Florida impact fees by county: what a new house pays in all 67 counties, and when

What are impact fees in Florida?

An impact fee is a one-time charge a county, city or special district collects on new construction to pay for the public facilities growth makes necessary. From January 1, 2027, the statutes define it as a one-time charge imposed by a local government on new development to fund the capital costs of public infrastructure needed to serve that development (section 163.3164, as amended by chapter 2026-161).

The money is for building, not running. Section 163.31801 requires it to be earmarked for capital facilities that benefit new users, and its definition of infrastructure excludes repairs and maintenance. One county puts it plainly: the fee can help pay for capital construction, not salaries or operating expenses. The Act governs fees a local government chooses to adopt; it does not require any.

Which impact fees does a new single-family house pay?

The list is set county by county, and many counties scale each fee by living area. A new house typically meets some combination of these. In all three county schedules below, transportation and schools are the two largest.

• Transportation, or mobility. Some counties, Hillsborough among them, have replaced the road impact fee with a mobility fee, which section 163.3180(5)(i) allows and which must still comply with the Act.
• Schools, adopted for the school district.
• Parks and recreation.
• Fire rescue and emergency medical services, sometimes one fee and sometimes two.
• Law enforcement, and in some counties libraries, public buildings or correctional facilities.
• Water and sewer capacity or connection charges, if the lot is on a public utility. These are utility charges outside the Act, which does not apply to water and sewer connection fees (section 163.31801(12)).

What is the Florida Impact Fee Act?

The Florida Impact Fee Act is section 163.31801, Florida Statutes. It sets no fee. It sets the rules a county, city, school district or special district must follow when it adopts one:

• A study using the most recent and localized data available, within four years of the current update ((4)(a)).
• A separate accounting fund, and administrative charges limited to actual cost ((4)(b) and (c)).
• At least 90 days’ notice before a new or increased fee takes effect, and no new or increased fee on a permit application submitted before that date ((4)(d)).
• No collection earlier than the date the building permit is issued ((4)(e)).
• A fee proportional to, and with a rational nexus to, the need the construction creates and the benefit it receives ((4)(f) and (g)).
• A dollar for dollar credit for land, money or construction contributed toward the same category of facility (subsection (5)), and an optional waiver for affordable housing (subsection (11)).
• In a court challenge, the burden of proof on the government, with no deferential standard (subsection (9)).

How has the Florida impact fee statute changed recently?

Three laws in two years amended the Act, each with its own effective date. The online 2026 Florida Statutes already show the 2027 text, so check the date before relying on a provision.

• June 26, 2025 (chapter 2025-190): a new subsection (14) bars impact fees on replacing a structure with one of the same land use that adds no impact, covered in detail below.
• January 1, 2026 (chapter 2025-177): an increase beyond the normal phase-in limits needs a unanimous vote, up from two thirds, and is not available to a government that has not increased the fee within the past five years.
• January 1, 2027 (chapter 2026-161): fees adopted or increased after July 1, 2026 must rest on a plan-based demonstrated-need study, extraordinary increases are capped at 100 percent over four years, and a new subsection (15) sets a 30 day process for refund or credit requests.

How much can a Florida county raise impact fees?

Section 163.31801(6) sets the speed limit. An increase of up to 25 percent is phased in over two equal annual increments, and one of more than 25 up to 50 percent over four equal installments. No increase may exceed 50 percent, a fee may rise no more than once every four years, and no increase may be retroactive.

The only way past those limits is the extraordinary circumstances route in paragraph (6)(g): a demonstrated-need study completed within the prior 12 months, at least two publicly noticed workshops, a unanimous vote, and a phase-in of two to four equal annual increments.

Marion County’s transportation schedule shows a four-step phase-in, from 70 percent of the calculated impact to 100 percent. A house of 1,501 to 2,499 square feet pays $3,723 on applications from October 1, 2025, $4,254 from October 1, 2026, $4,786 from October 1, 2027 and $5,318 from October 1, 2028.

When are impact fees paid in Florida?

Not before the building permit is issued. Section 163.31801(4)(e) requires every local government that adopts an impact fee to ensure collection is not required any earlier. After that, each county decides.

• Orange County: due when the permit is ready to issue, at the rate in effect when a legally sufficient application was submitted. A single-family home can defer all of its impact fees to the certificate of occupancy, with no service charge, by applying before the permit issues; a mobile home can defer only the law enforcement fee.
• Brevard County: in the unincorporated county, due before pre-power and the certificate of occupancy. Cities set their own timing, most before the certificate of occupancy and some at permit.
• Hillsborough County: assessed before the permit issues, and the assessment holds for the life of the permit. If the permit expires, the fees are reassessed at current rates.
• Citrus County: usually collected when the building permit is issued.

Who pays impact fees?

The fee attaches to the building permit for new construction, so whoever pulls the permit pays it: the owner, or a builder for the owner. One county describes its fees as collected from developers and home builders. On a house bought finished, the builder paid the fee at permit and recovers it in the price.

Buying or owning a lot triggers nothing. Additions vary by county: Brevard County charges nothing more for an addition or remodel, Hillsborough County may charge when a remodel adds usable area, and Orange County exempts single-family additions under 1,000 square feet.

Some homes are partly exempt. Section 163.31801(11) allows a waiver for affordable housing, and Orange County exempts documented age-restricted homes from its school fee.

Florida impact fees by county: all 67 counties

The table gives what each county’s own published schedule charges a new single-family detached house of 1,800 square feet of living area in the unincorporated county, under the schedules in effect in October 2026, rounded to the dollar. It counts county and school impact fees only: water and sewer charges, permit fees and any city fee come on top.

