.
8)Specifies that the oversight of local agency fees is of
statewide concern, and therefore, this measure shall apply to
charter cities.
EXISTING LAW
1)Authorizes a local agency to charge a variety of fees,
dedications, reservations, or other exactions in connection
with the approval of a development project, as defined.
2)Provides, under the Mitigation Fee Act, that in any action
establishing, increasing, or imposing a fee as a condition of
approval of a development project by a local agency, the local
agency is required to determine how there is reasonable
relationship between the amount of the fee and the cost of
public facility or portion of the public facility attributable
to the development project on which the fee is imposed.
3)States that prior to adopting an ordinance, resolution, or
other legislative enactment adopting a new fee or approving an
increase in an existing fee under the mitigation fee act, a
local agency shall hold a public hearing, at which oral or
written presentations can be made, as part of a regularly
scheduled meeting.
4)Requires notice of the time and place of the meeting,
including a general explanation of the matter to be
considered, and shall be published in accordance with Section
6062a.
5)Authorizes any party to file a protest to attack, review, set
aside, void, or annul the imposition of any fees, dedications,
reservations, or other exactions on a development project by a
local agency pursuant to specified procedures within 180 days
after the delivery of a written notice by the local agency.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)Fees and dedications are one-time exactions collected from a
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developer as a condition of an approval being granted by a
local government. Impact fees are used to finance the
construction or incremental cost of improvements to those
public facilities and services that the new development
requires or burdens. Local agencies exact fees and
dedications pursuant to their police power to protect the
health, safety, and welfare of the public. The police power
allows cities and counties to act in the interest of their
unique community. Under the police power, local agencies may
enforce all local police, sanitary, and other ordinances and
regulations not in conflict with general laws of the state. A
land use regulation lies within the police power if the
purpose of the act reasonably relates to the public welfare.
2)Since the passage of Proposition 13 and other measures
limiting local agencies' general revenue sources, local
agencies have increasingly required development projects to
bear their own costs within the community, on the principle
that development should pay its full share of the additional
burden it places on public services and facilities. The major
issue involving exactions is the reasonableness of the
exaction in kind and amount.
3)In 1987, the California Legislature enacted the Mitigation Fee
Act. The legislation was enacted in response to developer
concerns that local public agencies were requiring developers
to pay for infrastructure improvement costs that developers
contended should have been borne by the public as a whole.
The Mitigation Fee Act closely regulates the adoption, levy,
collection of, and challenge to development fees imposed by
local public agencies. It applies to both fees imposed on a
broad class of projects by legislation of general
applicability and fees imposed on a project-specific basis.
The Mitigation Fee Act applies to development impact fees
imposed by local agencies to finance all or part of the cost
of public facilities (e.g., streets, traffic signals, bridges
and major thoroughfares, drainage and flood control
facilities, water and sewer, and government buildings).
4)Whenever establishing, imposing, or increasing a fee as a
condition of development, the local public agency must
identify the purpose of the fee and the use to which the fee
will be put. The public agency must also explain why there is
a reasonable relationship, or nexus, between the fee and the
development on which it is imposed. Moreover, fees must not
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exceed the estimated reasonable cost of providing the service
for which the fee was collected.
5)According to the sponsor, the California Building Industry
Association, "many cities and counties have set their fees
based upon costs that existed at the height of the market for
both land and construction. Over the last several years, land
and construction costs have declined substantially. Since
that time, many local governments have not revisited those fee
calculations, possibly due to the costs associated with a
revision to their fee structure.
6)AB 1084 provides a time frame for notice relating to an
increase or change in fee levied under the Mitigation Fee Act
and establishes procedures for requesting an audit of those
fees. According to the author the intent of this measure is
to ensure that development impact fees reflect the current
cost to cities and counties to construct those public
facilities.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
CA Building Industry Association [SPONSOR]
CA Business Properties Association
CA Chamber of Commerce
International Council of Shopping Centers
National Association of Industrial and Office Properties
Opposition
Housing CA
Analysis Prepared by : Katie Kolitsos / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958