School district officials met privately with developers to
compile a list of questions about district spending in hopes of
assuaging concerns about district fiscal practices and encouraging
them to more than double the amount they contribute per new house
to the district’s construction budget.
Gilroy – School district officials met privately with developers to compile a list of questions about district spending in hopes of assuaging concerns about district fiscal practices and encouraging them to more than double the amount they contribute per new house to the district’s construction budget.
Gilroy Unified School District Superintendent Deborah Flores hosted three meetings with at least seven developers since July 17. During the meetings, developers voiced three pages worth of concerns regarding the district’s past expenditures on construction projects. The district, which has a $14 million facilities deficit, has pleaded since March for developers to raise fees from $2.63 per square foot to $6.61 in hopes of shoring up the debt so that the district does not have to make drastic cuts to Christopher High School. District staff plan to have a response to developers’ questions by Friday and will present it at an Aug. 6 meeting with a larger group of builders and City of Gilroy representatives.
“What we’re working on right now is the answers,” Flores said. “Some of this is factual, some of it is our position or perception on an issue.”
District representatives also will give developers a summary of the district past and expected academic performance, she said. Flores expects that because developers will have additional questions and will want clarification on some issues, this strain of conversation will carry on for two or three more meetings.
“I think we’re still in the dialogue stage,” she said. “I really do think we’re trying to understand what our roles are in a growing community.”
Developers have insisted that the city must be involved in the talks, but city representatives, Mayor Al Pinheiro and Councilman Craig Gartman, have not spoken with developers since a July 17 meeting. That meeting was originally scheduled to be closed to the public, but was reopened when the Dispatch raised questions about whether closing the session would violate state law. Developers refused further discussion until city and district legal teams determine the legality of holding talks in closed session.
In particular, developers have asked the city to lower its development fees to ease the increased cost of building new homes that would result from higher district development fees. This is not a viable option because the city would have to make up for the lost revenue with money from the general fund, which is used mostly for police and firefighter salaries, Pinheiro said.
If developers cannot reach an agreement that satisfies the school district, the city might have to consider not awarding building permits at its next Residential Development Ordinance, Pinheiro said.
“We as a city can’t continue developing if we don’t have infrastructure for our schools,” he said.
Contacted developers either did not return phone calls or offered no comment Wednesday.
Even if the district has answered all the developers’ questions and move toward acquiring higher fees from developers, it could be too late to spare cutbacks – such as waiting to furnish rooms or axing athletic fields – at Christopher High School, for which the district will award a bid later this month, Flores said.
“I don’t know if we can get this hammered out with developers before we have to make critical decisions,” she said.
City, School District and Developer Meetings
March 2: District appeals for developers to raise the amount they pay for new construction; builders voice general support
May 14: Developers call for “tripod” approach, where city participates in talks and possibly lowers its developer fees
July 10: City balks at lowering developer fees; district agrees to meet privately with developers to formulate and answer questions about district finances
July 17: Developers refuse to meet in an open meeting; city and district agree to consult legal teams on whether meetings can be closed
July18-31: Superintendent Deborah Flores meets with at least seven developers in three meetings to formulate questions about district’s construction spending
Aug. 6: Developers will meet with city and district to receive answers to spending questions; whether the meeting will be open is still undecided
