For the record I posted this page on Monday February 4th, 2008.  When Mitzelfelt makes his Economic Stimulus package proposal lets see how close it is to the BIA version below.

BALDY VIEW LAUNCHES HOUSING MARKET
ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE

It's no secret the San Bernardino County housing market faces significant challenges in 2008.
Absorption rates are at an all-time low. Consumer confidence has been eroded by inflated prices, higher interest rates, rising foreclosures and stricter lending standards. With fewer homes being sold, less money is being spent in corollary markets, harming economic stability region-wide.
Consider the disparity in economic activity from 2004:
* In 2004, new-home construction created 74,000 jobs in San Bernardino County
* In 2004, total income from new-home construction reached $4 billion
* In 2004, total spending generated by new-home construction reached nearly $3 billion.
Today, new-home construction has slowed to a crawl, adversely impacting local economic activity. Locally, there has been a 50 percent decline in housing starts and new permits are down by 50 percent.
To illustrate the decrease, the Construction Industry Research Board (CIRB) recently
released the new home starts figures for the first ten months of this year for San Bernardino County. Cities and the County issued 5,901 single family building permits through the first ten months of 2007. In 2006, which was not a banner year for homebuilding, builders pulled 10,950 through the same period of time. The economic force
that prevailed just three years ago has been replaced with fewer home sales, lost jobs and reduced spending.
When the larger national economy approaches recessionary conditions, the federal government frequently weighs in with an economic stimulus package designed to encourage business investment, increase jobs and foster consumer spending. Policy initiatives typically include government spending reductions and tax relief in the form of cuts and credits.
Much like the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates and the government curtails spending during an economic recession, cities have some of the same policy levers for the homebuilding industry. Limiting development impact fees (DIFs) helps to keep home prices affordable and will ultimately help to prevent further erosion of the local housing market. Similarly, as cities experience increased permit activity, it will continue to increase its DIF-related revenue that they can use for vital infrastructure programs while generating new jobs and additional sales tax revenue. In order to help the housing market rebound, the Building Industry Association Baldy View Chapter has developed an economic stimulus package for adoption by our constituent cities and the county.
If enacted, these recommendations will stimulate economic recovery in the housing market without sacrificing infrastructure and public service objectives.
THE RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDE: DEVELOPMENT IMPACT FEES
Development Impact Fees are fees that local governments collect to pay for transportation, recreation, utilities and other infrastructure needs to support future population growth. These fees are worked into the cost of a new house, increasing the cost. Temporarily delaying an increase in these fees will prevent a corresponding increase in home prices, making houses
accessible to more people.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Delay all new impact fee proposals and defer all impact fee payments to the stage when a Certificate of Occupancy has been issued by the governing agency.
When the larger national economy approaches recessionary conditions, the federal government frequently weighs in with an economic stimulus package designed to encourage business investment, increase jobs and foster consumer spending.needs, using current cost of materials.

2. Revise capital improvement plans to reflect essential needs, using current cost of materials.

3. Utilize community facilities districts to collect development impact fees. Indeed, high development impact fees remain one of the largest barriers to housing affordability and availability.

As CBIA CEO Robert Rivinius remarked in a recent press release about housing policy reforms, "Here in California, our Legislature and regulators need to remember that laws and regulations
they have passed over the past quarter century have been the major reason why housing is so much more expensive in California than anywhere else in the country- and keep that in
mind the next time they feel the urge to impose even more costs and make homes less affordable.
"Cities and counties that have seen homebuilders and homebuyers as a bottomless money pit should take a hard look at the fees they have imposed over the years, which in some cases now exceed $100,000 per home or condominium unit. Reducing or even eliminating these fees would go a long way towards jumpstarting the homebuilding industry and generating more revenues for the state and local coffers."

ENTITLEMENT / CONDITIONING PROCESS
Delays in getting homes to market represent costs to the builder, including tax payments, interest carry and lost opportunities that changing market conditions affect. All of these can
increase the price of new homes, slowing absorption into the market. Additionally, new development code revisions can require redesigns, slowing approvals and increasing costs.
Getting reasonably priced homes to the market faster will help ensure quicker economic recovery and sustainable growth.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Explore new policy proposals that decrease time, cost and uncertainty in the planning, development and building process.
2. Delay all new code revisions that increase residential development construction costs.
3. Support builder requests for a 2-year extension for all existing residential grading permits and a 1-year extension for building permits that have not yet called for inspection.
This has no fiscal impact to a City and provides flexibility for builders who have delayed grading, construction, etc. of their projects.
4. Support builder requests for a 2-year extension for all existing residential grading and building plan checks that are currently logged in to a City. This again, has no fiscal impact to the City and provides significant cost flexibility related to resubmission, such as architectural or engineering costs.
5. Require staff to send all industry-related proposed policy changes to elected officials with a copy to BIA.
IMPLEMENTATION
In order to implement the recommendations in this Economic Stimulus Package the BIA Baldy View Chapter will start by establishing BIA / Local Government Task Forces. We will schedule
briefings with local government leaders to: 1) educate them on the myriad of pressures facing local builders in today's market; and 2) encourage coordination with the BIA to implement the
above recommendations.
The homebuilding industry is and will remain a key part of the Southern California economy. We look forward to working with our local jurisdictions to pass sensible policies and reforms that
will help to revitalize the industry and to help to make housing affordable for all Californians.
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