Orange County, Florida impact fees in 2026: the schedule, the calculator and the deferral

What impact fees does Orange County charge on a new house?

Orange County charges five impact fees on new residential construction in the unincorporated county: transportation, school, parks and recreation, law enforcement, and fire rescue. The county’s guide adds that a project’s total also includes the water and sewer capital charges, which Orange County Utilities assesses separately when a lot connects to its system.

Each fee has its own article in Chapter 23 of the Orange County Code, and each is priced its own way:

• Transportation: by size tier and by urban, suburban or rural district, measured on gross floor area. It is the largest fee on most houses.
• School: by size tier, measured on heated and cooled living area, with separate rates for mobile homes, townhouses and multifamily units.
• Parks and recreation: a flat amount per dwelling unit, lower for mobile homes, multifamily and age-restricted housing.
• Law enforcement: a flat amount per dwelling unit, lower for mobile homes and multifamily.
• Fire rescue: one rate for a single-family house, duplex or mobile home, and a lower one for multifamily.
• Where they apply: the transportation and law enforcement fees cover the unincorporated county, which is what this article prices; the school fee applies countywide and, inside a city such as Orlando, is generally paid to the city.

Orange County impact fee schedule for 2026

The table gives the residential rates in the county’s impact fee brochure dated May 1, 2026, the same schedule shown on its Impact Fees at a Glance page. Transportation is the only fee that changes by district, so the school, parks, law enforcement and fire rescue amounts repeat across the three district columns.

Two measurements set the tiers. Transportation uses gross floor area, which the code defines as the area within the outside faces of the exterior walls, including enclosed space under roof with standing headroom regardless of its use. School uses heated and cooled living area. A mobile home on private property pays transportation at the single-family tier for its size; a mobile home park has its own rate.

If the brochure and the adopted ordinances ever differ, the ordinances control.

How much are impact fees on a new house in Orange County?

For the most common spec house, 1,201 to 2,000 square feet of gross floor area and under 2,000 square feet of living area, the five county impact fees total $21,784 in the urban district, $23,979 in the suburban district and $25,634 in the rural district. The school, parks, law enforcement and fire rescue fees add up to the same $12,390 everywhere; the district moves only the transportation fee.

On Orange County Utilities water and sewer, add $2,790 for water and $5,270 for wastewater, $8,060 in all, for a single-family home with a water meter smaller than one inch. Building permit fees come on top, and the statewide county table compares the total with the other 66 counties.

A mobile home on its own lot pays the single-family transportation rate for its size plus $11,742 in the other four fees: $9,132 school, $1,835 parks, $313 law enforcement and $462 fire rescue. Its school fee is higher than a small single-family house’s, while its parks and law enforcement fees are lower.

How do Orange County transportation impact fees work?

The transportation fee pays a new home’s share of the road network, which in the urban district also covers public transit vehicles and stops. On a 1,201 to 2,000 square foot house, the rural rate is about $3,850 more than the urban one.

To find the district, the county’s guide and calculator point to its InfoMap public viewer: turn on the Transportation Districts layer under Land Development and Restrictions, then search the parcel ID.

The rates index up 3.4 percent every January 1 under section 23-92 of the code. The January 1, 2026 rates are the December 2021 schedule after four of those steps, so a fifth is due January 1, 2027 unless the board changes course; on the suburban 1,201 to 2,000 square foot tier, that adds about $394.

Check the gross floor area rule before the plans are final. The code counts enclosed space under roof regardless of use, so ask the county whether it counts an attached garage on a single-family permit; if it does, an 1,800 square foot house with a 400 square foot garage measures 2,200 square feet and moves up a tier.

What is the Orange County school impact fee?

The school impact fee pays for school capacity for the School Board of Orange County and applies to residential construction throughout the county, inside cities as well as out. The county collects it in the unincorporated area, a city generally collects it within its limits, and either must pass it to the school board at least quarterly. The obligation to pay it runs with the land.

