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San Diego council approves spending plan to draw down long‑held development impact fees
Summary
City planning reported FY2024 DIF collections of about $69.2 million and expenditures of roughly $94.6 million and asked council to appropriate community‑specific funds that have sat idle more than five years; council approved staff recommendations and creation of a Del Mar Mesa trails CIP to comply with state law.
City Council on Oct. 21 approved staff recommendations to appropriate long‑held development impact fee (DIF) balances and create a new trails project in Del Mar Mesa to comply with the Mitigation Fee Act.
Samira Rao, assistant deputy director in City Planning, told the council the FY2024 annual report documents a citywide transition from 43 community‑specific DIFs to four citywide nexus studies for parks, mobility, fire and libraries. Rao said the change has unlocked funds, allowing the city to collect about $69.2 million in DIFs in fiscal 2024 and spend about $94.6 million on infrastructure projects during the year. She said unallocated community DIF balances have decreased roughly 34% since FY2021 — from about $251.4 million to $165.1 million — but three community accounts (Carmel Valley, Del Mar Mesa and North University) still held unallocated balances that now need appropriation.
To address that, planning asked the council to appropriate community‑specific funds that have been in the accounts more than five years to eligible capital projects identified in the corresponding public facilities financing plans. Rao said the recommended appropriations include several Carmel Valley park and access projects and a set of park and trails improvements in Del Mar Mesa; staff asked council to establish a Del Mar Mesa resource management trails CIP so the money can be spent in that community rather than refunded to developers.
Amy Lee of the Independent Budget Analyst’s office told the council the IBA has been coordinating on responses to a county grand jury report about DIF reporting and use; the report and IBA responses will come back to the Active Transportation and Infrastructure committee for further review.
Council members pressed staff on delivery timelines for specific projects in their districts. Council member Moreno highlighted the Saturn Boulevard sidewalk (District 8), which was funded in FY2023; planning staff said the project is in design and projected for construction in 2027 with closeout in 2028, and that project‑level schedule questions are handled by Engineering and Capital Projects. Council president Pro Tem Lee and other members asked staff to ensure community‑level transparency as the city appropriates funds that have been collected for many years.
Council member Whitburn moved to approve the staff recommendation; Council President Lacava seconded. The motion passed on the record as unanimous for the roll called vote reported for this item, with the clerk recording the outcome as approved.
Next steps: staff will appropriate the community balances identified in the five‑year findings, create the Del Mar Mesa trails CIP and continue working with Engineering and Capital Projects to move the funded projects toward design and construction, with follow‑up updates to council and the ATI committee as needed.
