If a construction project consists of an addition of five hundred (500) square feet or more of habitable area, the project will be assessed Developer School Impact Fees per the City of Mountain View's Government Code.
Developers are required to visit the MVWSD District Office (located at 1400 Montecito Avenue in Mountain View) to pay the fees. The payment of fees is required before the City of Mountain View will issue a building permit.
Developers will be provided with the required form to pay the fees from the City of Mountain View's Building Division after their project has been approved, and before the permit is ready to be issued.
Copies of the developer fees form, and all accompanying documentation, such as demolition information sheets, can be scanned and emailed to Teresa Diaz at [email protected]. The requestor will receive an email response indicating the total amount due based on the documentation provided by the City of Mountain View.
Updates
On May 2, 2024 the Mountain View Whisman School District Board of Trustees voted to approve an increase in Developer Fees effective July 1, 2024. The fees are assessed against residential development and reconstruction at $3.45 per square foot and against commercial or industrial development and reconstruction at $0.56 per square foot. The fees are authorized by Education Code Section 17620 and Government Code Section 65995.
Developer Fee history and background: The initial maximum fee that can be levied is adjusted every two (2) years by the statewide index for Class B construction set by the State Allocation Board (“SAB”). In January 2024, the State Allocation Board’s biennial inflation adjustment changed the fee to $5.17 per square foot for residential construction and $0.84 per square foot for commercial/industrial construction. This fee is shared by Mountain View Whisman School District and the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District.
Developer Fee justification
In order to determine if the District is eligible to collect developer fees, an enrollment projection must be completed, in addition to an analysis of the District’s current capacity to house students. The residential justification is based on MVWSD’s projected modernization need of $245,907,996 for students generated from residential development over the next 25 years and the projected residential square footage of 24,376,000.In September 1986, the Governor signed into law Assembly Bill 2926 (Chapter 887/Statutes 1986) which granted school district governing boards the authority to impose developer fees. This authority is codified in Education Code Section 17620 (formerly Government Code Section 53080), which states in part “…the governing board of any school district is authorized to levy a fee, charge, dedication or other form of requirement against any development project for the construction or reconstruction of school facilities.”