It is tiered by heated and cooled living area: $8,829 under 2,000 square feet, $9,513 from 2,000 to 2,499, $11,402 from 2,500 to 2,999, $12,015 from 3,000 to 3,999, and $9,584 at 4,000 square feet or more, which is less than the two tiers below it. A mobile home pays $9,132 and a townhouse $8,805. These rates took effect October 1, 2022 and are unchanged in the code as codified through July 2026.

The school fee exemptions that matter on a single lot:

• Housing for older persons that bars permanent residence by anyone under 18 through a recorded restriction and qualifies under the federal Housing for Older Persons Act; the fee can come due if it loses that status.
• Renovations or additions to a single-family house that add no more than 1,000 square feet and no dwelling unit.
• Replacing a dwelling unit on the same lot, if the original was on the site on January 1, 1993 or later. If the type or size differs, the exemption is limited to the fee for the original unit.
• A tie-down permit for a mobile home on a lot where the school fee has already been paid.
• An accessory dwelling unit.

What are Orange County water and sewer impact fees?

Orange County does not call them impact fees. Orange County Utilities assesses capital charges under Chapter 37 of the code on new connections to its water and wastewater systems: currently $2,790 per equivalent residential connection for water and $5,270 per equivalent residential unit for wastewater. There is no capital charge for a new reclaimed water connection.

A single-family home or townhome with a water meter under one inch counts as one of each, so it pays $8,060. A mobile home counts as 0.667 with one or two bedrooms and 0.833 with three or more, and a single-family home with a meter of one inch or larger is priced by fixture units.

The timing differs from the impact fees. Capital charges for new construction are due immediately before the building permit for vertical construction issues, at the charge in effect on the day they are paid, and the residential deferral form lists only the five impact fees. The calculator leaves them out, so ask the utility for the figure. If a project is not connected within two years and no longer has a valid building permit, the rights to service lapse and the charges are refunded without interest.

A well and septic are not always an option. The code generally requires new development inside the county’s urban service area and utility service area to connect where service is available. Where a lot does stay on a private well and septic, it makes no connection to the county system and these charges generally do not apply. Ask the utility which applies to the parcel.

How do you use the Orange County impact fee calculator?

The county’s impact fee calculator runs on its FastTrack online services site, linked from the Impact Fees at a Glance page. It prices the five fees one at a time: choose the land use and district for transportation, then the matching category for law enforcement, school, fire rescue and parks.

Treat it as a check, not a quote. The county says it prices fees as of the day it is used, leaves out utility capital charges and ignores exemptions and credits, and staff’s calculation controls if the two differ. For an estimate on a real project, ask the county’s Impact Fee Administration by phone or email. In order:

• Find the transportation district on the InfoMap layer.
• Measure the plans two ways: gross floor area for transportation, heated and cooled living area for school.
• Pick the categories: single-family detached for a site-built house or, under the county’s guidance, a manufactured home; mobile home for a mobile home.
• Add the utility capital charges if the lot will connect to county water or sewer.
• Check the dates: January 1 for transportation, May 1 for the other three flat fees.

Can you defer impact fees in Orange County?

Yes, for a single-family home or duplex. The Residential Deferred Impact Fee Application, filed with the impact fee office before the building permit issues, defers all five impact fees to the certificate of occupancy, with no service charge for a single-family residence. A mobile home can defer only its law enforcement fee; the others are generally due when its permit issues.

The form is short but formal: the building permit number, the parcel identification number and a notarized signature, plus a notarized agent authorization from the owner if someone else signs. By signing, the applicant agrees the fees are deferred until pre-power is authorized or the certificate of occupancy issues, whichever comes first, and that neither happens until the fees are paid.

Deferral moves the bill, not the rate. The rate is still set by the date of the legally sufficient application, and the code calculates a deferred school fee as the fee due on the day the permit issued. If a deferred transportation fee is still unpaid 14 days after the county demands it, the code lets the county collect interest, collection costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees, and the permit holder may be barred from pulling other permits until it is paid.

