Editorial: California needs local housing fee reform

Local fees prevented the building of 5,000 new homes for low-income Californians from 2020-23. That’s detailed in a new study by UC Berkeley’s Terner Center for Housing Innovation. The study looked at 691 construction projects in California built under the federal Low Income Housing Tax Credit program. “Local impact fees” added an average of almost $20,000 per unit, totaling $1.2 billion. Absent the fees, the program could have funded 1,250 additional affordable housing units each year.

The fees are charged by cities...