Irvine, CA Development Impact Fees (2026)

Residential builder fees in Irvine, CA (Orange County) come from FOUR separate agencies; a builder pays the relevant ones cumulatively. CITY OF IRVINE (Master Fee Schedule "Schedule I", CC Resolution Nos. 24-41 & 25-78, effective Aug 15, 2025): - Systems Development Charge = 1% of building valuation (Muni Code 2-9-601). This is valuation-based, NOT a flat per-unit dollar amount, so no fixed per-DU figure can be quoted; for a typical SFD it is roughly 1% of ICC-table construction valuation. Reported as a row with amount 0 / excludeFromTotal note because it cannot be expressed as a fixed dollar without a valuation. - "Slurry Seal Fee for Road Wear and Tear" (Muni Code 6-3-320): residential $0.04/sq ft, capped at a MAXIMUM of $65/unit (both detached and attached). This is the city's residential transportation/street fee. Tiny. - Park Fee (Muni Code 5-5-1004.E2): Irvine satisfies parkland obligations primarily via Quimby Act land dedication or an IN-LIEU fee "based on an appraisal of the land" — there is NO flat per-dwelling-unit park impact fee dollar amount published; it is project- and appraisal-specific. OMITTED as a numeric fee (cannot verify a fixed $). - "Citywide Development Impact Fee" (Res 25-78): despite the name, the schedule lists rates ONLY for "Focus Area 1 (Greater Irvine Business Complex Area)" at $5.34/sq ft residential. This applies ONLY to development inside the IBC focus area, NOT to typical Irvine single-family neighborhoods, so it is included as excludeFromTotal=true (geographically limited variant). - Affordable Housing In-Lieu Fee (Zoning Code 2-3-5): exists but is negotiated/inclusionary-based; no universal flat per-unit figure published. Note: a 2025 development agreement (PA 25) set a "public benefit fee" of $14,732.36/residential unit minimum, but that is a project-specific negotiated DA payment, not a citywide impact fee — OMITTED from numeric rows. TRANSPORTATION CORRIDOR AGENCIES (TCA / The Toll Roads) — Major Thoroughfare & Bridge Fee Program, FY2026 rates effective July 1, 2025. Irvine is a member agency; this is the primary "roads/transportation" impact fee a residential builder pays. Amount depends on which corridor and zone (A/B) the parcel lies in: San Joaquin Hills TCA SF $6,722 (Zone A) / $5,209 (Zone B); Foothill/Eastern TCA SF $6,756 (A) / $4,806 (B). Multifamily $2,802-$3,943/unit. One representative used as primary (SJHTCA Zone A SF); other zones/corridors marked excludeFromTotal. IRVINE RANCH WATER DISTRICT (IRWD) — Schedule of Rates and Charges effective July 1, 2025 (FY2025-26). Water and sewer CONNECTION fees are per dwelling unit and vary by Improvement District and density (DU/acre). Default district = 111 (water) / 222 (sewer) "All others"; lowest density 0-5.8 DU/acre is typical for single-family detached. Primary rows use District 111/222 at 0-5.8 DU/acre. Higher-density tiers and other improvement districts shown as excludeFromTotal variants. Also a one-time "Interim water service charge" $43.15/connection (additive).

Note

not all of Irvine is served by IRWD (small areas by other districts), but IRWD covers the large majority.

Schools

California prohibits cities from charging school impact fees; instead the SCHOOL DISTRICT levies a statutory Level 1 facilities fee per assessable sq ft. Most of Irvine is in Irvine Unified School District (IUSD); portions fall in Tustin USD, Santa Ana USD, or Saddleback Valley USD. IUSD adopted Level 1 = $5.17/sq ft (effective June 8, 2024, per IUSD 2024-25 Developer Fee Report).

Note

On Jan 28, 2026 the State Allocation Board raised the statutory MAXIMUM Level 1 fee to $5.38/sq ft; whether IUSD has yet adopted $5.38 is not confirmed in the published IUSD report, so the verified adopted rate ($5.17) is primary and $5.38 (statewide max) is included as an excluded reference row. Areas inside IUSD Community Facilities Districts (CFD Nos. 85-1, 86-1) are EXEMPT from the school fee (Mello-Roos special tax applies instead — out of scope). DOES NOT EXIST / NOT FOUND as a flat per-unit Irvine city impact fee: separate police impact fee, fire impact fee, library impact fee, general/capital facilities impact fee, drainage impact fee, open-space impact fee. Irvine funds much of its public infrastructure through CFD/Mello-Roos special taxes (out of scope) and developer dedications/development agreements rather than standardized per-DU impact fees. Mello-Roos/CFD special taxes are explicitly out of scope and not included.

Verify

confirmed 17 of 17 rows; dropped 0. Every amount and sourceQuote was independently re-fetched and matched verbatim against the cited primary documents: TCA FY2026 rate sheet (all four corridor/zone SF rates $6,722/$5,209/$6,756/$4,806 and SJHTCA Zone A MF $3,915 confirmed; Irvine confirmed as a TCA member agency); IRWD FY2025-26 Schedule (water Dist 111 tiers $5,985/$5,278/$4,474/$3,778, sewer Dist 222 tiers $11,310/$10,065/$8,285/$6,535, interim service water charge $43.15/connection, effective July 1, 2025 confirmed); City of Irvine Master Fee Schedule Schedule I (slurry seal detached $0.04/$65 and attached $0.04/$65, Citywide DIF Focus Area 1 residential $5.34, Systems Development Charge 1% of Valuation per MC 2-9-601, effective Aug 15, 2025 confirmed); IUSD 2024-25 Developer Fee Report (Level I Residential June 8 2024-June 30 2025 = $5.17/sq ft confirmed; per-DU row $11,374 = 2,200 sq ft x $5.17 arithmetic verified, not double-counted with the excluded per-sqft row); AALRR alert (SAB $5.17 to $5.38/sq ft increase Jan 28 2026 confirmed, kept at medium confidence because IUSD has not adopted $5.38 and the quoted phrasing differs slightly from the source's "Residential Construction: $5.17 to $5.38 per square foot of assessable space"). All 8 source URLs return HTTP 200. excludeFromTotal corrections: NONE needed — all flags were already correct. The six representative SFD primary (non-excluded) rows are TCA SJHTCA Zone A SF $6,722 + Slurry Seal $65 + IRWD water $5,985 + IRWD sewer $11,310 + interim $43.15 + IUSD school $11,374 = ~$35,499 baseline, with no double-counting (every alternate zone/corridor, multifamily, high-density tier, the per-sqft school duplicate, the geographically-limited Focus Area DIF, and the valuation-based SDC are correctly excludeFromTotal=true).