By the Mountain Cove Homes team · Miami, Florida
An impact fee is not a cost of the house, it is a cost of the neighborhood the house joins. The county collects it before a building permit is issued, and whether it appears on a line the buyer reads depends on how the price is built.
Miami-Dade impact fees new construction buyers hear about are charges on a new home that help pay for the roads, schools, parks, and public safety services a new home adds demand to. They are set by ordinance, collected by more than one government, and carried into the price in a way that only the contract can show.
This guide explains what the fees are, who collects each one, when they are paid, and how to ask where they sit in your price. The guide to the full townhome vs single family home Miami comparison places them beside the other costs of ownership, and the closing costs on new construction in Miami-Dade covers what comes later at the table.
What an Impact Fee Is
An impact fee is a charge on new construction, and the law that allows it also limits it. The details matter, because they explain what the fee can pay for and how fast it can change.
What Florida Law Requires of It
Florida’s impact fee statute requires the fee to be proportional and reasonably connected to the need for additional capital facilities that new construction creates. It must also be proportional and reasonably connected to how the money is spent, and the funds must be earmarked for acquiring, constructing, or improving capital facilities that benefit the new users.
In plain terms, the statute ties the fee to the capital needs that new construction creates. It also bars using the revenue to pay existing debt or previously approved projects unless there is a rational nexus to the impact of the new construction.
What the County Says It Funds
Miami-Dade County describes impact fees as paid by developers to help fund the added services that new development requires, such as roads, parks, schools, and public safety. The county’s impact fee page lists five types: mobility, fire and emergency services, police services, parks, and educational facilities.
Why Two Communities Can Differ
The statute also requires a credit against the fee for certain contributions toward public facilities, including monetary contributions, land dedication, site planning and design, or construction. The credit is applied dollar for dollar at fair market value.
That is one reason two communities in the same county can carry different net fees. What a developer contributed to the public facilities around a community can change what is owed, and the permit record is where that shows.
What an Impact Fee Is Not
An impact fee is not a closing cost. It is paid before the permit is issued, which comes before construction begins and long before anyone sits at a closing table.
It is also not the same thing as a water and sewer connection charge. The county’s page says those charges are separate and are not county impact fees, and the guide to sewer or septic on a homesite covers what to check on that side.
Why Impact Fees Matter More in Miami-Dade
Miami-Dade is a county of many governments, and that decides who collects each fee. The same lot can owe one fee to the county and another to a city, depending on where it sits.
In a market shaped by storm exposure, flood zones, and permit reviews, a new home carries costs that an existing home absorbed years ago. Impact fees are one more line that generally belongs to new construction, because the statute frames them around the impact of new residential and commercial construction.
Buyers compare floor plans and finishes because those are printed on the page. The fees that were paid before the first wall went up are printed on a permit record that few buyers ask to see.
Miami-Dade Impact Fees New Construction: The Five Fee Lines
The county’s impact fee page names five fee types and says who collects each one. The table below follows that page as read in October 2026.
| Fee line | Who collects it | Where it can differ |
|---|---|---|
| Mobility (roads, bike, and transit) | Miami-Dade County, countywide | The rate schedule varies by location |
| Fire and emergency services | The county for all municipalities except Miami, Miami Beach, Hialeah, Coral Gables, and Key Biscayne | Those five run their own fire departments |
| Police services | Usually the city directly | The county collects only where it contracts to do so, currently Palmetto Bay and Miami Lakes |
| Parks | Usually the city directly | The county collects only where it contracts to do so, currently Palmetto Bay and Miami Lakes |
| Educational facilities | Miami-Dade County, countywide | No difference by city |
The same page says that some cities have impact fee requirements of their own and tells the reader to contact the city that has jurisdiction over the property. Treat the table as a map of who collects what, not as a statement about any one lot.
How the County Assesses Them
The county reviews each application for the size and type of land use and assesses a fee if one applies. The page says an assessment can take minutes for a home addition and up to 48 hours for a large housing development.
When They Are Paid
The county’s page says impact fees must be paid before a building permit is issued, and that no permit is issued until they are paid in full. For a buyer, that timing matters: the fee is settled before the permit is issued, long before closing, and it reaches you, if it does, through the price and not through a bill at the table.
