New homes in CV district may have one-time impact fees
New homeowners moving into the Central Valley School District could be paying a one-time $1,410 impact fee to help offset the impact of widespread growth.
That is one issue addressed in Central Valley’s draft capital facilities plan, now available to view online at the district’s Web site at www.cvsd.org. The district is asking the community to view the document and make comments until Wednesday.
The draft plan outlines the district’s strategies to address rapid growth in the district’s schools, including the construction of additional buildings and impact fees.
“We are pursuing impact fees in recognition of the effect of new residential housing on our schools,” Superintendent Mike Pearson wrote in a press release Tuesday.
“District residents purchasing newly constructed homes will be asked to pay for a portion of the construction costs of the schools they require, which will help reduce the financial impact to established Central Valley residents.”
Legally school districts cannot collect impact fees. The fees must be collected by the government agencies within the district, which include the cities of Spokane Valley and Liberty Lake, and Spokane County. Pearson sent a letter to those jurisdictions in May asking them to consider collecting the fees.
According to the draft capital facilities plan, new homes in the district generate new students at all grade levels. The district proposes in the plan that a one-time fee of $1,410 be assessed for a newly constructed single-family home. In Western Washington those fees typically range from $3,500 to $4,500, district officials said.
Many of the schools in the east end of the 80-square-mile district are at or over capacity because of steady growth in that area. After more than a decade of a steady 1 percent increase in enrollment each year, Central Valley saw enrollment jump 3 percent for the past two years, district officials said.
More than 2,000 homes are planned for the area north and west of Liberty Lake, increasing the need for new and remodeled facilities to house all of the district’s students.
The facilities improvements outlined in the draft are planned in three phases; with phase one to be presented to voters on March 14.
Voters are being asked to approve a $55.2 million construction bond to build two new schools in the district’s east end, and remodel three aging elementary schools. The bond also calls for building and technology upgrades for six additional school buildings.
The plan was introduced during the school board’s regular meeting last week, and is based on the work of a district planning committee, community input and the board. After the community-comment period ends, the plan will likely be finalized by mid-February, district officials said.