Author Archive
We’re All In This Together
Let’s jump into the “wayback machine” and travel back to 1975 when I was a 23 year old Administrative Analyst (i.e. “punk”) with a fresh new BPA working at my first government job, a well established city in the eastern San Gabriel Valley. With my C.E.T.A. tattoo firmly imprinted on my forehead and my “Whip [...]
The Costa Mesa Experiment
As you probably know, the City of Costa Mesa has pink-slipped nearly half of its employees. Considering that as of yet none of those pink-slipped employees have included firefighters and only eight out of the existing 139 police positions were involved, you understand that the cuts primarily came from the ranks of the General Employees [...]
Methodology Utilized in DIF Calculations
Back in 1988, RCS identified two distinct methods for calculating development impact fees (DIFs) and identified them as inductive and deductive. A third method, buy-in calculation, would be limited to public utilities and will not be addressed here. Using fire safety services as an example, the inductive and deductive methodologies are briefly described below.
Who’s in charge of the DIF Calculation Process
Sometimes I get a bit envious of my partners Rick and Eric. They primarily undertake the operations (fee) service costing and Cost Allocation Plan efforts offered by Revenue & Cost Specialists. I envy them because they always know what department their primary contact will come from the finance operation. I conduct the Master Facilities Plan [...]
Court rules that DIF’s are reasonable
On June 9, 2010 a great breeze was felt throughout California. No, it was not the Pacific Ocean offshore flow typical of June. It was a collective sigh of relief from California’s many municipal, county and special district land-use attorneys. What was the reason for this phenomenon? The decision in Home Builders Association of Tulare/Kings [...]
There are no more rabbits
As a child I remember a number of instances of being with my Dad and watching magicians pull rabbits out their hat. I generally found it entertaining, but after a few times began to wonder why my Dad always watched so intently, as I would have thought he understood the trick by now. Later in [...]
When is a Fee a Tax?
I know I’m preaching to the choir a bit here, but sometimes the choir likes some attention too. We have all been in public hearings regarding changes to development impact fees (DIFs) and heard some developer claim, Its a tax, it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck. Well, you know the rest. [...]
Should Development Impact Fees be Standardized?
An RCS client recently relayed a conversation he had with an analyst from the Housing Policy Division of the State’s Department of Housing and Community Development. It seems there was a question regarding the City’s Housing Element and the HCD analyst expressed a general comment that the City’s Development Impact Fees (DIFs) would have a [...]
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