Collier commission raises water, sewer impact fees

Impact fees for both water and sewer services will be going up in Collier County starting this fall.

Collier commissioners Tuesday unanimously approved new impact fees for both utility services.

Starting Sept. 8, it will be $3,415 for each water connection and $3,515 for each wastewater connection. That’s a $655 increase for the water hookup and a $390 increase for a wastewater connection.

Estimates have county government generating $74.8 million in water impact fees and $76.4 million in wastewater impact fees in the next five years.

“The goal is to continue to have growth pay for growth,” said Tom Wides, operations director of the county’s public utilities department. “We’ll come back in two years and do an additional review of the (water and wastewater) impact fees.”

Impact fees are one-time assessments on new construction intended to make growth pay for itself.

They are assessed for each new home and business built in the county and paid by developers, who typically pass them on to consumers in the form of higher prices.

The county now relies on impact fees to pay for most of their improvements to utilities, roads and other public services.

Public Utilities Administrator Jim DeLony said the county now has 200 to 250 new accounts for water or wastewater each month.

An account is a new sewer or water connection. That usually means a new home or business has been built.

The county expects to average about 4,300 new accounts a year for the next five years, DeLony said.

Collier County recently completed a water and wastewater master plan that is supposed to adhere to the county’s goal of having growth pay for growth. That master plan also was approved by commissioners Tuesday.

The wastewater master plan calls for an additional 18.5 million gallons per day of treatment capacity over the next 10 years.

The water master plan recommends an additional 32.75 million gallons of water plant capacity over the same 10-year period.

County officials expect to spend $349 million on water expenditures and $301 million on wastewater costs in the next five years.

Collier now has 10 impact fees. The fees also are charged for roads, parks, schools, fire departments, jail facilities and emergency medical services, government buildings and law enforcement. The cost of all the impact fees is now about $30,000 for someone building a 2,000-square-foot single-family home.

Impact fees have been a source of tension between Collier County officials and the local building industry.

Building officials complain the county has too many impact fees, and those fees are too high.