Developer Fees

 

Developer Fees/School Impact Fees

 Government Code section 65995 and California Education Code section 17620 allows school districts to levy fees on residential or commercial/industrial construction projects within a school district's boundaries. The State Allocation Board (SAB) sets the per-square-foot Level I school impact fees (a.k.a. "developer fees") every two years at its January meeting in even number of years (i.e., 2010, 2012). Alternative School Fees (a.k.a. Level II or Level III fees) may also be collected by districts meeting certain requirements.

Fees

The District levies the current SAB Level I fees. All checks must be made out to San Diego Unified School District.

For information on Developer Fees please contact [email protected].

  • Residential Construction
    $4.79 per square foot of assessable space of new residential construction or additions of 500 square feet or more. No developer fees are due if the construction addition is 499 square feet or less
  • Commercial/Industrial Construction
    $0.78 per square foot of any amount of chargeable covered and enclosed space of commercial/ industrial construction

Beginning January 1, 2016, the Development Services Department staff from the City of San Diego will no longer coordinate the collection of developer fees with the Real Estate Office staff. Before issuance of a building permit, you must pay your developer fees (school impact fees) directly to the San Diego Unified School District. A copy of the City's Approval Report showing the chargeable square footage must be provided to the Real Estate Department.  

Any further questions? Please refer to the City of San Diego's Informational Bulletin: City of San Diego Information Bulletin 146 dated January 2020.

Demolition Credits

The SDUSD Board of Education has approved exemption criteria for waivers of developer fees under certain conditions available here Demolition Credit Requirements. The required documents must be received by the Real Estate Office, to [email protected] before fees can be credited to the project. If the documents are received before the issuance of a COC, the credit will be applied at the time the COC is issued. If the documents are received after the COC has been issued, the district will process a check for the credit which takes about 4-5 weeks.

Appeal Process

If for any reason you believe you were denied a refund or demolition credit, or you disagree with the school fees you were charged, there is an Updated Appeals Process or contact [email protected].