Calculators: Central Florida New Home Fee Calculator

Before a new house goes up in Central Florida, the county collects impact fees for schools, roads, parks, and public safety. Water and sewer connection fees and the building permit come on top of that. Together they range from about $10,000 in Brevard to more than $48,000 in Osceola for a typical home. This calculator adds them up using each county’s own published schedule.

Central Florida New Home Fee Calculator

Impact fees, water and sewer connection fees, and an estimate of the building permit for a new single-family home in unincorporated Orange, Seminole, Osceola, Lake, Polk, Volusia, or Brevard County.

Heated and cooled space. Impact fees are based on this.
Some counties charge permit fees on all space under roof.
Counties that charge by value use the higher of your contract price or their own value table.
Impact fees, from county schedules
Schools$0
Roads and mobility$0
Parks$0
Fire, EMS, law enforcement, and other$0
Total impact fees$0
Utilities
Water and sewer connection$0
Estimate
Building permit, plan review, and trade permits$0
Total county fees$0

How this works: Impact fees come straight from each county’s published single-family schedule for unincorporated areas. Inside a city, the city often charges its own road, parks, fire, or police fees instead of the county’s, so check with the city. Replacing a home that already existed on the lot is exempt from impact fees under Florida’s Impact Fee Act, F.S. 163.31801(14), as long as the use stays the same. Water and sewer connection fees are not covered by that exemption, though many utilities credit an existing connection.

The permit is an estimate. It applies each county’s published formula, but counties that charge by construction value use their own value tables, and the result can differ from what the county calculates. It doesn’t include septic and well permits, the septic system itself, driveway or tree permits, or surveys. See the hidden costs of building a house for those, and impact fees by county for how each fee works.

How to use the calculator

Pick the county first. Where the county charges different road fees in different parts of the county, a second row of buttons appears for the fee area. In Orange County, you can look up your area on the county’s InfoMap by turning on the Transportation Districts layer and searching your parcel ID. In other counties, the planning or impact fee office can tell you. Then enter the home’s living area, meaning heated and cooled space, since that’s what most impact fees are based on. Add the garage, porches, and lanai separately, because Osceola, Lake, and Polk charge permit fees on everything under roof.

If the home will connect to public water and sewer, the connection fee is filled in for the county utility. Change it if a city or another utility serves the lot. Choose “Well and septic” for a rural lot. Septic and well permits and the septic system itself aren’t included, and the hidden costs guide covers them. If you’re tearing down an existing home and building a new one in its place, choose “Yes, replacement.” Florida law exempts a replacement home from impact fees, but you’ll need proof that the old home existed.

The impact fees come straight from each county’s published schedule. The building permit line is an estimate, because counties that charge by construction value use their own tables. Enter your builder’s contract price if you have one, since some counties use the higher of the two. As an example, a 2,000-square-foot home on county water and sewer in Orange County’s suburban area comes to about $33,900: $24,663 in impact fees, $8,060 in utility fees, and about $1,200 for the permit. The same home in Brevard pays $9,838 in impact fees plus about $1,750 for the permit, before utility fees. For what each fee pays for, see impact fees by county, and for the full budget, see what it costs to build a house in Central Florida.

Frequently Asked Questions

The main ones are county impact fees for schools, roads, parks, and public safety; water and sewer connection fees if the home connects to public utilities; and the building permit with its plan review and trade permits. For a 2,000-square-foot home in unincorporated areas, impact fees alone range from about $9,800 in Brevard to $37,700 in Osceola.

Osceola County, at $37,718 for a single-family home in most of the unincorporated county, mostly from its mobility fee. Brevard is the lowest of the seven at $9,838, under a schedule that dates from 2017.

In some counties. Orange, Seminole, Lake, and Volusia charge by living area, so a smaller home pays less. Osceola, Polk, and Brevard charge the same fee for every single-family home, whatever its size.

Generally no. Florida’s Impact Fee Act, F.S. 163.31801(14), bars impact fees for replacing a structure that already existed, as long as the use stays the same. You will need proof the earlier home existed. Water and sewer connection fees are not covered by that rule.

Florida law says a county can’t collect impact fees before it issues the building permit. Ask your county when it collects them, because the timing affects how much cash you need at the start of the build.

Often. County school impact fees apply countywide, but many cities charge their own road, parks, fire, or police fees in place of the county’s, and some charge more. Check with the city’s building or planning department for a home inside city limits.

Several are. Polk’s fees step up on January 1, 2027, Lake’s on January 2, 2027, and Brevard is considering an increase of about 47% that could start phasing in from 2027. Florida law limits most increases to 50% and requires them to be phased in over two to four years.

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This article is for general informational purposes only and isn’t financial, legal, insurance, or tax advice – for guidance specific to your situation, talk to a licensed professional.