Colorado Springs, CO Development Impact Fees (2026)
A new single-family home in Colorado Springs, Colorado pays about $14,732 in total development impact and water/sewer connection fees per unit as of Jun 16, 2026 — about $2,921 in impact/development fees plus $11,811 in water & sewer connection (tap/SDC) fees. Every figure below is normalized per dwelling unit by category, with a link to its official source.
What a single-family home pays in Colorado Springs
$14,732 total per unit across 5 fee categories.
- Water connection (tap / SDC)$9,943
- Parks & recreation$2,155
- Sewer connection (tap / SDC)$1,868
- Police$398
- Fire / EMS$368
At $14,732, Colorado Springs is below the Colorado tracked median of $38,504 — relatively affordable to build in.
Full fee schedule — single-family detached
Impact / development fees
| Fee (local term) | Basis | Amount | Source · effective |
|---|---|---|---|
Police Citywide Development Impact Fee - Police (capital expansion) — Part of 2026 Citywide Development Impact (CDI) fees. Police capital portion. VERIFIED verbatim in CDI PDF. | per dwelling unit | $398 | City of Colorado Springs Planning & Development Jan 1, 2026High |
Fire / EMS Citywide Development Impact Fee - Fire (capital expansion) — Part of 2026 Citywide Development Impact (CDI) fees. Fire capital portion. SFD total CDI = $766/unit. VERIFIED verbatim. | per dwelling unit | $368 | City of Colorado Springs Planning & Development Jan 1, 2026High |
Parks & recreation Park Land Dedication fee-in-lieu (combined neighborhood + community) - SFD — PLDO fee-in-lieu, eff. 7/1/2025 (Resolution 09-25), standard 5.5 ac/1,000 pop. Combined neighborhood+community for 1 unit/structure (SFD). Alternative to dedicating parkland. Breakdown: neighborhood $1,200 + community $955 = $2,155/unit. VERIFIED verbatim (0.01461 acres = $2,155). | per dwelling unit | $2,155 | City of Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services Jul 1, 2025High |
Drainage / stormwater Drainage Basin Fee (per acre) - representative basin, project/basin-specific — Drainage Basin Fee charged PER ACRE, varies enormously by basin: $0 in closed/no-fee basins up to $59,162/acre (Mesa Centennial Allaso Peak). Southwest Area basin shown as one mid-range example. CANNOT be normalized to per-dwelling-unit. 2026 schedule (Resolution 201-25, +2.2% over 2025). Excluded from per-unit total - illustrative only. VERIFIED verbatim. alternative · not added to total | per acre | $20,329 | City of Colorado Springs Stormwater Enterprise Jan 1, 2026Medium |
Water & sewer connection fees
| Fee (local term) | Basis | Amount | Source · effective |
|---|---|---|---|
Water connection (tap / SDC) Water Development Charge (WDC) - SFD 3/4" meter, 3,000-4,999 sf lot (representative) — Levied by Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU), city enterprise. Residential WDC tiered by LOT SIZE for 3/4" meter. Representative mid-size lot as primary SFD. WRF is a separate additive row. 2025 schedule (latest located); medium confidence (2026 update may exist). VERIFIED verbatim. | per dwelling unit | $5,760 | Colorado Springs Utilities Jan 1, 2025Medium |
Water connection (tap / SDC) Water Resource Fee (WRF) - SFD 3/4" meter, 3,000-4,999 sf lot (additive) — CSU Water Resource Fee charged IN ADDITION TO the WDC (not mutually exclusive). Same lot-size tier as primary WDC row. ADDITIVE - included in total. VERIFIED verbatim ($4,183 is the WRF column for this lot tier). | per dwelling unit | $4,183 | Colorado Springs Utilities Jan 1, 2025Medium |
Water connection (tap / SDC) Water Development Charge - SFD 3/4" meter, <1,500 sf lot (variant) — Smallest lot tier. WDC $5,297 + WRF $3,847. Mutually-exclusive lot-size variant; excluded (primary is 3,000-4,999 sf tier). VERIFIED verbatim. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $5,297 | Colorado Springs Utilities Jan 1, 2025Medium |
Water connection (tap / SDC) Water Development Charge - SFD 3/4" meter, 7,000-8,999 sf lot (variant) — Larger lot tier. WDC $7,984 + WRF $5,798. Mutually-exclusive lot-size variant; excluded. VERIFIED verbatim. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $7,984 | Colorado Springs Utilities Jan 1, 2025Medium |
Water connection (tap / SDC) Water Development Charge - SFD 3/4" meter, 15,000+ sf lot (variant) — Largest lot tier. WDC $10,949 + WRF $7,952. Mutually-exclusive lot-size variant; excluded. VERIFIED verbatim. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $10,949 | Colorado Springs Utilities Jan 1, 2025Medium |
Sewer connection (tap / SDC) Wastewater Development Charge - SFD 3/4" meter — CSU wastewater development charge. $1,868 in 2024 with 'No change' for 2025. VERIFIED verbatim. | per dwelling unit | $1,868 | Colorado Springs Utilities Jan 1, 2025Medium |
