Do Impact Fees Pay For The Infrastructure Costs Required By New Developments?

Abstract

This study investigated impact fees used by counties and communities to pay for infracture costs required by development and found that the impact fees do not pay the full costs of the infrastructure required by the new development. The major impact fees are for roads and schools, however, impact fees are also routinely used for fire protection, police protection, emergency services, correctional facilities, parks, libraries, government buildings and drainage.  Florida was used as a proxy for the 34 states that use impact fees. Since roads and schools cause the highest burden on the communities experiencing growth, comparisons of cost vs. impact fee revenues were limited to roads and schools.