Brighton, CO Development Impact Fees (2026)
Normalized development impact fees, water & sewer connection (tap/SDC) fees, and mitigation fees for Brighton, Colorado — per dwelling unit, by category, with links to every official source.
What a single-family home pays in Brighton
$40,634 total per unit across 7 fee categories.
- Water connection (tap / SDC)$18,691
- Sewer connection (tap / SDC)$6,907
- Drainage / stormwater$5,488
- Parks & recreation$4,126
- Transportation / roads$3,638
- General government / capital$1,096
- Fire / EMS$688
Brighton’s $40,634 is close to the Colorado tracked median of $38,504.
Full fee schedule — single-family
Impact / development fees
| Fee (local term) | Basis | Amount | Source · effective |
|---|---|---|---|
Parks & recreation Community Park Impact Fee — Additive with Neighborhood Park fee. 'Residential Housing' = building with one or more dwelling units each with its own meter (includes single-family detached). Verified verbatim in Attachment 14. | per dwelling unit | $2,063 | City of Brighton, Colorado Jan 1, 2026High |
Parks & recreation Neighborhood Park Impact Fee — Additive with Community Park fee (separate line item). Combined park impact fees = $4,126/unit. Verified verbatim in Attachment 14. | per dwelling unit | $2,063 | City of Brighton, Colorado Jan 1, 2026High |
Transportation / roads Transportation and Multimodal Impact Fee — Verified verbatim in Attachment 14. | per dwelling unit | $3,638 | City of Brighton, Colorado Jan 1, 2026High |
General government / capital General Services Impact Fee — General government/capital facilities impact fee (folds in police/library/etc. impacts). Verified verbatim in Attachment 14. | per dwelling unit | $1,096 | City of Brighton, Colorado Jan 1, 2026High |
Drainage / stormwater Storm Drainage Impact Fee — Applies outside the South Beebe Draw Metropolitan District; properties inside that district pay the district's own drainage fee instead. Verified verbatim in Attachment 14. | per dwelling unit | $5,488 | City of Brighton, Colorado Jan 1, 2026High |
Fire / EMS Greater Brighton Fire Protection District Emergency Services Impact Fee - Single Family — SEPARATE DISTRICT: Greater Brighton Fire Protection District impact fee, assessed/collected by the City via intergovernmental agreement and remitted to the District. Schedule effective Jan 1, 2018 (per Sept 2017 nexus study); a builder in Brighton pays this. Listed on the City's Adopted Fee Regulations page. Verified verbatim in IGA Attachment 1. | per dwelling unit | $688 | Greater Brighton Fire Protection District / City of Brighton Jan 1, 2018Highdated 2018 |
Water & sewer connection fees
| Fee (local term) | Basis | Amount | Source · effective |
|---|---|---|---|
Water connection (tap / SDC) Water Impact Fee (0.75" tap, water rights dedicated to City) — Plant-investment-style water tap/impact fee for standard 0.75" residential meter, base scenario where developer DEDICATES water rights to the City. Source states 'Water dedication will be required for all development unless a previous agreement is on file' — dedication is the standard/default. Larger meter sizes priced higher (1"=$30,671, 2"=$98,148). Verified verbatim in Attachment 14. | per meter | $18,403 | City of Brighton, Colorado Jan 1, 2026High |
Water connection (tap / SDC) Water Impact Fee (0.75" tap, fee-in-lieu of water rights dedication) — Alternative pathway (lower tap fee) used only when an exception/agreement allows cash fee-in-lieu of dedicating water rights. Mutually exclusive with the $18,403 dedicated-rights tap fee; if used, a large per-unit 'Fee-in-Lieu of Water Dedication' ($41,189/unit at 0-3 units/acre) ALSO applies on top. Verified verbatim in Attachment 14. alternative · not added to total | per meter | $15,227 | City of Brighton, Colorado Jan 1, 2026High |
Water connection (tap / SDC) Fee-in-Lieu of Water Dedication (detached residential, 0-3 units/acre) — Charged IN ADDITION to the fee-in-lieu tap fee, but ONLY when developer does not dedicate physical water rights and an agreement allows cash. Tiered by density (>3-4: $39,901; >4-5: $33,466; ... >11/acre: $25,743). Excluded because the standard/base scenario is water-rights dedication. Per-acre-foot basis is $64,357. Verified verbatim in Attachment 14. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $41,189 | City of Brighton, Colorado Jan 1, 2026High |
