Dear friends,

The U.S. Supreme Court handed down an important ruling this month that could have a direct impact on how we solve the housing affordability crisis.

When George Sheetz went to build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on his property near Placerville, El Dorado County officials told him he would have to pay a whopping $23,000 "traffic impact fee" -- just for a backyard cottage. Sheetz paid the fee, then sued the county in federal court.

The U.S. Supreme Court heard his case, and in a unanimous, 9-0 ruling decided that Sheetz had the right to sue to block these fees. He's now allowed to continue pursuing his case in state court.

Sheetz's case is just a small example of how exorbitant "impact" fees can make it too expensive to build the housing we need -- even when that housing is legal to build. And our current economic environment of high interest rates and high building materials costs means high fees can often be the difference between homes getting built, or dying on the drawing board.

Two of our priority bills in the legislature this year are designed to reform these fees. We're going to tell you about SB 937 and AB 1820 – and ask you to take a moment to send a message to your legislators urging them to vote YES on these important bills.

Send a message to your legislators: Pass sensible reforms to impact fees and help get more housing built to tackle our affordability crisis!
SEND A MESSAGE >>

George Sheetz's experience is all too common. In too many jurisdictions across our state, the process of determining the fees that must be paid for new homes is opaque and often unfair. Builders often do not know how much a city will charge them in development fees until well after they've broken ground.

This uncertainty can be catastrophic -- some fees are as high as $150,000 per home.

But we can start to reduce the uncertainty and unfairness of local impact fees with good public policy. AB 1820, by Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo, includes sensible reforms that ensure cities receive the revenues they need, while builders get more transparency about the total cost of these fees – and fewer surprises.

The timing of when agencies collect fees from home builders also significantly impacts financial feasibility. SB 937, by Senator Scott Wiener, requires jurisdictions to delay collecting their fees until new homes have a "certificate of occupancy," which allows the fees to be funded from rents or mortgages -- thereby reducing financing costs for homebuilding.

So far, these bills have been getting support from legislators in Sacramento. AB 1820 made it out of the Assembly Housing Committee on a 9-0 vote last week. And on Tuesday, the Senate Housing Committee approved SB 937, also on a 9-0 vote.

But that was just the first step. We've seen great bills stall out at the Appropriations Committee stage, or on the floor. SB 937 is up for a vote in the Senate Appropriations Committee next week. We need your help to continue the momentum!

Add your name: Tell your legislators that you want them to pass sensible reforms to impact fees – and help get more housing built to tackle our affordability crisis!

Thank you for taking action for housing in California.

Gratefully,

Matthew

Matthew Lewis
Communications Director
California YIMBY

California YIMBY is a movement dedicated to ending our state’s housing crisis and building a more inclusive, affordable, and accessible state for ALL Californians. If you were forwarded this email, you can join our movement here. DONATE NOW » Want to keep track of housing issues and the YIMBY movement? Sign up for the HomeWork, our newsletter here.

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