BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2048
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 7, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 2048 (Torlakson) - As Amended: March 24, 2010
SUBJECT : School facilities
SUMMARY : Prohibits the state Office of Statewide Health
Planning and Development (OSHPD) from issuing a building permit
for any construction absent certification from the appropriate
school district that the builder has complied with any fee,
charge, dedication or other requirement levied by the governing
board of that school district.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes, under Education Code Section 17620, the governing
board of any school district to levy a fee, charge,
dedication, or other requirement against any construction
within the boundaries of the district, for the purpose of
funding the construction or reconstruction of school
facilities.
2)Specifies that the fee, charge, dedication, or other
requirement may be applied to the following:
a) New commercial and industrial construction. Specifies
that the chargeable and enclose space of commercial or
industrial construction does not include the square footage
of any existing structure on the site of that construction
as of the date the first building permit is issued for any
portion of that construction;
b) New residential construction and other residential
construction that results in increase in assessable space
of more than 500 square feet; and,
c) Location, installation or occupancy of manufactured
homes and mobilehomes.
3)Specifies that the construction or reconstruction of school
facilities does not include regular maintenance or routine
repair of school buildings and facilities, deferred
maintenance, or the inspection, sampling, analysis,
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encapsulation, or removal of asbestos-containing materials.
4)Prohibits a city or county from issuing a building permit for
any construction absent certification by the appropriate
school district that any fee, charge, dedication, or other
requirement levied by the governing board of that school
district has been complied with, or of the district's
determination that the fee, charge, dedication, or other
requirement does not apply to the construction. Requires the
school district to issue the certification immediately upon
compliance with the fee, charge, dedication, or other
requirement.
5)Specifies, under Government Code Section 65995, various levels
of fees that may be assessed to fund school facilities and the
types of construction projects subject to the fees.
6)Specifies that "residential, commercial, or industrial
construction" does not include any facility used exclusively
for religious purposes that is thereby exempt from property
taxation, any facility used exclusively as a private full-time
day school, or any facility that is owned and occupied by one
or more federal, state or local agencies.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : SB 50 (L. Greene), Chapter 407, Statutes of 1998,
established the School Facility Program (SFP) which governs the
allocation of state education bond funds and the construction
and modernization of kindergarten through grade 12 school
facilities. SB 50 was based on the premise that the state would
provide 50% of funding for the construction of schools, with the
remaining amount provided by local funds, including developer
fees. SB 50 revamped the developer's fees laws and established
the current three levels of assessments.
SB 50 increased the residential per square footage fees from
$1.50 to $1.93 and required an inflation adjustment every two
years according to the class B construction index as determined
by the State Allocation Board (SAB), the 10 member body which
oversees the allocation and administration of state education
bond funds, at its January meeting every year. The fee, also
known as the Level I fee, is at $2.97 per square foot for
residential construction and $.47 for commercial/industrial
construction, and is assessed if the district conducts a
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Justification Study that establishes the connection between the
development coming into the district and the assessment of fees
to pay for the cost of the school facilities needed to house
future students. Level II is assessed based on a five-year
Needs Assessment and adopted by a governing board, which takes
into account district capacity, projection of unhoused pupils
resulting from new residential development, and available
funding to the district. Level II is authorized when a district
has submitted an application for state bond funding and when a
district meets two of four specified conditions. In the event
that state bond funds for school facilities are depleted, home
builders would be required to pay 100% of the per pupil grant
amount (that is, both the state and local share) required for
school facilities construction. Currently, Level III is
authorized when the SAB is no longer approving apportionments
for new construction projects.
Current law prohibits a city or county from issuing a building
permit for any construction project until the appropriate school
district certifies that the developer has complied with the
assessments. This bill prohibits the OSHPD from issuing
building permits until the appropriate school district certifies
that the developer has complied with the assessments.
The author states that school districts have had difficulty
collecting developer fees on non-public hospitals, as OSHPD, not
cities and counties, issues building permits for hospital
projects. According to information provided by OSHPD, the
agency is responsible for the enforcement of the Hospital
Facilities Seismic Safety Act and preempts local building
departments for plan review, issuance of building permits and
construction observation for all general acute care hospital and
skilled nursing facility construction in California. OSHPD
reviews construction plans for new construction, alterations or
additions to facilities to ensure compliance with the California
Building Standards Code (Title 24), which regulates the
architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing and
fire and life safety components of construction plans. Upon
approval of the plans, OSHPD issues the building permits. If
this bill is enacted, OSHPD would be required to verify that
developers have complied with school district authorized
assessments prior to issuing permits.
This bill does not impose new fees; it simply provides school
districts with the ability to ensure compliance. Existing law
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authorizes school districts to assess developer's fees on all
residential, commercial, and industrial construction with the
exception of the following:
1)Facility used exclusively for religious purposes that is also
exempt from property taxation;
2)Any facility used exclusively as a private full-time day
school; and,
3)Any facility that is owned and occupied by one or more
federal, state or local agencies.
Arguments in Support . The Elk Grove Unified School District
states, "Currently without AB 2048, the Elk Grove Unified School
District has to undertake various measures to collect fees from
non-public hospitals, including paying our own legal counsel to
attempt collection of the fees, as well as seeking the
assistance of our local building departments to help obtain the
fees. We don't have to undertake these measures for all other
commercial development projects because existing law provides us
the assurance that our fees will be paid."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Coalition for Adequate School Housing (sponsor)
Elk Grove Unified School District
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District
Poway Unified School District
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087