SB 1202: Land use: development fees.

The Mitigation Fee Act, if a local agency requires the payment of certain fees to provide for an improvement to serve a development project in connection with the approval of that development project, requires the local agency receiving the fee to deposit the fee with the other fees imposed for the improvement in a separate capital facilities account or fund and to expend those fees solely for the purpose for which the fees were collected. The act requires the local agency, within 180 days after the last day of each fiscal year, to make public specified information for the fiscal year about each separate account or fund established, including the amount of fees collected and an identification of each public improvement on which fees were expended.

The act authorizes a local agency to retain an independent auditor if requested to conduct an audit to determine whether a fee or charge is reasonable, provided that the person who requests the audit deposits with the local agency the amount of the local agencys reasonable estimate of the cost of that audit. At the conclusion of the audit, the act requires the local agency to reimburse unused sums, if any, but requires the person to pay the local agency the excess of the actual cost of the audit over the sum which was deposited.

This bill would prohibit a local agency that does not comply with the requirement to disclose information regarding separate capital facilities funds or accounts following the establishment, increase, or imposition of a certain fee but requires the payment of that fee in connection with a development project for 3 consecutive years, from requiring a deposit for an independent audit, as described above, and instead require the local agency to pay the cost of the audit.