Key Analytics to prepare BUSD developer fee justification study

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

The State of California periodically adjusts the maximum developer fees a school district can charge, but the school district must have a study which demonstrates a reasonable relationship between the additional development and the need for additional school facilities. Key Analytics will be preparing a justification study for the Bonsall Unified School District.

A 5-0 BUSD board vote April 20 approved the professional agreement with Key Analytics, which will be paid $8,500 to perform the study. The contract has a one-year term.

The State Allocation Board sets a maximum fee school districts can charge, and that board recently adjusted its development fee cap. “We just got out in front of it quickly,” said BUSD superintendent Joseph Clevenger.

The BUSD fees were most recently adjusted in May 2021 after approval from the BUSD board in March 2021. The fee for residential development is $4.08 per square foot and the fee per square foot for enclosed or covered commercial or industrial development is $0.66. New rental self-storage facilities are only charged $0.06 per square foot.

The new state maximums approved Feb. 23 are $4.79 per square foot for residential development and $0.78 per square foot for commercial or industrial construction.

Key Analytics is based in Ladera Ranch. That company or subconsultants will calculate student generation factors by housing category (single-family or multi-family) and school level, review the school capacities to determine how many students can adequately be housed at each school level, review development plans and tract maps to estimate the number of future residential units by housing category, and project the number of students future residential units will generate.

The company will also compare existing enrollment to facility capacity by school level to determine whether any surplus can house students generated from future residential development, estimate the number and type of school facilities which will be needed to meet the projected enrollment, review and analyze BUSD documents to estimate the cost to construct or expand school facilities needed to accommodate additional students, estimate the actual school facilities impact per unit and square foot of residential floor space, estimate employment generation rates for new commercial and industrial buildings and the student enrollment increases each building will bring, factor employment-related interdistrict transfer rates, and prepare draft and final versions of a report with the findings of the study.