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Council adopts AB 1600 findings after builders association questions fee uses
Summary
Council accepted the annual AB 1600 development impact fees report for FY 24–25, adopting required findings and agreeing staff will respond to questions from the Desert Valley Builders Association about whether certain ADA work and pool rehabilitation are allowable uses.
The Desert Hot Springs City Council voted unanimously on Dec. 2 to accept the annual AB 1600 report on development impact fees for fiscal year 2024–25 and to adopt the findings required when impact fee accounts hold unspent balances.
Viviana Osorio Gonzales, the city’s finance analyst, told the council the report showed an opening fund balance and year activity: "the beginning fund balance was $2,000,384,935. The city collected a total of 5,963,156 in development impact fees and spent 277,256," with an ending fund balance of 8,070,835 as of June 30, 2025. She explained that AB 1600 requires councils to make findings about funds that remain unspent after five years.
James Brown, representing the Desert Valley Builders Association, thanked staff for responsive answers but raised legal concerns in a written letter and at the hearing: "Mitigation fee act funds are only to be used as development impact fees are to be used for expanding capacity, increasing the facilities to meet the needs of the growing population," he said, and questioned using fees for ADA repairs and pool rehabilitation. City staff responded that impact fees are intended for expansion projects, not routine maintenance, and that the city can make a formal finding to save funds for larger, multi-year capital projects that may take longer than five years to fund.
During council discussion staff clarified that some project components — including ADA compliance incorporated into a larger expansion — may require other funding sources alongside impact fees. After members asked follow-up questions, a councilmember moved to accept the AB 1600 report and adopt the findings; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
Action: Council adopted the AB 1600 annual report findings and will provide written responses to the Desert Valley Builders Association’s questions about eligible uses for specific projects.
