Building Permit Fees

Most people are shocked at how much permit fees are for new construction.  When building a new home the City or County that you are located in charges permit and impact fees.  The City of Loveland, City of Fort Collins, City of Windsor, Larimer County, and Weld County all have different formulas and fees.  It depends on which municipality your home is built in. 

Here is an example of a home built by Schroetlin Custom Homes in 2010.  The permit was issued by the City of Loveland.  This was for a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2 car garage, 1,600 sq ft ranch with no basement finish:

• $1,028   Building permit plan check fee
• $1,582   Building permit fee
• $125      Mechanical permit fee
• $140      Electrical permit fee
• $3,886   Use tax (3.8%)
• $25        Water tap
• $280      Water meter fee
• $650      Electrical underground
• $1,382    School fee
• $1,500   Electrical Impact fee
• $1,000   Raw water
• $4,600   Water impact fee
• $331       Storm water impact fee
• $2,590   Sewer impact fee
• $678       Fire protection
• $968       General government
• $881       Law enforcement
• $627       Library
• $505       Museum
• $778       Open lands
• $3,085   Parks
• $1,546    Recreation
• $2,170    Streets
• $489       Trails
• $75          Street inspection fee
• $75          Stormwater inspection fee

$31,162      Total permit and impact fees

Pretty amazing, isn’t it?  Keep in mind that some of the sales tax fees can be recouped when buying building materials for your new home.  These taxes are collected based off total construction costs.  When buying materials locally, suppliers charge a lower tax rate because of the building permit.  Depending on the location, the city tax and/or the county tax are eliminated.  Instead of approximately 7% sales tax, you will only pay 2.9% – 5%.  This is a common practice in all Cities and Counties.  Its purpose is to encourage purchasing through local suppliers.

Most Cities have higher permit and impact fees than if you’re building outside of City limits.  County permit fees are usually $8,000 – $12,000 but they do not include water or sewer.  A county water tap or a drilled well will cost around $20,000 or more depending on your location.  Sewer service is generally not available on County lots and you will need a septic system at the cost of $8,000 – $15,000.  This puts the overall permit, water and sewer costs for County lots as high as or higher than City costs.

As you can see, permit fees will affect the total price of your home.  If you are interested in building in a certain city or subdivision, we can give you more information about permit fees, water fees, sewer fees and any other factors to consider.

Visit our Main Website at www.schroetlin.com