Multifamily (per unit) impact fees in Colorado Springs
Impact / development fees
| Fee (local term) | Basis | Amount | Source · effective |
|---|---|---|---|
Police Citywide Development Impact Fee - Police (multifamily, 5-19 units/structure) — Multifamily CDI tiered by units-per-structure. 5-19 tier representative MF: police $288 + fire $266 = $554/unit. Excluded from SFD-based total. VERIFIED verbatim. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $288 | City of Colorado Springs Planning & Development Jan 1, 2026High |
Fire / EMS Citywide Development Impact Fee - Fire (multifamily, 5-19 units/structure) — Fire portion of multifamily CDI, 5-19 unit tier. Excluded from SFD-based total. VERIFIED verbatim. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $266 | City of Colorado Springs Planning & Development Jan 1, 2026High |
Parks & recreation Park Land Dedication fee-in-lieu (combined) - Multifamily 5-19 units/structure — PLDO combined fee-in-lieu, 5-19 units/structure tier (representative MF). Excluded from SFD-based total. VERIFIED verbatim (0.01080 acres = $1,594). alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $1,594 | City of Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services Jul 1, 2025High |
Water & sewer connection fees
| Fee (local term) | Basis | Amount | Source · effective |
|---|---|---|---|
Water connection (tap / SDC) Water Development Charge + Resource Fee - Multifamily per individually-metered unit — CSU multifamily water: WDC $4,072 + Water Resource Fee $2,957 per unit (individually metered, 3/4" meter). Excluded from SFD-based total. VERIFIED verbatim. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $4,072 | Colorado Springs Utilities Jan 1, 2025Medium |
Sewer connection (tap / SDC) Wastewater Development Charge - Multifamily per individually-metered unit — CSU multifamily wastewater development charge per unit. Excluded from SFD-based total. VERIFIED verbatim ($1,213 No change). alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $1,213 | Colorado Springs Utilities Jan 1, 2025Medium |
Coverage & caveats
Research for
City of Colorado Springs, El Paso County, CO (home-rule city). Primary land use = single_family_detached; multifamily included per unit where published. All figures from official sources. WHAT EXISTS (and is captured): 1) Citywide Development Impact (CDI) fees — POLICE + FIRE only. 2026 schedule (Admin Regulation 2025-08, eff. 1/1/2026): SFD = $766/unit ($398 police + $368 fire). Multifamily tiered by units-per-structure: 2-4 units $624, 5-19 $554, 20-49 $520, 50+ $484 per unit. These are the ONLY citywide capital-expansion impact fees the city levies. 2) Water Development Charge (WDC) + Water Resource Fee (WRF) — levied by Colorado Springs Utilities (CSU), a city-owned enterprise. 2025 schedule (eff. 1/1/2025). Residential WDC is tiered by LOT SIZE for a 3/4-inch meter. Representative ~2,000-2,500 sf home: used the 3,000-4,999 sf lot tier (WDC $5,760) as the primary single-family row. WRF is a SEPARATE, ADDITIVE charge on top of WDC (3,000-4,999 sf lot = $4,183). Other lot-size tiers included as excludeFromTotal variants. Outside-city-limit charges are 50% higher (not used). Multifamily per individually-metered unit: WDC $4,072 + WRF $2,957. 3) Wastewater Development Charge — CSU. SFD 3/4" = $1,868 (2024, no change in 2025); multifamily per unit $1,213. 4) Park Land Dedication (PLDO) fee-in-lieu — eff. 7/1/2025 (Resolution 09-25), standard 5.5 ac/1,000 pop. Combined neighborhood+community fee-in-lieu: SFD (1 unit/structure) = $2,155; 2-4 units $1,748; 5-19 $1,594; 20-49 $1,441; 50+ $1,282 per unit. Alternative to dedicating parkland. 5) Drainage Basin Fee — charged PER ACRE and varies enormously by basin ($0 in closed/no-fee basins to $59,162/acre in Mesa Centennial). 2026 schedule (Resolution 201-25, +2.2% over 2025). CANNOT be normalized to a per-dwelling-unit figure. Captured a representative basin figure as excludeFromTotal. WHAT DOES NOT EXIST in the City of Colorado Springs: - NO citywide transportation/road impact fee. The El Paso County Road Impact Fee (SFD $4,101/unit) applies ONLY to unincorporated El Paso County, NOT within city limits — EXCLUDED. (Verified directly against El Paso County Public Works page.) - NO general school impact fee. Colorado does not authorize school impact fees; the city uses School Site Land Dedication based on appraised land value — no flat per-unit dollar amount — OMITTED. - NO standalone parks impact fee beyond the PLDO fee-in-lieu. - NO library, open-space, affordable-housing, or general/capital impact fee found.
