The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved increasing developer fees in the Santa Clarita Valley area due to an increase in the cost of providing fire protection services.
The motion was approved unanimously, with no testimony given by officials and no public comments made.
According to a letter from Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone, the SCV, otherwise referred to as Area of Benefit 2, will have developer fees increased by just under 7 cents per square foot, bringing the total amount to just more than $1.60 per square foot.
Marrone said in the letter that these fees are used to “fund the acquisition, construction, improvement, and equipping of fire station facilities in the high-growth, urban-expansion areas.”
“The purpose of this program, as adopted by the board, is to ensure these additional resources are made available to protect the lives of residents and maintain fire protection and life-safety services in the Areas of Benefit where population is increasing based on urban expansion,” the letter reads.
The SCV will be seeing the highest fee increase of any area, with areas including Malibu, the Santa Monica Mountains and the city of Calabasas seeing an increase of just more than 4 cents per square foot, and the area including the Antelope Valley seeing an increase of just under 4 cents per square foot.
Unincorporated areas of the county will see the fee increase imposed starting April 1, according to the letter, which added that the city of Santa Clarita would then have to adopt a resolution updating the fee amount.
The developer fees generate approximately $3.5 million per year for the Fire Department, with some variability depending on the number of homes being constructed, according to the letter. That revenue can only be used to fund the development of new fire stations within specific geographic areas.
