Building Industry Association
of San Diego

At 9:00 am this morning the committee for Comprehensive Pension Reform submitted over 145,000 signatures to the San Diego City Clerk in its quest to have the pension reform initiative placed on the June 2012 ballot.

The total far surpasses the required 93,000 signatures needed for the measure to qualify. The Clerk’s office will now spend several weeks validating the signatures as part of the qualification process.

The San Diego City Council voted to extend its  fee deferral policy for Facilities Benefit Assessment (FBA) areas through 2014.  The deferral allows builders to pay fees at the time of final inspection rather than having to pay at the time they are issued a building permit which is months earlier.

First established in 2009, the deferral is considered a necessary incentive to make projects more financially feasible at a time of scarce construction financing and building permits at historic lows.

Since the program was established 82 projects used the deferral program totaling more than $33 million in fees with over $23 million already paid to the city. The average length of the deferral has been only 4 months.  The BIA strongly supports the program and will testify at the hearing.

The City of San Diego’s Land Use and Housing Committee will consider an extension of the city’s fee deferral policy for Facilities Benefit Assessment (FBA) areas on Wednesday, September 14th at 2:00 p.m.  The deferral allows builders to pay fees at the time of final inspection rather than having to pay at the time they are issued a building permit which is months earlier.

First established in 2009, the deferral is considered a necessary incentive to make projects more financially feasible at a time of scarce construction financing and building permits at historic lows.

The committee was scheduled to consider the extension back in July but a last minute memo by the City Attorneys Office questioned the appropriateness of the policy governing FBA fee increases.  Those questions caused the committee to delay action until the City Attorneys Office had more time to review.

Since the program was established 82 projects used the deferral program totaling more than $33 million in fees with over $23 million already paid to the city. The average length of the deferral has been only 4 months.  The BIA strongly supports the program and will testify at the hearing.