How Many Ways Did Beaumont Steal Mitigation Fees? Let Us Count The Ways.
By: Libi Uremovic| Original Article at Patch.com
Mitigation Fees are charged to the Developers to pay for their development’s impact on the city.
Below is a review of the City of Beaumont’s General Ledger Mitigation Fees Fund 35 from July 1, 2007 thru the Present. As usual, the fees paid to Urban Logic Consultants dominates the account.
A total of $13,406,516.76 was paid to Urban Logic Consultants thru the following accounts:
$2,161,279.76 paid to Urban Logic Consultants thru Contract Services
$6,820,893.96 paid to Urban Logic Consultants thru Potrero Bridge Project
$598,839.22 paid to Urban Logic Consultants thru Oak Valley Project
$637,115.18 paid to Urban Logic Consultants thru TUMF
$63,850.00 paid to Urban Logic Consultants thru Traffic Signs
$1,116,622.47 paid to Urban Logic Consultants thru Mitigation Fees
$717,625.50 paid to Urban Logic Consultants thru Basic Services & Facilities
$18,725.00 paid to Urban Logic Consultants thru Fire Station
$7,071.00 paid to Urban Logic Consultants thru Emergency Preparedness
$14,785.00 paid to Urban Logic Consultants thru Bridge Overpass
$791,969.42 paid to Urban Logic Consultants thru Noble Creek Bridge & Road
$426,995.25 paid to Urban Logic Consultants thru Regional Park
$30,745.00 paid to Urban Logic Consultants thru TUMF CFD
Along with Mitigation Fees paid by the developers, Fund 35 of the General Ledger also shows a total of $23,846,352.01 transferred in From Union Bank and coded to various accounts. Apparently Union Bank did transfer funds from the Bonds to pay the Developers’ mitigation fees as stated in the Bonds.
The City of Beaumont was thrown out of the WRCOG’s TUMF program in 2009, however; the General Ledger shows that from April 2009 to June 2011 the City created account # 35-9350-4060-0000 ‘TUMF PROJECTS” where they have various construction and paving company payments.
The City was no longer in the TUMF program.
The only journal entries for the City would have been accounts receivable when the TUMF was paid by the Developers or Bond Funds, and accounts payable to remit the fees to the WRCOG.
The City also recorded TUMF in account # 35-9350-4110-0000 from August 2007 to May 2010. This Account shows $8,147,475 received from Bond Transfers by Union Bank, so Union Bank did transfer the TUMF fees to the City, but there are no transactions showing payments were remitted to WRCOG. $637,115.18 was paid to Urban Logic.
The General Ledger also lists the following Accounts in Mitigation Fees:
Fire Station: $139,370 transferred from Union Bank in January, 2008. There are no record of Developer Mitigation Fees paid. A Fire Station was never built.
Emergency Preparedness: This Account list $3,588,430.90 paid to Pardee Homes. This is a Mitigation Fee charged to Developers, but there are no Developers fee payments listed. $426,995.25 was paid to Urban Logic Consultants.
Recycled Water Facility Fee: A total of $154,134.73 in Developer Fees are recorded from October, 2011 to December 2012. A recycled water facility was never built.
Regional Park Fee: A total of $2,062,501.17 in Developer Fees are recorded from July 2007 to November, 2012. The regional park was never built and the community parks were never completed.
Because money received is not always recorded by the City; the amount of mitigation fees paid by the developers for projects such as a fire station or wastewater treatment plant is unknown.
What we do know is that all the money is gone and the facilities were never built.