IRVINE : School District Hikes Developer Fees

The Irvine Unified School District board has unanimously approved an increase in developer fees, provoking only a slight rumble from the Irvine Co.

While the developer raised a few concerns about the process used to justify the new fees, Irvine Co. officials are not opposing the increases in the fees levied and collected by the school district on residential and commercial development in the district.

“The main thing we questioned was the district’s estimates of the cost of school construction,” said Irvine Co. spokeswoman Dawn McCormick. “They appeared to be high.”

The higher the cost of school construction, the greater the justification the district has for charging the maximum fees allowed by law.

School board members say the district is raising developer fees to match the higher ceiling on such fees approved by the state Legislature in January.

The developer fees are used to pay for part of the costs of new school construction. The rest comes from the state.

The Irvine school district, which is planning two new schools, is required by law to pay its share of construction costs based on the maximum developer fees for the new construction, whether it actually levies them all or not.

“I don’t think the Irvine Co. or any other organization will oppose what we’re doing, knowing if we don’t increase these fees, we’re going to have to pay them anyway,” Supt. David E. Brown said.

The school board increased fees from $1.65 to $1.72 per square foot for residential development and from 27 cents to 28 cents per square foot for commercial and industrial development.

The Irvine Co. is asking the school district to revise its study on the cost of new school construction.

The law requires such a study to justify raising developer fees to the maximum amount.

But McCormick said Irvine Co. officials do not believe a revised study would cause the district to rescind the new fee increases. “The new fees appear to be reasonable,” she said.