The Building Industry Association of the Delta protests a bit too much.
Earlier this month speaking at a Manteca City Council meeting the new home builders trade group through chief spokesman CEO John Beckman tried to hammer elected officicals into submission to give his members yet another break on the back of Manteca taxpayers.
Beckman referenced possible legal action as he waited until the last minute possible to speak against a proposed fee on developers to recoup the costs of long-range planning documents the state mandates. Without the documents — specifically the general plan — being updated and in place development legally couldn’t take place.
The BIA had been receiving information on the extensive use fee study as it went through the vetting process. Waiting until the last minute to spring a concern on the council in the past has allowed the BIA to convince the council to delay implementing other growth fee increases until they were studied even more. That allowed hundreds of homes to be built that escaped paying higher fees. The ploy didn’t work this time.
Builder are now going to be paying  0.172 cents per square foot to  generate $270,000 annually to cover the city’s actual costs of making sure developers can continue to make money.
And let’s be clear here about four things:
uHome building is a vital part of the Manteca economy. Anyone who denies it given its ripple effect is way off base.
uMany developers — especially those who consider Manteca home — don’t squeeze the city for every cent they can. They also give freely and generously of their resources to build the community and not just build houses.
uBuilders are able to enjoy success in Manteca because of what the community has put in place from water supplies and wastewater treatment capacity, to amenities, and such. The community — and not new home builders — through the years has come together to make Manteca more than a wide spot on the road
uIf builders threaten to go somewhere else if they don’t get concessions, let them. If they don’t like the terms to build in Manteca rest assured there are other builders out there who would be more than happy to replace them.
Manteca’s elected leaders have been more than reasonable.
In 2008 they let builders off the hook for more than $5 million in fees they agreed to pay via signed legally binding agreements. The bonus bucks were waived so builders could build homes in an extremely weak market in an effort to get an average of $40,000 “out of the ground” they had already spent getting infrastructure and streets in for 960 ready-to-build lots when the Great Recession hit.
Then in 2010 when the city staff was still being pared back due to the recession, Manteca made new home builders another concession. After spending money on a legally required study to determine what the cost was of processing subdivision maps and other growth-related tasks such as fire inspection fees before they could pass them on to builders, the BIA convinced the council not to implement100 percent cost recovery. Instead the council only put in fees that were 40 percent of the actual cost of providing the service.
Wouldn’t be great if the city only charged you 40 percent of your monthly garbage and water bill that is based on 100 percent cost recovery?
This was done at a time when the only building in the three-county Northern San Joaquin Valley was happening in Manteca. The city was averaging 300 new home starts, more than the rest of the 209 region combined.
Manteca lost millions.
And after all that Beckman and the BIA were quibbling over 0.172 cents per square foot to pay for a document essential for their being able to build homes and make money.
Since 2010, the landscape has changed significantly.  The median sale price in Manteca has almost doubled going from $190,000 to $347,000. More homes are being built. In the fiscal year ending June 30, there were 508 housing starts.
Last week the City Council decided builders should pick up the tab they create. In implementing 100 percent cost recovery for planning, building safety, development engineering and park and fire prevention fees related to development procession they are still among the lowest among area cities.
That’s because the staff the BIA likes hammering so hard to keep every cent that they can in their own pocket and shift the cost to the city is efficient and innovative. That is why it costs less to build in Manteca than nearby cities even after 100 percent cost recovery fees are put in place in the coming weeks.
As for squabbling over a fee to recoup the costs of long range planning that benefits builders financially and implying legal action is possible, the BIA might want to check the calendar.
It is 77 days until the Manteca City Council election.
This isn’t a good time to test the mood of voters, many of whom aren’t exactly enjoying the recovery.


This column is the opinion of executive editor, Dennis Wyatt, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Bulletin or Morris Newspaper Corp. of CA.  He can be contacted at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com or 209.249.3519.