The Plumas Unified School District board will revisit its decision to impose fees for all new development in Plumas County when it meets Oct. 9.
David Keller, president of the PUSD board, said the school directors would discuss putting a hold on all development fees countywide. The fees, scheduled to go into effect Nov. 10, 2024, will increase the cost of building new housing by $5.17 per square foot.
The controversial payments met with widespread alarm when officials throughout Plumas County were surprised to learn about them last week. Plumas County Board of Supervisors Chairman Greg Hagwood criticized the school directors for a lack of “transparency and coordination.” Indian Valley Community Services District Manager Adam Cox called the fees “Greenville’s death warrant.”
In addition to a $5.17 per square foot fee on new residential construction, the school board’s resolution imposes a $0.84 per square foot fee on commercial and industrial construction. New rental and storage space construction will require $0.17 per square foot.
PUSD board president responds to controversy
The PUSD directors unanimously approved the fees at a public hearing Sept. 11. The decision was based on a fee justification study presented Aug. 14 conducted by Chris Terry, the school district’s consultant with Capitol Public Finance Group.
The resolution includes giving notice to the city of Portola, Plumas County and other “applicable agencies.” The directors were under the “mistaken impression” that relevant county and district agencies were “all on board,” Keller told The Plumas Sun.
“Obviously that isn’t true,” he said.
PUSD’s Oct. 9 meeting is an opportunity to put the developer fees on hold, and to talk to the county supervisors, Portola city officials and others around the county, he said.
“This wasn’t done right, and we apologize,” Keller said. He was clear that all PUSD staff “did their jobs correctly,” while accepting responsibility for the school board itself.
“We hire people to take care of these issues. We’re regular people who don’t understand this stuff,” Keller said.
Effect on Dixie Fire rebuild
The development fees would have a particularly harsh effect on Greenville and other burn scar communities, where construction is underway to replace the nearly 800 homes lost in the Dixie Fire. Cox, of the IVCSD, said they would “completely halt the rebuilding of Greenville.”
The board’s intention was always to waive the fees in the burn scar, Keller said. While that language is not in the two-page resolution, he said the school directors are aware of the urgency to rebuild burned communities as quickly as possible. They would also consider ignoring the $5.17 per square foot fee on homes being rebuilt after other natural disasters, Keller said.
“Under any resolution, that still holds,” he told The Plumas Sun.
The PUSD study justifying the development fees cited two proposals, both within the Portola city limits. Portola Highlands plans to build 1,005 housing units; Portola 192 plans 189 units. The study estimated that approximately 836 new students would result from full buildout of the two Portola housing projects.
To accommodate them, the district would need to build 10 new classrooms, the study states. At $500,000 for a new portable classroom, the study said the district would need $5 million.
Seventy of the 189 units at Portola 192 were approved as senior housing. Portola officials have had no contact with either development in a long time, said Susan Scarlett, interim city manager.
The Plumas County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to discuss PUSD’s developer fees when it meets Oct. 8. The issue is also on the agenda for Portola’s Oct. 9 meeting.
