Get the welcome wagon ready, Roseville’s about to make room for some new neighbors.

Thanks to the Single Family Residential Fee Deferral program 633 families have moved into new homes in Roseville since 2008, according to Community Development Manager Chris Robles.

The Fee Deferral program began in April 2008 in an effort to continue home building activity in Roseville and enhance the city’s economic vitality and was scheduled to end in December 2008.

Last year, council extended the program to December 2009 and Wednesday night, agreed to continue the program another year.

“I think this is a great example of, I guess you could say, a risk we took and it worked,” said councilman Jim Gray. “We did good.”

The program allows homebuilders to defer city controlled development impact fees until final inspection, when the balance of the fees must be paid before closing escrow to new homeowners.

Robles said homebuilders look at about $45,000 in fees for a number of county and school fees. About $20,000 of those are city controlled and can be deferred until the home’s final inspection, typically about five months, Robles said.

“The city loses about $420 per home in lost interest on the deferrals,” Robles said. “But I think the benefit far exceeds $420 to keep homebuilders in Roseville and the economic stimulation that comes from new homes.”

Councilwoman Pauline Roccucci agreed and said the little bit of lost interest was for the greater good of bringing builders and new homes into the city.

Touting job creation in Roseville and continued investment and positive economic impact on the city, Robles presented council with letters of commendation from several homebuilding agencies including the Building Industry Association that supports the program.

Robles said the program was also a major contributing factor among builders to select Roseville for the site to build new homes.

This year it is estimated that 3,000 new homes will be built in the region that includes Sacramento, Placer, Yolo and El Dorado counties. Of those, Robles said about 600 will be built in Roseville alone.

The real estate slow down over the past several years was a major incentive to start and extend the program and all of the 633 homes that were built in 2008 remain occupied.

“The program is available to any new home construction, whether that’s custom built homes or contracted homes,” Robles said. “But builders can’t afford to build spec homes now so the homes that are being built are all being turned over to new homeowners.”

In other city business, Roseville Chamber of Commerce CEO Wendy Gerig was joined by Janice Hanson and Jeff Dubchansky in presenting council with a check for the proceeds from the 14th annual Splash fundraiser.

The large outdoor party raised $29,132.67 for the Roseville Parks Recreation and Libraries Department.

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, Street Maintenance Superintendent Jerry Dankbar was presented with the 2009 Maintenance Superintendents Association award for his service to the city of Roseville.