LETTER: Hi Bob - I'm a concerned citizen, but not an "activist", who has been researching the impact fees paid by apartment real estate developers in Redmond / LWSD. The documents I've found are disturbing in both the minimal cost for school impact for an apartment developer, and the very, very cheap prices in LWSD vs the surrounding school districts right in King County. This is very relevant to the bond issue as it is driven by multi-family dwelling population growth that is rapidly accelerating, yet not being paid in any meaningful fraction by the developers.
The fees for multi-family school impact fees in LWSD are ridiculously low at $197/unit. I also have no idea how these fees are set, by what governmental body, or the process to influence them to reach a "parity" level to sensibly fund growth in multi-family on the Eastside.
According to King County Department of Permitting (21A.43.050) the following impact fees apply to various school districts:
LWSD 414: Single Family - $7005 Multi-Family (apartment) $197
Renton 403: Single Family - $6395 Multi-Family $1308
Issaquah 411 Single Family - $3738 Multi-Family $0
Highline 401: Single Family - $7958 Multi-Family $3101
Snoqualmie 410 Single Fam - $8668 Multi-Family $3220
This reader wishes to be anonymous...
The fees for multi-family school impact fees in LWSD are ridiculously low at $197/unit. I also have no idea how these fees are set, by what governmental body, or the process to influence them to reach a "parity" level to sensibly fund growth in multi-family on the Eastside.
According to King County Department of Permitting (21A.43.050) the following impact fees apply to various school districts:
LWSD 414: Single Family - $7005 Multi-Family (apartment) $197
Renton 403: Single Family - $6395 Multi-Family $1308
Issaquah 411 Single Family - $3738 Multi-Family $0
Highline 401: Single Family - $7958 Multi-Family $3101
Snoqualmie 410 Single Fam - $8668 Multi-Family $3220
This reader wishes to be anonymous...
5 comments:
Fascinating information. It would be interesting to know how many families with children live in apartments and how many children live in apartments vs. single family homes.
I know that people without children must still pay property taxes, but it does seem that Redmond has much smaller impact fees than other areas...
The LWSD is very private and nontransparent on this data.
Taken at the data measured by LWSD, a new house in Redmond generates 0.59 total school children (or a 59% probability of a new child for the schools). A new apartment or condo in Redmond generates only 0.08 school children (or a 8% probability of a new child for the schools). I believe there are fundamental flaws in how this data was gathered, as it differs drastically from readily available similar national statistics.
For example, Red160 has 250 apartment units and is a very well known complex in downtown Redmond, routing to struggling Red El. According to the district's study, the 250 apartment units generated exactly 5 new kids for the LWSD schools. It is also the 3rd largest development in the study, and a typical "model" for what is coming to downtown Redmond and Overlake to prepare for future transit corridors.
Veloce, located right at the Redmond transit center is the largest development in the study at 322 units. Veloce generated exactly 2 new school children for LWSD. The 7 total students at Red160 and Veloce make up a very high % of the calcs for this study. If the principal of Redmond El is reading this article, I would urge them to share the current number of children from those two developments of 572 total downtown Redmond multi-family housing units, as "7" (or a 1.2% School Generate Rate) seems highly improbable.
Does "Multi-Family" include condos?
Driving down Avondale Road, on any given morning past mature multi-family units, the number of children truly participating in LWSD education from apartments and condos can be easily checked.
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