The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners on Dec. 17 approved a resolution and ordinance raising water and wastewater impact fees, with the largest increases targeted to the county's South Central service area to fund major capacity projects.

County staff and consultants from Stantec told commissioners the increases were driven by substantial, continuing growth and dramatic increases in construction costs. Stantec said the county needs roughly $2 billion in additional water and wastewater infrastructure in the near term to serve projected demand and near‑term plant limits, and calculated new fees based on the cost of planned facilities. For South Central, the combined fee rises from about $5,865 per equivalent residential unit to roughly $13,270 under the consultants' full‑cost scenario, while Northwest increases are smaller and proposed to be phased in.

"We are approaching limitations of some of our existing facilities," Lisa Ray, director of Water Resources, said during the public hearing, urging the board to approve the demonstrated‑needs findings that allow a greater than 50% increase in the South Central service area.

Public commenters and industry representatives urged a phased approach to soften the immediate financial impact on builders and buyers and criticized the short public notice. "It took a lot of investigating on my part to figure out that residential and commercial would be treated the same," said Todd Josko of NAOP Tampa Bay, urging a four‑year phase‑in. Cammy Corbett, a land use attorney, said the presentation and data release left insufficient time for vetting.

Commissioners debated fairness to applicants already in the development pipeline and potential impacts on affordability. Several members said they preferred longer phase‑in options to balance immediate revenue needs and the effect on buyers; others noted legislative deadlines that constrained the county's options. Commissioner Myers moved for option 5 (a longer countywide phase‑in); after discussion the board adopted a two‑thirds vote requirement and carried the motion (2/3 vote required and recorded by staff). The board directed staff to honor applications already in the queue under existing practice.

The ordinance will take effect 90 days after adoption unless the board sets a different implementation schedule; staff presented multiple phase‑in options for final implementation timing.

The change aims to match growth‑related capacity costs to new development, but commissioners signaled follow‑up work: regular reviews of fee structure, examination of multifamily fee treatment, and monitoring to avoid shifting costs to existing ratepayers.