Fresno Assessor charges SB 2 fee per parcel, sends $35M to housing

Fresno County Assessor-Recorder Paul Dictos has taken a stricter reading of California’s SB 2 fee, applying the $75 recording charge to each parcel in multi-parcel transactions rather than once per sale. That interpretation, Dictos and county figures say, has produced roughly $35 million that the county has returned to local jurisdictions for housing programs, while Fresno County overall has submitted about $54 million to the state since the fee began.

SB 2, the Building Homes and Jobs Act, levies a $75 fee on certain recorded documents to raise revenue for affordable housing. Under the law’s distribution formula, 70 percent of collections are returned to the county or city where funds originated, 10 percent is directed to farmworker housing, 15 percent goes to the California Housing Finance Agency, and 5 percent funds streamlining incentives. Fresno officials say some funds collected in 2024 have not yet been distributed under that schedule.

County staff and the recorder’s office framed the per-parcel approach as a practical move to capture revenue that supports local affordable housing and farmworker projects. Local governments have used SB 2 allocations for short-term construction loans and predevelopment financing in Valley communities, including projects in Mendota, Sanger and Reedley. Those investments are intended to bridge funding gaps that can stall shovel-ready projects in low-income neighborhoods and agricultural towns across Fresno County.

Dictos contends that the statute’s language and legislative history back a per-parcel interpretation and argues that other counties applying a single-fee reading are leaving potential revenue on the table. The differing interpretations among counties create a patchwork of collections that can affect how much funding returns to cities and special districts in the Central Valley. State offices did not provide comment by publication.

For landowners and developers, the per-parcel charge changes deal economics on large assemblages and subdivision recordings. A single $75 fee on a 20-parcel sale yields $75 in recording costs but the per-parcel approach produces $1,500 in SB 2 revenue, shifting transaction costs and potentially altering bids on large parcels earmarked for housing development. That ripple affects how developers budget for acquisition, entitlements and infrastructure, and how local governments plan to deploy SB 2 dollars for gap financing.

Fresno’s approach underscores the local stakes in fee interpretation: interpretations that raise more funds can accelerate affordable housing and farmworker housing in a region where construction and financing gaps persist. For residents, the immediate effect is more local financing flowing to projects that serve Valley families; the longer-term impact depends on whether counties converge on a single legal reading or the Legislature or courts clarify the statute.