Honig Favors Lid on Fees School Districts Charge Developers

State schools chief Bill Honig told an Orange County press conference Thursday that he favors a lid on fees that school districts can charge developers.

But Honig emphasized that such a limit must be accompanied by more funds from the state to build the schools that are needed as new housing developments go up.

Legislation passed in the wake of Proposition 13 allows fast-growing school districts to petition their county government to levy fees on developers and then use the funds to build classrooms. Orange County is among the counties using that power.

Schools fees paid by developers are a controversial issue in south Orange County, where the Saddleback Valley Unified School District recently voted to allow a 500% or more increase in the fees in order to raise money for permanent classroom facilities. Developers, who protested the action, said new home buyers would be unfairly carrying what should be an overall state burden.

Can Negotiate Fees

Saddleback Valley Unified in the past has charged a maximum fee of $1,200 for each new residential unit. Under the new policy, it negotiates fees with each developer. Peter Hartman, superintendent of the district, has said the top fees could go as high as $6,000 or $7,000 per unit.

Honig, who held a press conference at Cal State Fullerton while on a visit to urge more students to become teachers, predicted that compromise legislation will be passed in Sacramento this year that will help the school districts while protecting developers from unlimited fees.

“I think Gov. Deukmejian will be sending across legislation that will take care of the school needs and allow for capping the developer fees,” Honig said. Asked if he supported such a cap on fees, he said: “Yes, because the fees raise the price of housing, and it’s unfair to price families seeking a home out of the market.”

Deukmejian last year vetoed major bills that would have provided more money to the dwindling state fund for building new schools. That fund already has an $800-million shortfall for this year, according to state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), who is sponsoring a proposed state bond issue to raise that amount.

Cheerleader for Teaching

Honig predicted that a combination of legislation, including a ballot measure in the June primary that would allow school districts to raise money through their own bond issues, will enable the state to put a lid on developer fees.

During his daylong visit to Cal State Fullerton, Honig played the role of a cheerleader for the teaching profession.

After his noon press conference, he spoke to an overflow crowd of students in the university’s recital hall. Almost all of the 250 students indicated by a show of hands that they are majoring in education or thinking of going into that field.

“You’re doing a good job, Peter,” quipped Honig to Peter Facione, Cal State Fullerton’s dean in charge of the school of education.

Honig said California will need thousands of new teachers within the next four years because of recent, rapid growth in the state’s school population. “I’m going to major campuses in the state trying to get people to think about teaching as a career,” he said.

No Stranger to Classrooms

Honig noted that he was an elementary school teacher in San Francisco before being elected the state’s chief administrator of education.

“I didn’t start out to be a teacher,” he told the Cal State Fullerton students. He explained that he had obtained his law degree from UC Berkeley when he was asked to do some part-time teaching. He said he quickly realized how much he liked teaching and decided to switch his career choice--and never regretted it.

“Teaching, to me, has been very, very rewarding,” he said.

Three Orange County elementary or secondary teachers joined Honig as he spoke to the college students, and each also gave testimonials about teaching as a rewarding career choice. The teachers were Randy Peck and Lucy Alexander, of the Santa Ana Unified School District, and Susan Arena, of Sunny Hills High in the Fullerton Joint Union High School District.