Sewer connection (tap / SDC) Metro Water Recovery (MWR) Wastewater Impact Fee - Single-family — SEPARATE DISTRICT: Metro Water Recovery regional wastewater treatment connection fee, collected by City of Brighton on behalf of MWR. Applies to developments served by MWR (the primary/default Brighton wastewater service). Mutually exclusive with the Town of Lochbuie wastewater fee for parcels served by Lochbuie instead. Verified verbatim in Attachment 14. | per dwelling unit | $6,070 | City of Brighton, Colorado Jan 1, 2026High |
Sewer connection (tap / SDC) Town of Lochbuie Wastewater Impact Fee (0.75" tap) — SEPARATE DISTRICT alternative: applies only to Brighton parcels whose wastewater is served by the Town of Lochbuie instead of MWR. Mutually exclusive with the MWR fee; excluded since MWR is the default. Verified verbatim in Attachment 14. alternative · not added to total | per meter | $4,975 | City of Brighton, Colorado Jan 1, 2026High |
Sewer connection (tap / SDC) City of Brighton Wastewater Connection Fee (0.75" tap) — City's own local wastewater (collection system) connection fee, additive to and separate from the regional MWR/Lochbuie treatment fee. Standard 0.75" residential tap. Verified verbatim in Attachment 14. | per meter | $837 | City of Brighton, Colorado Jan 1, 2026High |
Water connection (tap / SDC) Water Meter Fee (0.75") — Physical water meter purchase fee for standard residential 0.75" meter, in addition to the water impact/tap fee. Borderline (a meter-purchase charge rather than a pure impact fee) but a mandatory per-unit capital connection cost listed in Attachment 14; retained. Verified verbatim. | per meter | $288 | City of Brighton, Colorado Jan 1, 2026High |
Coverage & caveats
All residential development-fee figures are from the City of Brighton's adopted 2026 Master Fee Schedule (Resolution 2025-76, Attachment 14 "Development Impact Fees"), effective Jan 1, 2026 — confidence high, exact quotes captured. Note: a separate Resolution 2025-87 amended the 2026 fees, but it did not alter the Attachment 14 impact-fee amounts used here (the impact-fee table reflects the adopted 2026 schedule). WHAT EXISTS (city impact fees, per dwelling unit, single-family detached, standard 0.75" tap): Community Park $2,063 + Neighborhood Park $2,063 (both additive, $4,126 total parks); Transportation/Multimodal $3,638; General Services (general government/capital) $1,096; Storm Drainage $5,488 (outside South Beebe Draw Metro District). Plus large utility connection fees: Water impact/tap fee $18,403 (0.75" tap, base case = water rights dedicated to City); Metro Water Recovery (MWR) regional wastewater treatment fee $6,070/single-family unit (separate district, city-collected); City of Brighton local wastewater connection fee $837 (0.75" tap). Water meter purchase $287.93. Separate fire district: Greater Brighton Fire Protection District impact fee $688/single-family unit (city-collected via IGA, schedule effective 2018). REPRESENTATIVE SINGLE-FAMILY TOTAL (base scenario, 0.75" meter, water rights dedicated, MWR sewer, outside South Beebe Draw): roughly $2,063 + $2,063 + $3,638 + $1,096 + $5,488 + $18,403 + $6,070 + $837 + $688 + $287.93 = about $40,634 per unit, dominated by the water tap fee. MUTUALLY-EXCLUSIVE / EXCLUDED variants captured but excludeFromTotal=true: the fee-in-lieu-of-water-dedication tap variant ($15,227 at 0.75") plus its very large per-unit fee-in-lieu charge (~$41,189/unit at 0-3 units/acre, tiered down by density) — these apply ONLY when a developer does NOT dedicate physical water rights; the standard requirement is dedication, so the $18,403 dedicated-rights path is primary. Town of Lochbuie wastewater fee ($4,975 at 0.75") is the alternative to MWR for parcels served by Lochbuie. Multifamily/multi-unit per-unit rows are included for transportation, general services, drainage, and fire but marked excluded from the single-family total. WHAT DOES NOT EXIST / NOT FOUND for Brighton: NO school impact fee — Colorado does not authorize school districts to levy impact fees; school land/cash-in-lieu is instead handled case-by-case through subdivision dedication and is not in the city fee schedule (School District 27J serves the area but levies no per-permit impact fee). NO standalone police impact fee, NO standalone library impact fee, NO standalone open-space, affordable-housing, or general mitigation impact fee in the adopted schedule (police/library/etc. impacts are folded into the single "General Services Impact Fee"). The schedule explicitly excludes city use taxes on construction materials (Municipal Code 3-32) and any metropolitan/special-district fees beyond those