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School district OKs plan to increase developer fees

BY TARA MCLAUGHLIN, Californian staff writer
e-mail: tmclaughlin@bakersfield.com | Tuesday, Mar 25 2008 9:58 PM

Last Updated: Tuesday, Mar 25 2008 9:58 PM

The Panama-Buena Vista Union School District Tuesday approved a plan to increase developer fees by about 17 percent effective immediately.

The district OK’d the increase to $2.67 per square foot from $2.28 after the state in January upped its allowance to help districts pay for new school construction, Michael Brouse the district’s chief business official, said. That’s an increase of about $940 for an average home of 2,400 square feet.

Developer fees theoretically cover half the cost of school construction, running about $18 million for a new elementary school, Brouse said. California pays the other half. But the state recently increased the amount it would pay, so the district moved to correspondingly increase developer fees.

The city of Bakersfield was the only entity to comment on the plan, Brouse said. It suggested the student population may not be increasing as fast as previously thought. But the fee formulas aren’t affected by the speed at which students show up, he said.

The 16,500-student district plans to enroll one student for every two new homes built. Currently there are plans for about 40,000 new homes inside district boundaries at various stages of progress.