Folsom City Council Considers Increase In Construction Fee

The Folsom City Council Tuesday is scheduled to consider a proposal that would increase fees on new construction projects to pay for parks.

A consultant hired by the city said Folsom's current fees for single-family homes, multi-family homes and commercial buildings are lower than other cities in the region. During the recession, Folsom did not adjust the fee for inflation.

For a single-family home, the current fee is about $2,900. The proposal would raise it to $7,200.

Scott Whyte with the North State Building Association in Roseville says developers understand the need to increase the fee, but not as much, or as fast as the city proposes.

"It's low now and there's no denying that," said Whyte. "That's still a lot of sticker shock for a lot our members and you don't usually see that with local jurisdictions, it's a large magnitude of an increase."

Folsom plans to implement 60 percent of the fee increase in July, the balance January 1, 2016. Whyte said phasing the increase in over two or three years would be preferred.

He said the park fee is among many homebuilders pay, which are generally passed on to buyers.

The original proposal considered by the Folsom City Council in February called for a higher fee. But the amount was scaled down after meetings between city staff and developers.