listed (developers must contact applicable metro districts directly — e.g., South Beebe Draw Metro District handles drainage inside its boundary). SOUTH BRIGHTON INFRASTRUCTURE (SBI) fees (SBI Water Dev Fee $1,047/$524 per acre by zone; SBI Wastewater Dev Fee $1,408/$704 per acre by zone; SBI Water SFRE $151 and SBI Wastewater SFRE $149 per single-family-residential-equivalent) apply ONLY to development in the South Brighton Infrastructure zones and only under the fee-in-lieu pathway; omitted from the standard rows as geographically limited add-ons. Non-potable irrigation impact fee is $0. VERIFY: confirmed 17 of 17 rows; dropped 0. Every fee amount and sourceQuote was independently re-fetched and matched verbatim against the cited primary sources — Resolution 2025-76 Attachment 14 (source 0, downloaded PDF, 57 pp, Attachment 14 pp.50-54) for all 15 city rows, and the Greater Brighton Fire Protection District IGA Attachment 1 (source 2, downloaded PDF, fee schedule effective Jan 1, 2018) for the two fire rows ($688 single-family, $550 multifamily). Source 1 (Adopted Fee Regulations webpage) confirmed as live and lists all referenced documents (2026 Fees, Amendment Res 2025-87, Lochbuie/MWR/Fire District/SBI fee instruments). Additionally re-fetched amendment Resolution 2025-87 (DocumentCenter/View/37585): its Attachment 14 carries IDENTICAL impact-fee amounts ($2,063 / $3,638 / $1,096 / $5,488 / $18,403 / $6,070 / $837 / $15,227 / $41,189 / $4,975 / $287.93 / $3,105 / $898 / $2,744), confirming the amendment did not change the impact-fee figures. excludeFromTotal corrections: NONE — all 7 excluded rows (transportation MF, general services MF, drainage MF, fire MF, water fee-in-lieu tap, fee-in-lieu water dedication, Lochbuie wastewater) were already correctly flagged as mutually-exclusive variants or non-default service-area/pathway alternatives, and all 10 included rows are genuinely additive in the representative single-family base scenario. Representative single-family total recomputed = $40,633.93, sane and free of double-counting. The Water Meter Fee ($287.93) is a borderline meter-purchase charge rather than a pure impact fee but is a mandatory per-unit capital connection cost listed in Attachment 14 and verified verbatim, so it was retained at high confidence.
Fees collected at building permit issuance; figures reflect fees in effect at time of permit. Water and wastewater connection fees are priced by meter/tap size — the 0.75" residential meter is used as the representative primary; larger meter sizes scale up substantially (e.g., water impact fee 1" = $30,671, 2" = $98,148). Fire sprinkler systems require a dedicated tap that is not charged fees. Credit-card payment of any fee incurs an additional processor surcharge. All amounts independently re-verified 2026-06-17 against Resolution 2025-76 Attachment 14 and confirmed unchanged in amendment Resolution 2025-87.
Sources
3 official sources · 17 high-confidence figures.
- 12026 City of Brighton Fees (All Departments) - Resolution 2025-76, Attachment 14: Development Impact FeesCity of Brighton, Colorado · fee schedule · effective Jan 1, 2026 · retrieved Jun 17, 2026
- 2Adopted Fee RegulationsCity of Brighton, Colorado · municipal webpage · retrieved Jun 17, 2026
- 3Greater Brighton Fire Protection District Emergency Services Impact Fee - Intergovernmental Agreement and Fee ScheduleGreater Brighton Fire Protection District / City of Brighton · ordinance · effective Jan 1, 2018 · retrieved Jun 17, 2026
Brighton impact fees — FAQ
- How much are development impact fees in Brighton, CO for a single-family home?
- As of 2026-06-17, total development fees for a single-family detached home in Brighton are about $40,634 per unit — roughly $15,036 in impact/development fees plus $25,598 in water/sewer connection fees. Figures are normalized from official sources; verify with the jurisdiction before relying on them.
- Are impact fees in Brighton the same as building permit fees?
- No. Impact fees (and water/sewer connection fees) fund off-site capital — roads, parks, schools, utilities — and are charged per new dwelling unit. Building permit and plan-review fees are separate and are not included here.
- How often do Brighton's impact fees change?
- Most jurisdictions adopt fees by ordinance and escalate them annually (often by a construction cost index), with occasional mid-year updates. Always confirm the current adopted schedule with the jurisdiction. ImpactFeeAtlas last verified Brighton on 2026-06-17.