Impact fees are one-time charges a local government imposes on new development to fund the share of public infrastructure the new units will consume: roads, parks, schools, fire and police. Florida regulates how they are set. The calculation must rest on recent localized data, the money must be accounted for separately, notice is required before an increase takes effect, and a fee may not be raised more than once every four years.
Total impact fees=Units x Rate per unit, by category, less credits
- Units
- New dwelling units, or new square footage, depending on which category is being charged.
- Rate per unit
- The adopted schedule in force on the day the fee is calculated, for that jurisdiction and that category.
- Credits
- What the schedule deducts for existing or demolished units already counted against the same infrastructure.
- They land early, before vertical work, so they consume equity at the point in a project with the least cushion under it.
- The schedule in force on the day of calculation governs. A permit filed either side of an increase is a different project economically.
- Florida limits how often a fee may rise and requires notice first, so a pending increase is a schedule to work against, not a rumour.
- Credits for what already exists are the most commonly missed line. Replacing an occupied duplex is not the same as building on dirt.
Nine new units, at an assumed combined rate of $6,000 per unit, with one existing unit demolished. The real schedule is looked up per project.
It is not a cost of construction, it is the cost of permission, and it comes due before the building can earn anything.
What a local government may charge, and how it must be set, is state law. Rates themselves come from each jurisdiction's adopted schedule: Section 163.31801, Florida Statutes
Related terms
All termsPublic Works
Public Works is the part of a project that happens outside the property line: the sidewalk, the curb, drainage, paving, street trees, and the water and sewer connections, along with the permits to touch any of it.
DevelopmentLand Residual Value
Land residual value is what a developer can rationally pay for a site: the value of the finished project, minus every cost to build it, minus the profit the risk demands.
DevelopmentDevelopment Envelope
The development envelope is the three-dimensional shape a parcel's rules allow: the volume left after height limits, setbacks, density caps, parking requirements, and lot coverage have each taken their bite.
Terms arrive with the writing.
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