What are impact fees? Impact fees are a funding mechanism that allows cities to recover the costs associated with new facilities or facility expansions in order to serve future development. These fees are utilized to assist in reducing the cost of needed infrastructure paid by existing customers through water and wastewater rates.

This procedure is established by the Texas Local Government Code Chapter 395 and sets forth the mandated requirements that the impact fees be based on a specific list of improvements and that they are re-evaluated every 5 years. These fees are based upon the value of the improvements divided by the growth attributed to new development. The City then discounts the maximum calculated impact fee by 50 percent as allowed by the regulations.

The City of Pearland has been developing impact fees for water and wastewater since 1997. In 2000, a separate impact fee was created for the Shadow Creek Ranch (SCR) area to better attribute the cost of development between the master planned community development of SCR and the remainder of the City.

Then in 2013, the City determined that it was in the best interest of the City to move to a single impact fee structure because the utility system function as one complete system and the original infrastructure that serves SCR now serves areas not within the SCR boundaries.

The impact fees are determined by the date of the plat (this determines which fee structure to utilize) and what the type of development will be utilized on the property.

The impact fees are calculated for the following types of scenarios:

1. The land has not been platted - The impact fees will be calculated based on the date of the plat utilizing the current impact fee structure and type of development.
   
   
2. Prior to August 22, 1997: The land has been platted and not developed - Impact fees will be calculated based the most current impact fee and utilize the fee structure in-place for the type of development proposed. 
   
   
3. After August 22, 1997: The land has been platted and not developed - Impact fees will be calculated based upon the date of the plat and utilize the fee structure in-place during that date of plat and the type of development proposed. 
   
   
4. The land has been platted with existing development and will be re-developed - Impact fees were calculated and previously paid based upon the date of the plat, the impact fee structure during that plat, and the type of development. The calculated and previously paid impact fee for the exiting development will be utilized to provide a credit for the proposed re-development. The re-development impact fee will be calculated under the impact fee structure for the date of the plat and the previously paid impact fee will be subtracted from the new impact fee.
   
   
5. The land has been platted with existing development and will be re-platted and re-developed - Impact fees were calculated and previously paid based upon the date of the plat, the impact fee structure during that plat, and the type of development. The calculated and previously paid impact fee of the exiting development will be utilized to provide a credit for the proposed re-development. The re-development impact fee will be calculated under the current impact fee structure, due to the new plat date, and the existing fee will be subtracted from the new fee.
   
   

Impact Fee Tables

Impact Fee Brochure