The town of Manteca, California has decided to forgive sewer development fees for homes that will be built and sold by June 2015. The recession lead to developers in San Joaquin County unable to get financing, since the fees of about $12,000 per home made new homes a losing prospect. Without new homes, the city wasn’t getting the fees anyway, and as Willie Weatherford, the mayor of Manteca, pointed out, “ten times the amount of fees we would never collect is nothing.” The agreements to pay for sewer improvements are due to lapse, and with the city deciding to forego them, the developers have no reason to further delay development. As a result of ending these agreements, Manteca has seen about 300 new homes built over the last three years.