OVERVIEW:

Developer fees are part of the City of Scotts Valley's Integrated Process for Development, which is guided by the Scotts Valley General Plan.  Developer fees are authorized by the California State Education Code (see below).

PROCESS:

  1) Obtain a Certification of Payment of Developer Fees form through the City of Scotts Valley or the Santa Cruz Planning/Building Department

  2) Complete the form

  3) Bring the completed form, along with payment, to the Scotts Valley Unified School District Office at:  108 Whispering Pines Drive, Suite 115, Scotts Valley, CA 95066

COST: 

During the project review process, the developer is informed of the fees that will be due to the school district. These fees are intended to offset the costs that are incurred by the school to accommodate the additional students that will be living in newly built homes, or whose family members will work in newly constructed commercial buildings (and who may thus choose to have their kids attend a Scotts Valley school).  The current fees (as of 2017 and subject to periodic updates) are:

• $3.14 per square foot of single family detached residential development

• $3.48 per square foot for multi-family attached residential development

• $0.56 per square foot of commercial/industrial development.  This rate applies to retail, office, warehouse, manufacturing, and hotels.  It also applies to residential exclusively for senior citizens.

After a project is approved by the city or county, the developer is required to pay fees to the school district, based on the established formulas and size/type of the development.  The fees must be paid prior to issuance of the occupancy permit, but this may be several years after the project is approved

EDUCATION CODE:

Section 17620 of the California State Education Code, as well as Sections 65995 and 66001 of the Government Code, authorizes school districts to levy fees on residential development; Section 17621 of the Education Code includes similar provisions for commercial developments.  The fee levels are set by the State Allocation Board and must be justified through periodically-conducted local developer fee studies that demonstrate the need and cost for new school facilities.