(a) Any person may request an audit in order to determine whether any fee or charge levied by the executive board and the authority board exceeds the amount necessary to cover the reasonable cost of providing the housing necessitated by the commercial development project for which the commercial linkage fee is imposed, as determined in the regional nexus study pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 64621 and the authority’s related administrative costs. If a person makes that request, the executive board and the authority may retain an independent auditor to conduct an audit to determine whether the commercial linkage fee is reasonable, but is not required to conduct the audit if an audit has been performed for the same fee within the previous 12 months.

(b) If an audit pursuant to this section determines that the amount of any commercial linkage fee or charge does not meet the requirements of this article, the executive board and the authority board shall adjust the fee accordingly.

Terms Used In California Government Code 64627

  • Commercial development project: means any project involving the issuance of a permit by an underlying land use jurisdiction for construction, not including remodeling of an existing property, that is undertaken within the San Francisco Bay area for the development of land for commercial use, but does not include any project involving solely a permit to operate. See California Government Code 64620
  • Commercial linkage fee: means a monetary exaction, other than a tax or special assessment, established for a broad class of projects by legislation of general applicability that is charged to an applicant in connection with the approval of a commercial development project by an underlying land use jurisdiction for the purpose of addressing the need for additional housing development necessitated by that commercial development project, as determined pursuant to the nexus study undertaken pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 64621. See California Government Code 64620
  • Person: includes any person, firm, association, organization, partnership, limited liability company, business trust, corporation, or company. See California Government Code 17
  • Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which the term occurs unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Government Code 10

(c) The authority shall retain an independent auditor to conduct an audit only if the person who requests the audit deposits with the authority the amount of the executive board’s and the authority’s reasonable estimate of the cost of the independent audit. At the conclusion of the audit, the authority shall reimburse unused sums, if any, or the requesting person shall pay the authority the excess of the actual cost of the audit over the sum which was deposited.

(d) Any audit conducted by an independent auditor pursuant to this section shall conform to generally accepted auditing standards.

(e) This section shall not be construed as granting any additional authority to any local agency to levy any fee or charge which is not otherwise authorized by another provision of law, nor shall its provisions be construed as granting authority to any local agency to levy a new fee or charge when other provisions of law specifically prohibit the levy of a fee or charge.

(Amended by Stats. 2023, Ch. 758, Sec. 8. (AB 1319) Effective January 1, 2024.)