Caveats
CSU is the water/sewer/electric/gas provider; its development charges are the large PIF-equivalent costs. CSU 2025 charges were the latest published residential schedule (a 2026 update may exist but was not located; confidence medium for CSU rows). Water is priced by LOT SIZE tier (unusual). Drainage figure is illustrative only.
Verify
confirmed 15 of 17 rows; dropped 2. Re-fetched all 6 source URLs (4 PDFs via curl+pdftotext, 2 webpages via WebFetch). CDI PDF (src 0): SFD $398/$368/$766 and MF 5-19 $288/$266/$554 confirmed verbatim. CSU PDF (src 2): WDC/WRF lot tiers (<1,500=$5,297/$3,847; 3,000-4,999=$5,760/$4,183; 7,000-8,999=$7,984/$5,798; 15,000+=$10,949/$7,952; MF=$4,072/$2,957) and wastewater (SFD $1,868 No change; MF $1,213 No change) all confirmed verbatim. Parks PDF (src 3): combined PLDO SFD 0.01461=$2,155 and MF 5-19 0.01080=$1,594 confirmed verbatim. Drainage PDF (src 4): Southwest Area 1984 $20,329/acre confirmed verbatim. Webpages (src 1, 5) confirmed CDI = Police+Fire only and El Paso County road fee = unincorporated-only. DROPPED (reasons): (1) Wastewater Permit Fee SFD $160 — appears under the source's "Wastewater Permit Fees" header; it is an administrative permit fee, not an impact/connection charge (the wastewater development charge is the connection fee). (2) Water Tap Fee $525 — appears under the source's "Water Permit Fees" header; an administrative tap/inspection permit fee, not a capacity/connection charge (the WDC is the connection charge). Both dropped per instruction to exclude permit/plan-review fees. excludeFromTotal corrections: NONE — all flags already correct (lot-size variants, MF tiers, and per-acre drainage properly excluded; primary SFD in-total components = CDI $766 + WDC $5,760 + WRF $4,183 + Wastewater $1,868 + Park $2,155 = $14,732, no double-counting).
Totals should be read as: CDI $766 + Water WDC $5,760 + Water Resource Fee $4,183 + Wastewater Development Charge $1,868 + Park fee-in-lieu $2,155 = $14,732 for a representative SFD on a 3,000-4,999 sf lot. Drainage basin fee is additive but project/basin-specific and excluded from the per-unit total. Small CSU permit/tap fees (wastewater permit $160, water tap $525) were verified as present in the source but DROPPED in verification because the source classifies them under "Permit Fees" (administrative), not impact/connection charges.
Sources
6 official sources · 6 high-confidence figures.
- 12026 Citywide Development Impact Fees (Exhibit A - Administrative Regulation 2025-08)City of Colorado Springs Planning & Development · fee schedule · effective Jan 1, 2026 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 2Current Fee Schedules - Development and Impact Fee ResourcesCity of Colorado Springs · municipal webpage · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 32025 Development Charges and Fees (effective January 1, 2025)Colorado Springs Utilities · fee schedule · effective Jan 1, 2025 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 4Effective 7/1/2025 Park Acreage & Fee Schedule (Resolution No. 09-25 Exhibit A)City of Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services · fee schedule · effective Jul 1, 2025 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 52026 Drainage, Bridge and Pond Fees (effective January 1, 2026, Resolution No. 201-25)City of Colorado Springs Stormwater Enterprise · fee schedule · effective Jan 1, 2026 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 6Road Impact Fees - El Paso County Public Works (applies to unincorporated county only)El Paso County Public Works · municipal webpage · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
Colorado Springs impact fees — FAQ
- How much are development impact fees in Colorado Springs, CO for a single-family home?
- As of 2026-06-16, total development fees for a single-family detached home in Colorado Springs are about $14,732 per unit — roughly $2,921 in impact/development fees plus $11,811 in water/sewer connection fees. Figures are normalized from official sources; verify with the jurisdiction before relying on them.
- Are impact fees in Colorado Springs 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 Colorado Springs'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 Colorado Springs on 2026-06-16.
Compare impact fees in nearby Colorado jurisdictions
Cities with a similar fee burden
Jurisdictions in other states with total single-family fees close to Colorado Springs’s $14,732 per home.