City leaders from Fort Lauderdale, Miramar, Lauderhill and other jurisdictions pressed the School Board on Jan. 21 to release them from long-running educational mitigation agreements—contracts among the school district, Broward County and municipalities that can require developers to pay ‘‘student station’’ costs higher than state school impact fees.

The city officials and several planning professionals told the board the higher mitigation requirement discourages redevelopment and affordable housing in activity centers; staff and the school board’s outside counsel warned that the agreements are contractual and tied to debt incurred when the district added capacity.

What the agreements are: School impact fees are a statutorily authorized one-time capital charge that local governments collect to fund school capacity. Since an interlocal agreement in the early 2000s, some municipalities accepted a tri‑party mitigation approach where, under certain circumstances, developers pay a proportionate‑share “student station” amount that can exceed the basic impact fee. Staff said those prior agreements were negotiated when the district faced large enrollment growth and that several contain vesting language for proposed units.

Staff presentation and figures
Wanda Paul (chief operations and facilities officer) and Chris Iacobuso (director for facility planning and real estate) summarized the historical framework, explained state rules on concurrency, and outlined how mitigation and impact‑fee collections are used. Omar Shim, director of capital budget, told the board the district carries outstanding, capacity‑related debt of roughly $63.5 million tied to projects built for growth; average annual impact-fee and mitigation collections for capacity are about $16 million, he said.

Legal context and staff proposal
Outside counsel Alan Gabriel told the board the tri‑party agreements are contractual and that many of the developments subject to those agreements have vested rights. Gabriel and staff said the agreements can be amended through the established interlocal process — but not unilaterally rescinded. As a middle ground, administration proposed allowing municipalities to apply a process where new units certified as affordable housing by Broward County could pay the county’s school impact fee in lieu of the higher student‑station amount; additional district waivers exist for very‑low/low/moderate income projects, staff said.

Municipal objections and public comment
City managers, planning directors and elected officials from affected cities urged immediate release from the agreements, arguing the extra fees are now a disincentive to redevelopment in downtown and transit‑oriented activity centers and make housing costlier. Speakers included Fort Lauderdale acting city manager Susan Grant, Miramar development staff, and mayors and managers from Oakland Park and other municipalities. The Broward County planning director noted a county commission resolution supporting release of the tri‑party agreements.

Board reaction and direction
Board members sought more analysis but signaled support for a collaborative approach. After extended discussion the board directed staff to convene a working group, including representatives of the district, Broward County and the affected municipalities, to develop options that address equity and revenue neutrality.

What to watch
Staff will be asked to return with options for a working-group charter, timing and analysis showing how alternatives might preserve necessary district revenues (debt service and capacity maintenance) while removing undue redevelopment barriers cited by municipalities. Officials stressed the need to reconcile vested developer rights, state cost‑per‑student schedules and the district’s capital obligations.

Speakers quoted: Wanda Paul, Chris Iacobuso, Alan Gabriel, Omar Shim; city speakers including Susan Grant (Acting City Manager, Fort Lauderdale) and Tim Lonergan (Mayor, Oakland Park).