Impact Fees

The information provided below is a general summary of the County=s impact fee assessment and collection process. The specific regulations, contained in the Broward County Land Development Code, have been adopted by ordinance of the County Commission and cannot be superseded by this presentation of information.  Please consult with staff of the Development Management Division for details. 

Please note that effective April 27, 2005, Transit Oriented Concurrency fees are assessed on most building permits and these fees are not impact fees. Please see  Transit Oriented Concurrency for an explanation of these fees.

COUNTY IMPACT FEES - HOW THEY ARE ASSESSED?

Impact fees are one-time assessments levied on new development, to offset the impact of the development on the capital cost of providing regional services and infrastructure in Broward County. The County assesses the following types of impact fees:

Impact Fee Type	Assessed For	When Paid*
Road	All development located within the Northwest & Southwest Concurrency Districts and development located within plats approved between March 1, 1979 through April 26, 2005	Prior to Environmental Resources License approval by the Broward County Development Management Division*
Educational (School)	Residential development	Prior to Environmental Resource License approval by the Broward County Development Management Division*
Regional Recreational (Park)	Residential development requiring platting (Countywide) or unincorporated site plans and building permits	Prior to plat recordation or prior to the issuance of a building permit with an approved Developer’s Agreement
Local Recreational (Park)	Unincorporated residential development requiring platting or unincorporated site plans and building permits	Prior to plat recordation or prior to the issuance of a building permit

*If there is a pre-existing developer’s agreement, securing impact fees for a plat, the fees are due prior to the issuance of a building permit. The amount of the fee may be different from the fee indicated in the current schedules.  Please check with our staff to determine if your property is covered by a developer’s agreement and to verify the amount of the fees.

Road and educational impact fees are assessed and paid prior to obtaining Environmental Resource License approval from the Broward County Development Management Division.  Recreational impact fees are assessed through the platting process or through the site plan/building permit process in the unincorporated area and are due prior to plat recordation or prior to the issuance of a building permit.

Each municipality in Broward County may have its own type of impact fees for local parks, fire, police, sewer, water, etc.  Additionally, Broward County’s Water and Wastewater Services Division assesses fees for water and sewer connections for those areas of the county to which they provide services.

Please be advised that Broward County school, park, and road impact fees escalate every October 1st based on the Implicit Price Deflator of the Gross National Product.  The new schedules are generally available one month prior to the escalation.

All school and park impact fees assessed by Broward County are based on the type of dwelling unit and the number of bedrooms*.

* A “bedroom” is defined as a room which complies with the light and ventilation and minimum dimensions for sleeping rooms requirements as set forth within the South Florida Building Code, Broward Edition or applicable successor building code and which room has an area for a closet whether or not such closet area has permanent or temporary doors.

The current County School Impact Fee Schedule and Park Impact Fee Schedule are available at our office or can be accessed by clicking on the above links.

County road impact fees are assessed for building permits located within the Northwest and Southwest Concurrency Districts. The fees are determined by a formula that calculates the number of peak hour trips generated by the proposed land use that is located within a particular road assessment zone. The Road Impact Fee Schedule is divided into 4 land use categories: residential, office, commercial, and industrial uses. In addition an administrative fee of 3.1% is applied to all road impact fee calculations.

In addition, County road impact fees may also be assessed for plats approved between March 1, 1979 and April 26, 2005.  It is recommended that you consult with County staff to determine if your property is within a plat approved within this time frame and if fees are due.

IMPACT FEE PAYMENTS

Impact fee payments made to Broward County are collected at the Development Management Division, a Division of the Department of Planning and Environmental Protection. We are currently located in Room A240 of the Broward County Governmental Center Annex at 115 South Andrews Avenue in Downtown Fort Lauderdale (the southeast corner of Andrews Avenue and Broward Boulevard). Prior to making a payment, please contact staff to verify the correct amount and the documentation required.

The following information is required to submit a payment of impact fees:

For residential payments:
• Copy of current sealed survey including the sketch and legal description of the property (certified within the last 6 months).
• Copy of approved site plan showing the number and type of dwelling units.
• Copy of building plans indicating the number of bedrooms.
• Building identification: address, number, letter, or name.
• Other evidence may be accepted; please consult with staff.

For non-residential payments:
• Copy of current sealed survey with sketch and legal description of the property (certified within the last 6 months) showing the gross square footage of any existing structures.
• Copy of approved site plan showing the gross square footage of all proposed structures, including covered outdoor restaurant seating, covered fast food drive-thru’s, canopy over bank drive-thru’s, and the canopy over covered gasoline pumps.
• Building identification: address, number, letter, or name.
• Other evidence may be accepted, please consult with staff.

IMPACT FEE CREDIT

Full or partial credit may be applied towards impact fees, if the applicant provides evidence acceptable to staff that an existing or recently demolished structure(s) was demolished or will be demolished within 18 months of impact fee assessment.  Please contact Development Management staff as to what evidence is acceptable.

LIEN AND SECURITY RELEASES

The Development Management Division administers impact fee agreements which defer the payment of impact fees until prior to the issuance of building permit. Impact fee agreements are normally secured by a lien on the property or by a letter of credit. After a payment is made the security can be released in whole, if the payment is for the entire amount, or in part, if payment is for a partial amount.

Requests for security releases are processed by the Development Management Division. These requests are normally forwarded to the Division in writing or can accompany an impact fee payment. There are processing and recordation fees associated with this type of request.

A full legal description of the property is required to process a release. In some instances, the legal description must be recorded with the release. Please contact staff to determine the correct recording fees required.

A processing fee (Security Release Fee) and recordation fee is charged for a partial or full release of security. The appropriate processing fee is shown on the Application Fee Schedule. Recordation fees are charged by the Recording Division. Please contact staff to determine the correct recording fees required. All Recording Fees must be submitted as a separate check. All checks are made payable to “Broward Board of County Commissioners.”

In most cases, it takes approximately one (1) month to process a security release from the date it is received. You may check the County Records Division website to see if your release has been recorded.

The Development Management Division also responds to requests to replace securities and for information regarding the current status of impact fee agreements. Fees are also charged for these services. Please contact us for more details.