How Yorba Linda pays for infrastructure due to new development with state-allowed 'impact fees'

New development – whether residential or commercial – brings additional infrastructure needs to communities, and state law allows municipalities to levy “impact fees” on building projects to pay the often hefty costs associated with providing new park facilities, roads and storm drains.

Yorba Linda's City Council members recently reviewed state-required annual reports on three of the fees charged to developers, who then tack the costs onto the price that purchasers pay for completed projects, including new home construction.

One levy – a local park impact fee – is “to ensure that new development is paying its portion of the parks and recreation infrastructure costs associated with the new development growth pro-posed,” according to the city's report describing the levy.

The fee is based on the type of residential development and number of dwelling units: $16,716 per lot for single-family homes and $10,718 per lot for multiple-family units. The city collected a total of $164,604 from the levy and earned $8,883 in interest on the fee the past fiscal year.

Close to $160,000 was spent on Phillip Paxton Equestrian Center plans ($68,000), Adventure Playground master plan ($34,000), Yorba Linda Middle School field conversion ($30,000) and Fairmont Knolls restroom project ($28,000), leaving $13,541 unspent.

Another levy – a local traffic development fee – is “to ensure that new development is paying its share of the transportation infrastructure costs associated with the growth proposed,” the yearly report stated.

The fee is based on land use and zoning: $600 per unit for residential projects, $1.98 per square foot for commercial projects, 48 cents per square foot for office projects and 15 cents per square foot for industrial projects.

The traffic fee account had $1.2 million at the beginning of the fiscal year, collected another $116,000 during the year and earned $46,000 in interest. The fiscal year ended with a $1.5 million balance, due to reimbursements for various projects from a separate traffic signal fund.

A third levy – a storm drain impact fee – is “to fund construction of facilities contemplated in the city's master plan for storm drain infrastructure to accommodate storm run-off,” as stated in the annual report.

The fee is $14,000 per acre. It's the city's oldest impact fee, first levied in 1968, nine months after incorporation.

The drainage fee account had $7.4 million at the beginning of the fiscal year, collected another

$140,000 during the year and earned $249,000 in interest. The year ended with a $7.3 million balance, after close to $500,000 was spent on Town Center drainage facilities.

Update to my Dec. 12 column on Paxton Equestrian Center improvements: Contract for a scaled-down project at the 5.5-acre site is expected to be awarded next month. Work will include expansion of a horse arena and modification of landscape and irrigation.

Completion is set for July.