Everett, WA vs Olympia, WA: Development Impact Fees Compared (2026)

Transportation Impact Fee (Single Family/Townhome) — Everett's transportation impact (mitigation) fee under EMC 19.51, effective 3/4/2026. Single-family detached and townhome are charged at the same $6,231/unit flat rate (not tiered by home size). A 25% reduction applies in Metro Everett Parking Area A. ADUs are exempt from transportation fees for a net increase of 1 unit. VERIFIED 2026-06-17 against the official Impact Fees schedule PDF (exact line present).

School Impact Fee - Everett School District (Single Family Detached) — School impact fee set by the school district's Capital Facilities Plan and COLLECTED BY THE CITY at building permit issuance, under EMC 19.52, shown on the 2026 schedule as effective 1/1/2025. Applicable district depends on which boundary the parcel falls in (Everett SD vs Mukilteo SD - mutually exclusive). Everett School District single-family detached = $12,556 (dominant district serving most of the city; used as primary). Per schedule footnote, school impact fees are NOT subject to the vested-rights doctrine and are assessed at the rate in effect at building-permit issuance, and rates are 'subject to change pending further clarification from the school districts.' ADUs are exempt ($0). VERIFIED 2026-06-17 against PDF (row 'Everett $12,556 $0 $4,257 $4,257').

Parks Impact Fee (Residential, 3+ bedrooms) — Parks impact fee under EMC 19.53.060 (shown effective 1/1/2025 on 2026 schedule), tiered by bedroom count (not floor area). A representative ~2,000-2,500 sf single-family home has 3+ bedrooms, so $3,401 is used as the single-family primary. Tiers: 1 Bedroom/Studio $1,133; 2 Bedrooms $2,268; 3+ Bedrooms $3,401. Parks fees are reduced 50% for adding 1-2 ADUs to a lot with existing principal dwelling(s). VERIFIED 2026-06-17 against PDF.

Stormwater System Development Fee (Base, up to 2,500 sf impervious) — Stormwater (drainage) System Development Fee under EMC 14.08.135, effective 1/1/2026: base fee = $906 for 1 Impervious Surface Unit (ISU = up to 2,500 sf of impervious area), which covers a typical single-family lot. Additional impervious area over 2,500 sf is charged $0.3624/sf. This is a connection-type capacity charge (NOT a separate parks/transportation-style impact fee), and it is additive to the water/sewer SDFs. VERIFIED 2026-06-17 against PDF (Stormwater SDF table).

Water System Development Fee (3/4" meter / 1 ERU) — Water System Development Fee (capacity/connection charge) under EMC 14.08.135, effective 1/1/2026. The 3/4" meter is the standard residential size and equals 1 equivalent residential unit (ERU). Larger meters scale up (1" = $8,616; 2" = $27,500). Townhomes are charged 1 ERU each. Homes outside city limits pay a 25% surcharge. Multifamily apartment developments of 38+ units are charged 0.45 x the 3/4" total SDF per unit. VERIFIED 2026-06-17 against PDF (SDF table row, Water column).

Sewer System Development Fee (3/4" meter / 1 ERU) — Sewer System Development Fee (capacity/connection charge) under EMC 14.08.135, effective 1/1/2026, 3/4" meter / 1 ERU = $4,274. Combined Water + Sewer SDF for a 3/4" meter = $9,433.00. Homes outside city limits pay a 25% surcharge. VERIFIED 2026-06-17 against PDF (SDF table row, Sewer column).

Water Meter & Service Installation (3/4" Complete Service) — Physical water meter & service installation charge under EMC 14.16.713 for a new 3/4" residential connection: Complete Service (tap + meter + service line) = $4,234. Meter Only = $682. This is ADDITIVE to (separate from) the Water SDF capacity charge above. A non-refundable $158 application fee also applies. VERIFIED 2026-06-17 against PDF (WATER FEES table, 3/4" Complete Service column).

Sewer New Connection to Main — Sewer physical new-connection-to-main permit fee = $60.00 plus $10.00 per building connection to the side sewer (EMC 14.08.140). This is the small physical/permit connection charge, separate from and additive to the much larger Sewer System Development Fee above. VERIFIED 2026-06-17 against PDF (SEWER FEES section).

Park Impact Fee — OMC 15.16.010 Schedule A, Park Impact Fees (Ord. 7451 §1, 2025). VERIFIED verbatim against codepublishing.com (retrieved via curl; WebFetch was 403-blocked). Applies to all new residential development; reviewed/updated annually. Note: City must adopt a new compliant park impact fee methodology by June 30, 2026 (FCS Group study underway) — figure may change.

Transportation Impact Fee — OMC 15.16.040 Schedule D, Transportation Impact Fee Rate Schedule Effective January 1, 2026 (Ord. 7451 §3, 2025). VERIFIED verbatim. Cost per new person trip generated = $3,672. Downtown/High-Density-Corridor zones have reduced rates.

School Impact Fee (North Thurston Public Schools) — OMC 15.16.030 Schedule C(B), North Thurston School District service area. VERIFIED verbatim. Only the portion of the City within the North Thurston boundary pays this; the dominant Olympia School District area is $0. Single-family 2BR/less = $0; multifamily 2+BR = $566. Marked excludeFromTotal because the primary OSD-area school fee is $0 and the two districts are mutually-exclusive service areas.

Stormwater General Facility Charge (GFC) — OMC 4.24.010(D) / OMC 13.16.080. VERIFIED verbatim. Assessed at building/engineering permit issuance. One Impervious Unit = 2,882 sq ft of impervious surface; a typical single-family home (house + driveway) is roughly one impervious unit, so ~$2,051 for a representative SFD. unitBasis recorded as per_acre (schema lacks a per-impervious-unit option); actual basis is per 2,882-sq-ft impervious unit. 50% low-income discount.

Water Quality GFC (per daily vehicle trip) — OMC 4.24.010(D). VERIFIED verbatim. Additive water-quality GFC assessed at building/engineering permit, charged per ITE average daily vehicle trip. A single-family home generates roughly 9-10 ITE daily trips, so the per-home charge is roughly $130-$145, but the exact trip count is not fixed in the schedule. Excluded from per-unit total because amount shown is per-trip, not per-unit. 50% low-income discount.

Water General Facility Charge (GFC) — OMC 4.24.010(A)(7) / OMC 13.04.375 (Ord. 7456 §1, 2025). VERIFIED: table shows 3/4-inch meter, AWWA capacity factor 1.00, GFC $5,551. One-time water system GFC for a standard 3/4-inch residential meter. 50% discount for qualifying low-income housing. Larger meters: 1-inch $9,270, 1.5-inch $18,484, 2-inch $29,586 (all verified).

Wastewater (Sewer) General Facility Charge - City of Olympia — OMC 4.24.010(B)(3) / OMC 13.08.205. VERIFIED verbatim ($4,646 per ERU). One-time City of Olympia sewer GFC (1 single-family home = 1 ERU). 50% low-income discount. Reduced rate of $1,963.58/ERU applies only to properties on public combined sewers in the Downtown Deferred GFC area (verified).

LOTT Capacity Development Charge (regional wastewater treatment) — OMC 4.24.010(B)(1) / OMC 13.08.210. VERIFIED verbatim ($7,806.74 per ERU). Separate REGIONAL charge levied by the LOTT Clean Water Alliance (Lacey-Olympia-Tumwater-Thurston regional wastewater treatment authority) but collected by the City; additive to the City sewer GFC. Subject to rebate for qualifying low-income housing.