Home Builders Association Requests Stimulus From Cities - TurnTo23.com
The HBA is requesting cities suspend developer impact fees on future projects for one year and defer fee payment on current projects until the home is occupied, according to a copy of the letter obtained by ABC23.
Home builders have suffered a 19 percent job loss nationally since the peak of the housing boom in February 2006, losing 889,000 jobs, according to Tonya Short, executive vice president of the Kern HBA.
The group says impact fees account for 15 percent of the sales price of every home that's built. The facilities those fees cover are "not utilized until the development is occupied with residents," Short said in the letter.
Deferring the fees on current projects "lessens the financial impact to the homeowner, still creates cash flow to the municipality...and can stimulate job sustainability and growth," Michael Hair, Jr. of Interstate Land Company said in a statement.
Several cities in the Sacramento and Riverside areas have taken similar actions, while Selma and Kingsburg are considering fee freezes as well.