By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
With housing costs climbing and school enrollment declining, the King County Council recently adopted amendments to school impact fee legislation that seek to balance the need for new classrooms with the demand for affordable housing.
Councilmembers Teresa Mosqueda and Rod Dembowski partnered on the changes, which cap fees on family units, exempt affordable housing projects, and require analysis of housing impacts before fees are set.
School impact fees are charges many Washington jurisdictions impose on new residential development to help fund school district capital projects, such as the construction of new classrooms or buildings. While intended to ensure schools can keep pace with growth, the fees can also add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of building new housing.
Mosqueda said the amendments are designed to ensure schools continue to benefit from impact fee revenue while avoiding unintended barriers to housing.
“In King County – and across the country – families are facing an affordability crisis, and we need to do everything within our power to support the housing our communities need. This means reducing the costs and barriers imposed within our own code,” said Mosqueda. “When families have a place to live and put down roots, schools benefit from increased enrollment. This is a win-win, and I’m thankful to my colleagues for supporting an approach that recognizes the fundamental connection between stable, affordable housing and school resilience.”
Housing production in the region has been lagging while construction costs climb. Dembowski said impact fees risk worsening the problem if they are set too high.
“The high cost of housing is driven in part by the high cost to build it. Excessive impact fees, many approaching $20,000 per unit, unreasonably increase housing costs and reduce access,” said Dembowski. “I have raised these concerns for years, and so was happy to join with Councilmember Mosqueda to address this issue by revising the impact fee formula. The new formula strikes a reasonable balance that ensures new development helps cover the cost of new schools, while recognizing that fees cannot be so burdensome that housing is not accessible and affordable.”
Legal and housing experts said the approach reflects the difficult balance between funding education and expanding housing supply. Holly D. Golden, an attorney at Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson, said higher costs could push housing projects out of reach.
“Right now, we have seen that market conditions already stop most new housing projects from moving forward in our region, which leads us to think that our community needs to be very careful about anything that would make it more expensive to build housing – especially given that these costs often get passed along to future tenants,” said Golden. “There is no question that schools need more dollars, and CM Mosqueda’s measured approach ensures that these dollars do not come at the expense of housing, which is another essential service that our community members badly need.”
Data from the Regional Affordable Housing Dashboard shows King County faces a severe shortage of affordable housing, first-time homeownership options, and family-sized units. Families priced out of the region or displaced altogether are contributing to declining school enrollment, which in turn reduces operating funds for teachers, counselors, and special education services.
Seattle School Board member Joe Mizrahi said the amendments could help keep families in the county.
“There is a direct impact between affordable housing and school enrollment, and when families are pushed out of our region by the lack of affordable homes, school enrollment falls and operating dollars for teachers, counselors, and special education fall with it,” said Mizrahi. “But when workers can afford to live near their kids’ schools, families stay rooted and students thrive. The approach to impact fees led by CM Mosqueda keeps this capital revenue stream in place while prioritizing the housing that actually brings and keeps students in our schools.”
The adopted amendments include three major provisions: a $5,000 cap on impact fees for family-sized units, an exemption for affordable housing, and a new requirement for housing impact analysis. The cap is designed to provide predictability for multifamily projects, avoid spikes that could make developments infeasible, and allow recalibration every four years to align with school district capital planning.
The affordable housing exemption applies to all qualifying projects authorized under state law. The housing impact analysis provision requires school districts to work with the King County Executive to study how proposed school impact fees would affect housing production. Each fee ordinance must be accompanied by a report evaluating those impacts.
Housing advocates applauded the move. Saghar Amini, advocacy and policy manager for Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King & Kittitas Counties, said the changes strengthen both schools and housing stability.
“Stable housing and stable schools are deeply connected, and we cannot ignore this link. School impact fees, while a relatively small portion of district funding, can significantly affect the feasibility of housing projects,” said Amini. “We applaud the County Council for applying a housing lens with these amendments to ensure these fees don’t risk discouraging exactly the types of homes we need most; larger units for families and permanently affordable homes. These carefully designed amendments improve this legislation, preserving essential school funding while making affordable housing development more achievable.”
