How would you spend a $1 million gift?
Community Benefit Payments are sizable contributions made by developers to the City of Dublin (and other cities) in addition to the standard building and impact fees required by new development. These types of payments are usually made by developers to compensate Dublin for making exceptions to the General or Specific plan guidelines, city ordinances, and/or other design guidelines.
The City of Dublin has received many Community Benefit Payments over the years with at least a few more in the pipeline. Here are just a few examples (please click on the image for a larger view of the table):
In some instances, the proceeds from Community Benefit Payments are designated for specific projects by the corresponding Development Agreements (e.g., the Schaefer Ranch South $1.5M total payment will be used to build future phases of the Dublin Historic Park). In other cases, the purpose of the Community Benefit Payment isn’t specified by the Development Agreement – so the proceeds flow directly into the General Fund (e.g., the Wallis Ranch $1M payment).
This “flexible use” characteristic is one of the key distinctions between impact fees and Community Benefit Payments. While impact fees must be used to provide infrastructure improvements (e.g., schools, parks, streets) in an area where development occurs, Community Benefit Payments can be used in whichever manner the Dublin City Council sees fit.
As noted above, the combined $2M Wallis Ranch and Positano Community Benefit Payments will be deposited into the City of Dublin General Fund. Please contact our Mayor and City Councilmembers if you have suggestions for how these payments can be utilized.
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