In June 2022, the San Carlos City Council unanimously approved an amendment to the San Carlos Municipal Code to charge developers a child care impact fee for any new commercial, industrial, or office projects in the city. The Childcare Development Impact Fee can range from $1.60 to $5 per square foot, depending on the type of project.
Fee revenue is used for capital projects including building new child care centers, acquiring land to be used for child care services, or providing grants to child care programs to upgrade or expand their spaces to serve more children.
Developers can avoid paying the impact fee by building a child care center on-site and contracting with a licensed child care provider to run it. On-site programs must meet state licensing requirements and local regulatory requirements.
Sources:
City of San Carlos Finance Division. (2022, November 28). City of San Carlos Annual Comprehensive Financial Report.
City of San Carlos. (2022). San Carlos Municipal Code, Chapter 8.52: Child Care Development Impact Fees.
Connections to Key Early Learning Study at Harvard (ELS@H) Findings:
High-quality, affordable early education and care supports children’s healthy development and allows families to work, engage in their own educational pursuits, and/or participate in other aspects of community life. To support children and families in these instrumental ways, research suggests there is a need to expand the availability of early education opportunities across the mixed-delivery system.
Findings from the Early Learning Study at Harvard (ELS@H) show:
- Families rely on a range of formal (e.g., Head Start, center-based care, public pre-K) and more informal (e.g., home-based, relative care) early education settings; when choosing a setting for their child, families balance many logistical constraints and personal preferences.
- But for many families – and especially low- and middle-income families – early education choices remain tightly constrained due to issues of affordability and supply.