What Happens If a Permit Expires
The county’s page says a partial refund may be issued to the fee payer of record if a permit expires or is revoked before final inspection, and that the administrative charge is not refundable. If a permit expires, previously paid fees do not need to be paid again, unless new fees have taken effect or rates have increased.
That rule shows how much the date on a permit matters. A fee is tied to the schedule in force when it was paid, and a lapse can change which schedule applies.
What the Rate Schedule Shows
The county publishes a Miami-Dade County Impact Fees Rate Schedule that sets the rates by land use. This guide does not reproduce the figures, because the schedule’s layout and its date headers need a careful read, and a number copied into an article can be out of date the day the county updates the table.
Detached and Attached Are Separate Lines
The residential section of the schedule lists Single-Family Detached and Single-Family Attached as separate land uses, each with its own rates per unit, alongside several multi-family categories. The type of home can therefore change the fee, and the right row is the one for the category the county assigns to the home.
Which category a specific home falls under is shown on the permit record, not on a community page or a floor plan.
Zones and Districts
The schedule’s column headers include four context zones, numbered 1 through 4, and three districts labeled North, Middle, and South. The rate for a home therefore depends on where in the county it sits, and the same home can carry different fees in different places.
Ask which zone and district the lot sits in, and read the row for that combination in the schedule itself.
The Administrative Fee
The schedule’s footnote says the mobility rates shown do not include a 2 percent administrative fee. A number read off the schedule is therefore a starting point for the mobility line and not the final amount.
The schedule also shows effective dates, with date headers that run through December 30, 2027. Check the version in force on the day you ask, because the county can update it.
Who Ends Up Paying
Formally, the county describes impact fees as paid by developers, and it requires payment before the permit is issued. Whether that cost reaches you, and how, depends on the price sheet and the purchase agreement.
The Fee Can Sit Inside the Price
A builder may build the fee into the base price. In that case the buyer never sees a separate line, and a comparison between two builders has to ask what each base price includes.
The Fee Can Be Added to the Price
A builder may list the fee as a separate line. In that case it is visible, and it belongs in the same column as the lot premium and the options in the guide to how to read a base price and lot premium.
The Contract Decides
Neither approach is automatically better. The purchase agreement states which one applies, and the guide to how the new construction purchase agreement is built covers where those terms sit.
How Fast a Fee Can Change
Florida’s statute puts limits on increases that matter to a buyer waiting on a permit. A new or increased impact fee needs at least 90 days’ notice before it takes effect, and it generally may not apply to permit applications that were filed earlier.
The statute also limits how far and how often a fee can rise. An increase of up to 25 percent is phased in over two equal annual steps, an increase above 25 percent and up to 50 percent is phased in over four equal installments, an increase may not exceed 50 percent of the current rate, and a fee may not be increased more than once every four years.
Those limits are the reason to ask when the permit was applied for and which schedule applies to it. A fee schedule is a rule with a date on it.
Impact Fees Are Not Closing Costs
The two get confused because both appear in the total cost of a new home. They happen at different times, to different parties, for different reasons.
An impact fee is a government charge paid before the permit is issued. A closing cost is a charge paid when the purchase closes, and the guide to closing costs lists what the buyer pays at the table.
A loan is a third thing. The guide to pre-construction home financing in Florida covers the loan side of the same purchase, and it is a separate conversation from either charge.
What Is Not an Advantage
A low impact fee is not a low price. It is one line in a column that also holds the lot premium, the options, the closing costs, and the recurring bills.
A missing impact fee line is not a missing impact fee. If the price sheet does not show one, the fee may be inside the base price, and the only way to know is to ask.
An exemption is not a discount you can claim. The county’s page lists exemptions for accessory structures such as sheds and swimming pools and for qualifying affordable and workforce housing, and it tells readers to check with the Impact Fee Section. Whether any of them applies to a particular home is a question for the county.
No HOA and no CDD tax do not remove impact fees. As of October 2026, the community page for Golden Park describes 18 single-family pre-construction homes with no HOA and no CDD tax, and neither fact says anything about the permit stage, because those are separate lines.
