Lynden School District will ask the City of Lynden and Whatcom County to collect fees from new housing developments to support needed, but expensive, expansions.
The impact fees could help the district expand capacity at Lynden High School, as well as add more seats at Isom and Bernice Vossbeck Elementary Schools, reducing a pricey bond ask. A bond put to Lynden voters has now failed twice; in August, only 45.99% of voters approved it, well short of the needed 60%.
The City of Lynden and the county will still need to approve the fees for them to go into effect in January 2026.
Impact fees, assessed on organizations or people constructing new homes, provide public institutions extra funding to handle the demands on public facilities driven by new growth.
These fees can’t fund maintenance projects but can help fund the construction of new buildings or projects that add capacity to existing buildings. In Lynden’s case, that includes the high school rebuild, the elementary school expansions and purchasing portables.
“Impact fees isn’t going to pay for a new school,” Superintendent David VanderYacht said at a Thursday, March 6 Lynden School Board meeting. “It is only going to assist.”
The district is proposing fees of $6,992 per new single-family dwelling unit of three bedrooms or more and $6,992 per a new multi-family dwelling unit of two bedrooms or more. Single-family and multi-family dwelling units with fewer than two bedrooms for the former and one bedroom or less for the latter would not be subject to impact fees.
These fees are discounted from the maximum the district could collect by 25% for single-family units and roughly 50% for multi-family units, to avoid undue impacts on development in the area, VanderYacht said.
Over 15 years, the district estimates these fees could generate between $7 and $8.5 million in the City of Lynden, VanderYacht said.
Lynden School District serves nearly 70 square miles, across the City of Lynden and parts of unincorporated Whatcom County. The district’s current permanent capacity is 2,900 students, with the enrollment sitting at 2,975 in October 2023, excluding Lynden Academy students. Despite pandemic dips in enrollment, the district’s numbers have stabilized and are now expected to grow, according to the district’s six-year Capital Facilities Plan. The district also expects development in Pepin Creek to add a significant number of residential units.
A number of nearby school districts have impact fees, including Bellingham, Ferndale and Mount Vernon.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
