Apr. 18—The Marysville Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees unanimously approved to increase residential, commercial and industrial developer fees on Tuesday in order to help fund the construction or reconstruction of school facilities.
Falling in line with the State Allocation Board’s inflation adjustment, residential developer fees for Marysville Joint Unified will increase from $4.79 per square foot to $5.17. Commercial and industrial fees will increase from 78 cents per square foot to 84 cents, except for rental self-storage facilities.
In December 2023, the district reported the collection of about $1.6 million in general impact fees for the 2022/23 school year.
According to a developer fee justification study, Marysville Joint Unified’s current enrollment sits at 10,354 students, but given the number of residential developments planned for Yuba County, housing the number of incoming students is a growing concern for the district. With 4,270 housing units projected to develop over the next 20 years, over 2,000 new students are anticipated to join the district, the study said.
Marysville Joint Unified has prioritized facilities improvements and modernization for its aging school sites in recent years, with some projects being funded by previous bond measures and others like the classroom expansion at Covillaud Elementary School coming to fruition through a combination of district and emergency relief funds.
Measure S, a $97 million bond measure, would have funded the construction of a new middle school serving south Yuba County as well as additional facilities projects districtwide. The measure failed to pass in the March 5 primary election with nearly 63% of voters voting against.
As communities in Yuba County continue to develop, Marysville Joint Unified is seeking other means to improve its aging facilities and address overcrowding.
“It is fiscally more prudent to extend the useful life of an existing facility than to construct new facilities when possible. The cost to modernize facilities is approximately 41.4% of the cost to construct new facilities. The total estimated cost to reconstruct and/or modernize facilities for the students generated from new development is $90,057,976,” the study said.
Based on costs detailed in its 2022 Facilities Master Plan, the district estimates a total need of $532.3 million based on all identified projects, including building modernizations and expansions, roof replacements, mechanical, plumbing and safety upgrades among others.
School districts statewide may use various funding sources to carry out facilities projects, including developer fees. Level one fees, or statutory fees, are adjusted every two years according to the inflation rate for construction as determined by the State Allocation Board. As of January this year, developer fees are capped at $5.17 for residential and 87 cents for commercial and industrial, which California school districts can collect for future facilities projects.
“The district anticipates enrollment growth and a need for new and/or modernized facilities to house students. The level one fee will provide additional funding for the district’s facilities program. The district also has multiple mitigation agreements with specific developers, which cannot change, due to this action,” Marysville Joint Unified officials said.
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