That’s what the school board voted at its regular meeting Tuesday night.
Our local public schools are funded with monies transferred by the state from the taxes we pay. That’s for operations. Funds for capital projects (buying land and doing construction) also come from the state, often funded by bonds approved by California’s voters. Plus, there’s a local source for capital funds: developer fees.
These fees are paid by anyone doing new construction of at least 500 square feet in size within the attendance area of the Sonoma Valley Unified School District. Since 2002, that fee has been $2.14 per square foot for new residential development, and the board just raised it 23% to $2.63 per square foot, based on a study by the Sacramento firm Government Financial Strategies Inc., hired by the district. The board also raised the fee for commercial development, from 34¢ to 42¢ per square foot. New rental self-storage facilities are charged 3¢ per square foot.
Developer fees have totaled about $800,000 per year for the last few years, so it is anticipated that these fees should approach $1 million per year in the future.