A range means the fee depends on where the lot sits, usually a mobility or road district and sometimes a fire district. None means the county charges no impact fee today, including the counties that keep fees in their code but have suspended them or set them at zero. Each row links to the county document the figure comes from; a schedule date several years old is still the one the county posts.

Read it as a starting point, not a quote. Fees change, several counties step them up on a set date, and the county’s impact fee office confirms the figure for a specific parcel.

Why do impact fees differ so much from county to county?

The same house pays more than $14,000 more in Orange County than in Marion County. Each fee rests on the county’s own study of its own growth and costs, as section 163.31801(4)(a) requires, so neighbors can land far apart.

• Categories. Citrus County charges eight; Marion County charges transportation, fire and emergency medical services, and schools.
• Zones. Orange County prices transportation by urban, suburban and rural district, and Hillsborough County prices its mobility fee by urban and rural district.
• Size tiers. Where fees scale by living area, a bigger house on the same lot pays more.
• Phase-ins, like Marion County’s, described above.
• City fees. Brevard County collects impact fees for all 16 of its cities, which may collect additional types. Where a county and a city both charge for transportation, section 163.3180(5)(j) requires an interlocal agreement so a new home is not charged twice for the same impact.

Do you pay impact fees when you replace a mobile home in Florida?

Often not, or only the difference. Since June 26, 2025, section 163.31801(14) has barred an impact fee for reconstructing or replacing a previously existing structure of the same land use that does not increase the impact on public facilities. If the replacement significantly increases size, intensity or capacity of use, the fee is limited to the difference in demand.

Counties apply this through their own credit rules. Brevard County says replacing a single-family home with a single-family home, or a mobile home with a new mobile home, is exempt from additional residential impact fees, while a different type may owe more. Nassau County, for permits from April 1, 2026, credits the old home’s conditioned square footage and charges only the net increase.

The catch is the category. Section 320.01(2)(b) defines a manufactured home as a mobile home built on or after June 15, 1976 to federal standards, but fee schedules use their own labels: Orange County lists a manufactured home under single-family residence and a mobile home separately, at its own rates. Replacing an old mobile home with a larger manufactured home can then be treated as a change of use, with credit for the old unit and the difference due. Ask the county how it classifies both units before you price the deal.

How do you claim a credit for a demolished or replaced home?

The credit is not automatic. The county needs evidence of the old structure and applies the credit before the fee is collected, so the paperwork belongs with the permit application.

• Prove the old structure existed lawfully. Nassau County accepts aerial photographs, property appraiser records and permit records, on a more likely than not standard, for a structure that existed in 1987 or later.
• Tie the demolition to the new permit. Orange County requires the demolition permit number on the building permit application.
• Sign what the county asks for. Nassau County uses a notarized affidavit, and can charge back a credit granted on a misrepresentation.
• Keep the credit on the right parcel. In Nassau County it stays with the parcel that held the old structure.
• Plan the removal. If the old home still stands when the new one is finished, Nassau County may issue a temporary certificate of occupancy, then requires a demolition permit application within three business days and removal within 180 days of that permit.
• Check for credits on record. Hillsborough County’s impact fee page explains how to look them up in its online permitting portal.
• If you believe you overpaid: from January 1, 2027, section 163.31801(15) provides a written request, a decision within 30 days, and a refund or credit within 30 days after you choose one.

How do impact fees fit a construction budget and loan?

The fee falls due at or after permit, before any construction, and construction draws are generally released against work completed and inspected. Unless the county allows a deferral, it is usually paid from your own cash, or from a soft cost line the construction lender has agreed to fund, before the first draw.

Give it its own budget line, priced from the county’s current schedule for that house size and zone, and check for a noticed increase. An application submitted before an increase takes effect keeps the old rate under section 163.31801(4)(d).

A worked example in round numbers: an 1,800 square foot spec house in Orange County’s suburban district owes about $23,980 in county impact fees at permit, plus water and sewer capital charges if it is on county utilities. Filed before the permit issues, the residential deferral moves all five fees to the certificate of occupancy, keeping that cash in the project during the build and leaving a bill due at completion.

Replacement deals reverse the arithmetic. Where an old home is replaced by one of the same use and similar size, the impact fee line can fall to zero, provided the credit is approved before the permit issues.

How do you look up the impact fee for a specific lot?

An hour of checking will usually produce an exact figure. Work in this order.

• Confirm the jurisdiction. The property appraiser’s parcel record shows whether the lot is in a city or the unincorporated county, which decides whose schedule applies.
• Find the fee zone. Orange County’s online map has a transportation districts layer you can search by parcel number, and Hillsborough County publishes transportation, park and fire zone maps.
• Know the house: its land use category and its living area.
• Use the current schedule or calculator, and read its effective date. Orange County and Hillsborough County both publish online calculators.
• Ask for a written estimate. Orange County’s impact fee office gives estimates by phone or email.
• Check for credits and pending increases: any prior structure, credits on record, and any increase noticed but not yet in effect.
• Ask the utility separately about water and sewer capacity charges.

What to do next if you are buying a lot to build or replace

Price the impact fee before you write the offer, not after the plans are drawn. On a vacant lot it is a fixed cost of the plan; on a lot with an old home, or a former home site, it may be a credit worth thousands, and only if you document it.

If the deal replaces an old mobile home, get the county’s answer on categories and credits in writing, and pull the property appraiser history and permit records for the existing unit before closing. Entrusted Capital is a direct lender that funds manufactured home swaps in Florida with its own capital, a new manufactured home set permanently on a lot in place of an old one, with terms from the person underwriting the file and a soft-pull quote to start.