Source: San Francisco Chronicle, by Alexei Koseff
Assemblyman Tim Grayson, D-Concord, said exorbitant fees have been passed on to consumers through home prices that are beyond reach for most and “effectively barred a generation of Californians from one of the most reliable forms of wealth generation available — that is, owning a home.”
SACRAMENTO — Home builders have lobbied for years to cut the fees that local governments can charge them to offset the effects their projects have on roads, police and other public services, arguing that the additional costs make construction prohibitively expensive in California.
A legislative package unveiled Monday by five Assembly Democrats proposes to cap those fees and waive them altogether for some projects, in hopes of providing a jolt to the state’s stagnating construction rates and easing the housing shortage.