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County staff outlines updates for seven impact‑fee studies, proposes phased annual review
Summary
County impact‑fee manager presented status of seven fee studies — roads, EMS, government buildings, correctional facilities, law enforcement, libraries and parks — and recommended an approach that phases legislative changes and introduces regular annual updates. The board accepted the update and approved the approach unanimously.
Collier County staff briefed commissioners on the status of seven impact‑fee studies and proposed an approach for finalizing and maintaining the county’s impact‑fee schedule.
Impact fee manager Gino Santa Barbara said county consultants (Alfred Benesch & Company) and legal counsel are completing technical work and that new state legislative requirements have changed how fees must be calculated and indexed. Staff proposed phasing the required legislative changes first and then instituting a regular program in which two impact‑fee studies would be updated each year beginning in 2029, with interim updates timed to meet statutory schedules established by recent bills.
Santa Barbara provided worked examples for common permit types. For example, he showed a sample single‑family home under 4,000 square feet would move from a current combined impact fee of $23,006.29 to a proposed $23,584 (a 2.52 percent change), and another larger single‑family category would change from $25,617 to $26,284. He showed a retail example in which retail per‑square‑foot fees would decline from $13.48 per square foot to $10.52 under the current methodology changes, while some office and industrial examples would see modest increases.
Santa Barbara said staff will coordinate with the Development Services Advisory Committee and the Collier Building Industry Association (CBIA) to gather stakeholder input. Amelia Vasquez of the Collier Building Industry Association told commissioners the association would convene its usual task force and collaborate with staff and DSAC.
The board voted unanimously to accept the staff update and to approve the recommended approach to finalizing the studies and implementing a phased update program.
Why it matters: impact fees affect the upfront cost of developing housing and commercial space. The staff’s recommended program seeks to meet new legal requirements, provide predictability for developers and establish a recurring update cycle to keep fees aligned with needs and costs.
