In Pulte Home vs. Dublin Unified School District, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jennifer Madden has ruled that a school district cannot issue certificates of payment of school fees that expire. This particular ruling involves one of four causes of action in ongoing litigation against the district. In this action, the school district sought to capture higher fees from four developers — Lewis, Warmington, Tri Pointe and D.R. Horton — that paid Level II school impact fees of $10.66 per sq. ft. before Level III rates of $21.32 went into effect in June 2016 by stamping the payment certificates valid for only for 30 days. It typically takes the City of Dublin 90 days to process building permit applications. When the developers returned to the district, the school district then imposed the higher fee. The judge found, however, that as a matter of law, a school district cannot state that a fee payment certificate expires. Click here to view the final ruling. For further questions, contact BIA’s Lisa Vorderbrueggen at 925-348-1956 or lvorderbrueggen@biabayarea.org.