How to Ask About Impact Fees Before You Reserve
Asking is a document request, not a negotiation. Four questions cover most of it.
Ask which government collects each fee
Ask which jurisdiction the lot sits in, and whether the county or a city collects the fire, police, and parks fees. If the lot is inside a city, ask that city whether it has impact fee requirements of its own, and see how setbacks and lot coverage differ by jurisdiction for the same question applied to lot rules.
Ask whether the fee is inside the price or added to it
Ask where the impact fees appear on the price sheet and in the purchase agreement. If the answer is that they are included, ask for that in writing.
Ask which schedule applies and when the permit was applied for
Ask for the date of the permit application and the schedule version the county used. The statute’s notice rules make the date matter.
Ask for the permit record
The permit record shows what the county assessed and what was paid. The communities you can compare today are the place to start the requests.
Warning Signs on Fees
A seller who cannot say who collects each fee is the first warning sign. If the answer is a single number with no names attached, the answer is not yet an answer.
A price that says all fees are included, with no list of what that means, is the second. So is a price sheet that mixes a base price for one home with a loaded price for another.
An answer that changes depending on who is asked is the third. A promise that lives only in a sales conversation does not live in the contract.
A refusal to put the answer in writing is the fourth. Vague numbers at the start rarely get clearer at the closing table.
Questions to Ask Before You Reserve
Bring the same list to every sales appointment, and write the answers down.
- Which jurisdiction does this lot sit in, and which fees does the county collect?
- Does a city collect the police, parks, or fire fee on this lot?
- Where do the impact fees appear on the price sheet and in the contract?
- Are they included in the base price, or added to it?
- Which land use category did the county assign to this home?
- Which version of the rate schedule applies, and when was the permit applied for?
- Does any exemption apply to this home, and who decided that?
- Which costs are paid at closing, and which were paid before the permit?
Frequently Asked Questions
What are impact fees on new construction in Miami-Dade?
They are charges on new construction that help pay for the added demand on roads, parks, schools, and public safety. The county lists five types: mobility, fire and emergency services, police services, parks, and educational facilities.
Who pays impact fees on a new home?
Formally, the county describes them as paid by developers, before the permit is issued. Whether the cost is inside the base price or added as a line depends on the price sheet and the purchase agreement.
Are impact fees the same as closing costs?
No. Impact fees are paid before the building permit is issued, and closing costs are paid when the purchase closes. They appear at different times and are paid for different reasons.
When are impact fees paid?
The county says they must be paid before a building permit is issued, and in full. For a buyer, that means they were settled long before the closing date.
Are impact fees different for a townhome and a single-family home?
The county’s rate schedule lists Single-Family Detached and Single-Family Attached as separate residential land uses, each with its own rates. Ask which category the county assigned to the home, and read that row.
Can impact fees change after you reserve?
Fee schedules can change, but Florida requires at least 90 days’ notice before a new or increased fee takes effect, and it limits how far and how often a fee can rise. How a change would affect your price depends on the purchase agreement.
An impact fee is a bill the neighborhood sends to the house, and the contract decides who carries it. Ask which line holds it, and the rest of the price sheet becomes easier to read.
This article is general information about impact fees on new construction in Miami-Dade County. It is not legal, tax or financial advice, and it does not describe any particular property, permit or community. Fee schedules, ordinances and exemptions change, and what applies to a specific home depends on its jurisdiction, its land use and its permit. Verify your own numbers with the Miami-Dade Impact Fee Section or the city that governs the lot, a Florida real estate attorney and your lender before making a purchase decision.
Mountain Cove Homes also publishes additional legal disclaimers.
About Mountain Cove Homes. Mountain Cove Homes is a boutique home builder based in Miami, Florida, building single-family homes and townhomes in small communities across Miami-Dade County. Its personnel have been constructing homes in South Florida since the early 1980s. More about how the company works and where it builds.
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Mountain Cove Homes is a boutique home builder in Miami, Florida, building single-family homes and townhomes in small communities across Miami-Dade County — most of them with no HOA and no CDD tax. If you want to walk through lot availability, pricing, and what is included at this stage of construction, we will give you the numbers directly.
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