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Developer Fees

On November 12, 2024, SDUSD Board of Education conducted a public hearing and adopted a resolution to increase the school impact fees authorized by the State Allocation Board on January 24, 2024.

 

Effective January 13, 2025, the following fees (per square foot) will go into effect:

 

Residential Construction $5.17

Commercial Construction (except as listed below)  $0.84

Hotel/Motel $0.427  

Self-Storage $0.024

Parking Structure $0.008

 

Developer Fees/School Impact Fees

The District levies the current SAB Level I fees. To confirm that your address falls within San Diego Unified School District boundaries please utilize the School Finder linked here before submitting payment or requesting a quote. 

  • 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

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. 

For any further questions, please refer to the City of San Diego's Informational Bulletin: the City of San Diego Information Bulletin 146 dated January 2022. 

 

Developer Fees Payment by Credit Card

San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) is proud to partner with Facilitron to provide an easy-to-use online portal for registering and paying developer (school impact) fees! You can register your project and pay developer fees from anywhere. Payments via Facilitron are subject to a platform fee.

Please follow this external link to Facilitron, our third-party vendor, for ACH and credit card payments: https://dfp.facilitron.com/sdusd92103 

This third-party portal allows you to create and submit projects, upload forms and information, calculate fees, and conveniently pay online by credit card or ACH (electronic check) transactions.

Once submitted, paid fees will be verified by school district staff and a Certificate of Compliance (COC) can be issued.

 

In-Person Payment (no platform fee) and Hours of Operation

The Real Estate Department can accept in-person payments. Hours of operation are Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:30 am-3:00 pm (closed for lunch from 12:00 pm-12:30 pm).

Check payments must be made payable to San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) and must include an email address, phone number, and project number.  We do not accept cash.

At the time of in-person payment, our office will create and issue a Certificate of Compliance, in most cases.

Real Estate and Rentals Department

4860 Ruffner Street, Annex 14

San Diego, CA. 92111

(619) 278-6720

 

Payment by Mail (no platform fee)

Our office will continue to provide developer fee costs requests via email at [email protected] and will continue to accept mail-in checks.

Check payments must be made payable to San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) and must include an email address, phone number, and project number.

                       San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD)

                       Attn: Real Estate/Developer Fees

                       4860 Ruffner Street, Annex 14

                       San Diego, CA. 92111

Once payment is received via U.S. Mail, we will email your Certificate of Compliance (COC) to the email address noted on the check and to the City of San Diego Development Services Department.

  

Demolition Credits

The required documents and application for demolition must be received by the Real Estate and Rentals 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.

Developer fees were assessed on new construction built after January 1, 1987 (Government Code § 65995 (c)(3)). Any structure built prior to January 1, 1987, does not qualify for a demolition credit and developer fees will be due on any new construction. 

 

Refunds

Developer fees can be refunded due to a plan change that reduces square footage, abandoned project and/or expired permit, project exemption or an incorrect fee charge.  Please use the APPLICATION FOR REFUND OF SCHOOL DEVELOPER FEES form for submission.

 

Protest 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 a Protest Process or contact [email protected].

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 (pdf). 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 on even years (2022, 2024, 2026, etc). Alternative School Fees (a.k.a. Level II or Level III fees) may also be collected by districts meeting certain requirements.

Approved Board items reference links: AR 7211 Developer FeesAnnual Developer Fee Report FY 18-19.pdfAnnual Developer Fee Report FY 19-20.pdfAnnual Developer Fee Report FY 20-21.pdfAnnual and Five-Year Developer Fee Report FY 21-22 .pdfAnnual Developer Fee Report FY 22-23 .pdfAnnual Developer Fee Report FY 23-24.pdf

SDUSD Five-Year Developer Fee Report

School Fee Justification Study_Oct 15 2024_BOE Nov 12 2024.pdf