INSITE is a proposed program that lets small residential subdivisions, 1 to 50 lots, pay eligible development impact fees and public improvements through a voluntary special tax on the project's own land, collected with the county property tax bill. The legal tool has existed since 1982. INSITE's contribution is an operating model that makes it economical at small scale. It is not free money: the deal's costs are paid on the property tax bill, and the builder pays the special tax on any lot they hold, and the calculator below shows every one of those costs in plain arithmetic.
Run the numbers See how it works
Under the Mello-Roos Community Facilities Act (Government Code section 53311 and following), a public agency forms a Community Facilities District once, with a recorded future annexation area. Each small project then joins by administrative annexation as its own tax zone, with its own note and no connection to any other project's debt.
Two constraints drive every underwriting decision: the finished lot value of the home being built, and the total annual property tax burden the parcel can carry. Together they cap how much of the fees a parcel can support.
The finished lot is typically worth 20% to 30% of the finished home value. A $1,000,000 home implies a finished lot value between $200,000 and $300,000. That lot value is the collateral floor the amount is sized against.
Once the finished lot value is determined, the amount available is sized at one quarter (25%) of that lot value.
The combined annual property tax burden, meaning the general 1.125% ad valorem, any existing assessments, and the new INSITE assessment, should not exceed 2% of home value per year. INSITE underwrites the new assessment to a rule of thumb of 0.50%, leaving headroom under the cap.
After Constraint 01 and Constraint 02 are both calculated, the lesser of the two amounts is the amount available per parcel.
Plug in your project assumptions. The calculator applies both the finished-lot-value collateral floor and the 2% total tax cap to size the supportable amount per parcel.
| Finished lot value 23% of finished home value | $0 |
| Lot-based amount (25% of lot) Constraint 01 | $0 |
| Tax-supported amount Constraint 02, 0.50% assessment, 30 years | $0 |
| Annual assessment per parcel Amortized over 30 years | $0 |
Illustrative only. Final sizing depends on issuer policy, market conditions, debt-service coverage, and reserve requirements.
It is a voluntary special tax the landowner approves on their own undeveloped land before any homes exist. Buyers see it disclosed before purchase, it can be paid off early, and no one who owns a home today gets a new tax.
No. Notes are repaid only from the special taxes on the participating parcels. Neither the city's general fund nor its credit stands behind them, which is the same posture cities already take in the existing statewide programs.
Same body of law, different segment and operating model. Traditional statewide programs typically pool larger projects and issue on their own calendars. INSITE is built for the 1-to-50-lot project: a standing district, one signature to join, per-project funding, and the county tax roll doing the collection. A side-by-side comparison is available on request.
Not at launch. School facilities fees are excluded from the INSITE program at launch as a matter of program policy. The founder is evaluating a pay-then-reimburse structure for school fees; any change runs through bond counsel first.
Zero closed deals, and the structure assumes that. The security is the land, the county tax roll, and debt capped at 25 percent of appraised value, verified by independent professionals under state standards. BOLD started from zero in 2020 and reached roughly $550 million in six years; in this market, structure and partners are the currency, not birthdays.
Not at launch. School fees are excluded from initial eligibility; the fee schedule is still collected during underwriting because it is part of the total tax-burden analysis.
| Claim | Source |
|---|---|
| Mello-Roos districts, special taxes, liens, landowner elections, formation timeline | California Debt Financing Guide (State Treasurer) |
| Three-to-one statutory value condition and state appraisal standards (section 53345.8) | CDIAC appraisal standards |
| Value-to-lien policy precedent and 2 percent total-burden cap | CSCDA goals and policies |
| Average development impact fee for a new California single-family home: ~$33,500 (FTB, January 2019), roughly $40,000 in 2025 dollars | California Franchise Tax Board report, Jan 2019; inflation adjustment per program founder, Aug 2, 2026 |
| Private lending at roughly 9.5 to 15 percent | Published 2025-2026 rate guides |
| Existing statewide programs: SCIP (typically from $500,000, pooled sales) and BOLD (~$550 million, 65+ projects, 12,000+ units since 2020) | CSCDA, CMFA |
| Cities act as intermediaries with "no financial liability or risk" | Elk Grove staff report |
| Ministerial 60-day approval of ten-lot subdivisions (SB 684, SB 1123) | Association of Bay Area Governments |
Full register with fetch dates and verdicts: INSITE Claims Register, part of the program document library. INSITE is not the first program in this space and does not claim to be; it is a small-balance operating model on a proven mechanism.
INSITE is a program administrator, not a lender. To request a developer feasibility screening, a briefing for public agency staff, or the capital diligence package, contact HGF Management Company: Dennis Lanni, Founder. Program website: insite-ca.org. Program tools: fee estimator.