Fees & public finance
AB 602 (2021)
The 2021 impact-fee reform: nexus-study standards in Gov. Code § 66016.5 plus web-posted fee-schedule transparency in § 65940.1.
Definition
AB 602 (2021) is the impact-fee transparency and discipline reform layered onto the Mitigation Fee Act. Its nexus-study standards (Gov. Code § 66016.5) require that new or increased fees rest on a study adopted at a noticed public hearing that identifies the existing and proposed levels of service and the capital improvements to be funded, allocates new development its proportionate share, scales residential fees by square footage unless findings justify otherwise, and is refreshed on a defined cycle. Its transparency arm (§ 65940.1) requires agencies to post current fee schedules and nexus studies on their websites.
Why it matters in an underwrite
AB 602 handed developers the paper trail: posted schedules end fee guesswork during feasibility, and the square-footage rule gives smaller units a concrete attack on flat per-unit fees — a 500 sq ft studio charged the same as a 1,400 sq ft three-bedroom is the textbook vulnerability. A fee resting on a stale or non-compliant study is protest leverage, but the § 66020 machinery still runs on its 90-day clock, so the review has to happen before the window closes.
Sources & related guides
See also
See the term in the law itself
Read the controlling text in the Code Library, or ask the AI how it applies to your project.
Last reviewed 2026-07-29. General information, not legal advice.