On a suburban 1,800 square foot spec house, the deferral keeps about $24,000 in the project until completion. Any water and sewer capital charges are still due before the permit.

When do Orange County impact fees go up?

The application locks the rate: fees are assessed at the rates in effect on the date a legally sufficient application is submitted, so one filed before an increase pays the old rate. Three dates matter over the next year:

• January 1, 2027: transportation rates index up 3.4 percent under the code.
• May 1, 2027: the code already sets the next parks, law enforcement and fire rescue rates. A single-family house goes to $2,534 for parks, $686 for law enforcement and $478 for fire rescue, $137 more in all; a mobile home goes to $1,910 for parks and $323 for law enforcement.
• School: no new step appears in the code as codified through July 2026, and the current rates date from October 1, 2022.

Do you pay impact fees to replace a mobile home in Orange County?

Often only the difference. Each of the five fee articles exempts the replacement of an existing structure and, where the replacement is a different land use, limits the exemption to the fee for the original. The look-back dates differ by fee: the original must have been on the site in 1983 or later for transportation, law enforcement and fire rescue, on January 1, 1993 or later for the school fee, and on January 1, 2006 or later for parks.

The exemption is claimed with the permit application. The county’s guide requires the demolition permit number on the building permit application and evidence that the previous use existed, and it grants exemption credits for the highest previous use at current rates.

Classification is the open question. The county’s residential guidance lists a manufactured home under single-family residence and a mobile home separately, while the parks ordinance defines a mobile home or manufactured home together. Get the county’s answer in writing on both the old unit and the new one, because the categories set the credit.

State law points the same way. Section 163.31801(14) of the Florida Statutes, added in 2025, bars an impact fee on replacing a structure with one of the same land use that adds no impact, and limits any fee to the difference when the replacement significantly increases size, intensity or capacity of use. It sets no look-back date, so ask the county how it applies both.

Worked example: a new spec house in the suburban district

Round dollars, from the tables above, for a suburban lot with the application in before January 1, 2027.

A new 1,800 square foot spec house with gross floor area of 2,000 square feet or less pays transportation $11,589, school $8,829, parks $2,434, law enforcement $665 and fire rescue $462, for $23,979. On county water and sewer, another $8,060 is due before the permit, for $32,039. With the residential deferral filed, the $23,979 moves to the certificate of occupancy.

If the county counts a 400 square foot enclosed garage, gross floor area reaches 2,200 square feet and transportation becomes $14,299, which makes the impact fees $26,689, or $2,710 more.

Worked example: replacing an old mobile home

Now set the same 1,800 square foot home as a manufactured home in place of an old single-wide mobile home of under 1,200 square feet that has stood on the lot since before 2006, and assume the county treats the new home as single-family and credits the old one at mobile home rates.

The impact fees come to $3,426 instead of $23,979, or $20,553 less, and only if the credit is documented and applied before the permit issues. The county makes the final calculation, and water and sewer depend on what the utility says about the old home’s connection. Fee by fee:

• Transportation: $11,589 for the new home less $9,114 for the old one, $2,475.
• School: $8,829, covered by a credit of up to $9,132 for the old mobile home, $0.
• Parks: $2,434 less $1,835, $599.
• Law enforcement: $665 less $313, $352.
• Fire rescue: $462 less $462, $0.

What to do next if you are buying a lot in Orange County

Price the fees before the offer. Pull the transportation district, confirm the jurisdiction and the utility, and size the house against both sets of tiers. On a lot with an old home, collect the property appraiser history and permit records that show when it was there.

Then plan the cash. Impact fees fall due at permit unless deferred, and construction draws are generally released against work completed and inspected, so the fees and any capital charges usually come from your own cash or a soft cost line a lender has agreed to fund. Entrusted Capital is a direct lender that funds land loans and manufactured home replacements in Florida with its own capital, and places ground up construction loans with institutional lenders; terms come from the person underwriting the file, and a quote starts on a soft pull.