Commerce City, CO Development Impact Fees (2026)

What a single-family home pays in Commerce City

$25,561 total per unit across 8 fee categories. Fees charged per square foot assume a 2,500 sq ft home.

At $25,561, Commerce City is below the Colorado tracked median of $38,504 — relatively affordable to build in.

Full fee schedule — single-family

Full fee schedule — multifamily

Coverage & caveats

Commerce City is a home-rule city in Adams County, CO. Its development impact fees are codified in Land Development Code Article IX (parks/school/road/water-acquisition/drainage framework) with dollar amounts adopted by City Council resolution and published in the city's "Directory of City Fees and Charges" (rev. 11/20/2025, Exhibit A, Section 17 Public Works & Engineering) and the Planning "Development Impact Fees" Facts-to-Know sheet (rev. Dec 2023). All city impact-fee dollar figures below are HIGH confidence from the current adopted Directory of Fees. CITY FEES FOUND (per dwelling unit unless noted): Road Impact Fee (TWO mutually-exclusive service areas: Northern Range, used as primary because that is where nearly all new greenfield single-family subdivisions are built, and Core City, the older south area — Core City included as excludeFromTotal alternative); Park Facilities Impact Fee; General Government Facilities Impact Fee; Public Works Facilities Impact Fee; Police Facilities Impact Fee; Drainage Impact Fee (charged per SQ FT of new impervious area, varies by drainage basin — First Creek basin used as a representative primary, the other four basins included excludeFromTotal; a true per-DU figure depends on lot/impervious area so amount shown is the per-sq-ft rate, not a per-unit total); Water Acquisition Fee (city fee that buys water rights for city PARKS, NOT a water tap fee for the home — escalates 10%/yr; latest published verbatim figure is the 2025 value of $2,782.79, so confidence medium for current year; calculated 2026 ≈ $3,061.07 noted but not separately reported because no verbatim 2026 publication was located); School land-dedication Fee-in-Lieu (per Article IX, based on land value $106,150/acre set by school districts eff. 11/1/2021 — the only published $ figures are in the Dec-2023 FTK). IMPORTANT NON-DOUBLE-COUNT: The "Public Park Development Fee" in the planning FTK ($7,502 SF / $5,698 MF) and the "Park Facilities Impact Fee" in the Directory of Fees ($7,502 SF / $5,698 MF) are the SAME fee — reported ONCE (parks). Likewise the Directory road/drainage tables match the drainage-and-roadway exhibit. SEPARATE-DISTRICT FEES a residential builder in Commerce City also pays: (1) FIRE — South Adams County Fire Protection District (SACFD) Fire & Emergency Services Impact Fee, expressly "approved by Commerce City" and collected on Commerce City building/development applications. Current adopted schedule (Board adopted 5/20/2025) phases in: SF $1,100 → $1,420 (eff. 1/1/2026) → multifamily $486 → $722 (1/1/2026) → $960 (1/1/2027). As of the 6/16/2026 verification date the 1/1/2026 tier is in effect (SF $1,420, MF $722) — reported as primary; earlier $1,100/$486 tier marked excludeFromTotal. (2) WATER & SEWER — South Adams County Water & Sanitation District (SACWSD) levies water tap fees, wastewater connection fees, system development charges, water-resource development charges, and (south of Sand Creek) additional Denver Water System Development Charges. These can be the LARGEST single development cost, BUT exact dollar amounts could NOT be verified: the SACWSD website (southadamswaterco.gov, rates_and_charges.php / tap_fees.php / 2026 rate news) returns HTTP 403 to all automated fetch/curl/headless-browser attempts (strong bot protection), and the District's published Rules & Regulations (eff. May 2026) place all dollar amounts in a separate "Appendix A" fee schedule not contained in that PDF. The District itself states it maintains 19+ different tap-fee schedules that vary by water-resource agreement and property location, so there is no single published per-unit figure. SACWSD water/sewer connection fees are therefore OMITTED rather than invented; a builder must obtain a project-specific quote from the SACWSD Tap Sales Administrator (303-288-2646). A 3% rate/connection-fee increase took effect Jan 2026. CATEGORIES THAT DO NOT EXIST / NOTES: No standalone municipal "library", "open space", or "affordable housing" impact fee was found. There is NO general school impact fee in the usual sense — Colorado uses school LAND dedication or fee-in-lieu (reported). No city-collected water/sewer tap fee (utilities are provided by the separate SACWSD district, not the city). "Preferred Economic Development" land uses (most commercial/retail/office/lodging/medical) are EXEMPT from park, general-government, public-works, police, drainage and most road fees — but residential is fully subject. Commerce City sales/use tax on construction materials also applies but is a tax, not an impact fee, so excluded.

Primary single-family total of CITY impact fees (Northern Range, First-Creek-basin drainage excluded from sum because it is per-sq-ft not per-unit) sums the per-DU items: Road $4,842 + Park $7,502 + General Gov $707 + Public Works $612 + Police $2,175 + Water Acquisition $2,782.79 + School fee-in-lieu $1,645.33 = ~$20,266 city, PLUS SACFD fire $1,420, PLUS unquantified SACWSD water/sewer tap & connection fees (often the single largest line). Drainage is additive on top but billed per sq ft of impervious area. All amounts are one-time fees at building permit / plat. Water Acquisition Fee is the 2025 published value; it escalates 10% each Jan 1 (2026 ≈ $3,061). Multifamily figures provided per unit where published.

Sources

8 official sources · 17 high-confidence figures.

Commerce City impact fees — FAQ

How much are development impact fees in Commerce City, CO for a single-family home?

As of 2026-06-16, total development fees for a single-family detached home in Commerce City are about $25,561 per unit — roughly $22,778 in impact/development fees plus $2,783 in water/sewer connection fees. Figures are normalized from official sources; verify with the jurisdiction before relying on them.

What are the impact fees per multifamily unit in Commerce City, CO?

Total development fees for a multifamily unit in Commerce City are about $12,233 per unit as of 2026-06-16.

Are impact fees in Commerce City 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 Commerce City'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 Commerce City on 2026-06-16.