New Braunfels, TX Development Impact Fees (2026)
Normalized development impact fees, water & sewer connection (tap/SDC) fees, and mitigation fees for New Braunfels, Texas — per dwelling unit, by category, with links to every official source.
What a single-family home pays in New Braunfels
$33,884 total per unit across 3 fee categories.
- Water connection (tap / SDC)$19,448
- Transportation / roads$8,192
- Sewer connection (tap / SDC)$6,244
New Braunfels’s $33,884 is about 2.6× the Texas tracked median of $12,871 — among the higher-cost places to build in the state.
Full fee schedule — single-family
Impact / development fees
| Fee (local term) | Basis | Amount | Source · effective |
|---|---|---|---|
Transportation / roads Roadway Impact Fee (City) - Single-Family Detached, Service Area 6 (representative) — City of New Braunfels Roadway Impact Fee, Chapter 100 / Ordinance 2022-87, Exhibit 2 collected fees for final plats on/after March 1, 2023 (now collected at 100% of maximum assessable fee). Fee varies by SIX mutually-exclusive service areas: SA1 $4,914, SA2 $1,471, SA3 $2,328, SA4 $10,829, SA5 $6,320, SA6 $8,192 per single-family dwelling unit. SA6 ($8,192) used as a mid-high representative for the primary total; ACTUAL fee depends on the development's service area (range $1,471-$10,829 per SF unit). ITE land use 210, 4.61 veh-mi per dwelling unit. Other 5 service-area variants included below with excludeFromTotal=true. | per dwelling unit | $8,192 | City of New Braunfels Mar 1, 2023High |
Transportation / roads Roadway Impact Fee - Single-Family Detached, Service Area 1 — Mutually-exclusive alternative service area. Roadway impact fee for SF detached in Service Area 1 = $4,914/DU. Excluded from total (SA6 used as primary representative). alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $4,914 | City of New Braunfels Mar 1, 2023High |
Transportation / roads Roadway Impact Fee - Single-Family Detached, Service Area 2 — Mutually-exclusive alternative service area. Roadway impact fee for SF detached in Service Area 2 = $1,471/DU (lowest of the six areas). Excluded from total. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $1,471 | City of New Braunfels Mar 1, 2023High |
Transportation / roads Roadway Impact Fee - Single-Family Detached, Service Area 3 — Mutually-exclusive alternative service area. Roadway impact fee for SF detached in Service Area 3 = $2,328/DU. Excluded from total. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $2,328 | City of New Braunfels Mar 1, 2023High |
Transportation / roads Roadway Impact Fee - Single-Family Detached, Service Area 4 — Mutually-exclusive alternative service area. Roadway impact fee for SF detached in Service Area 4 = $10,829/DU (highest of the six areas). Excluded from total. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $10,829 | City of New Braunfels Mar 1, 2023High |
Transportation / roads Roadway Impact Fee - Single-Family Detached, Service Area 5 — Mutually-exclusive alternative service area. Roadway impact fee for SF detached in Service Area 5 = $6,320/DU. Excluded from total. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $6,320 | City of New Braunfels Mar 1, 2023High |
Water & sewer connection fees
| Fee (local term) | Basis | Amount | Source · effective |
|---|---|---|---|
Water connection (tap / SDC) Water Impact Fee (NBU) - per LUE — SCHEDULE 3 (Impact Fees To Be Collected) of the NBU Impact Fee Policy. A single-family detached home on a standard 5/8" x 3/4" meter = 1.0 LUE, so the collected water impact fee = $19,448 per dwelling unit. NBU collects at 100% of the maximum assessable fee. Charged by New Braunfels Utilities (NBU), the separate municipally-owned water/wastewater utility for the City of New Braunfels service area - a builder in the city must pay this. Per-LUE amount confirmed in 2023 NBU Impact Fee Report meter table (5/8" = 1.0 LUE = $19,448 water). | per dwelling unit | $19,448 | New Braunfels Utilities (NBU) Feb 1, 2023High |
Sewer connection (tap / SDC) Wastewater Impact Fee (NBU) - per LUE — SCHEDULE 3 (Impact Fees To Be Collected) of the NBU Impact Fee Policy. Single-family detached on 5/8" x 3/4" meter = 1.0 LUE = $6,244 wastewater impact fee per dwelling unit. NBU collects at 100% of maximum. Charged by New Braunfels Utilities (NBU), the separate municipal utility. Combined water + wastewater impact fee = $25,692 per LUE (confirmed in 2023 NBU Impact Fee Report meter-size table: 5/8" meter, 1.0 SUE, $19,448 + $6,244 = $25,692). | per dwelling unit | $6,244 | New Braunfels Utilities (NBU) Feb 1, 2023High |
Coverage & caveats
RESIDENTIAL development impact fees in New Braunfels are levied by TWO jurisdictions: (1) the City of New Braunfels collects ROADWAY impact fees, and (2) New Braunfels Utilities (NBU) - the separate municipally-owned water/wastewater utility serving the city's service area - collects WATER and WASTEWATER impact fees. A builder must pay both. CONFIRMED CURRENT FEES (all official, high confidence): - Water impact fee: $19,448 per LUE (NBU Impact Fee Policy Schedule 3, effective 02/01/2023, collected at 100% of max). - Wastewater impact fee: $6,244 per LUE (same source). A standard single-family home on a 5/8\" x 3/4\" meter = 1.0 LUE, so combined water+wastewater = $25,692 per single-family dwelling unit. - Roadway impact fee (City, Chapter 100 / Ordinance 2022-87, Exhibit 2, effective 03/01/2023, now collected at 100% of max): SINGLE-FAMILY DETACHED ranges from $1,471 (SA2) to $10,829 (SA4) per dwelling unit across SIX service areas (SA1 $4,914, SA2 $1,471, SA3 $2,328, SA4 $10,829, SA5 $6,320, SA6 $8,192). The exact roadway fee depends entirely on which of the six service areas the parcel is in - SA6 ($8,192) is used as the representative primary row; the other five are included as excludeFromTotal rows so the full range is visible. Multifamily (mid-rise default, ITE 221) roadway fee ranges $654-$4,815/unit by service area. REPRESENTATIVE SINGLE-FAMILY TOTAL (primary rows): Water $19,448 + Wastewater $6,244 + Roadway SA6 $8,192 = ~$33,884 per single-family detached dwelling unit. Using the lowest roadway area (SA2) the total is ~$27,163; using the highest (SA4) ~$36,521. The impact fees are NOT tiered by home square footage - they are per LUE / per dwelling unit, so no size-based tiering applies (single representative row is exact for a typical SF home). WHAT DOES NOT EXIST HERE (Texas Local Government Code Ch. 395 limits impact fees to water, wastewater, roadway, and drainage ONLY): There are NO school impact fees, NO park impact fees, NO police impact fees, NO fire impact fees, NO library impact fees, NO open-space impact fees, NO affordable-housing fees, and NO general/capital impact fees in New Braunfels - these are prohibited under Texas law. The NBU impact fee study covers only water and wastewater; the City's impact fee study covers only roadway. New Braunfels has NO municipal DRAINAGE impact fee (although Ch. 395 would permit one, the city has not adopted a drainage impact fee; the only drainage-related charge is a site-specific 'Stormwater Connection Fee' under City Code Sec. 143-20, which is a discretionary mitigation OPTION for properties connecting to a public stormwater system with available capacity, calculated case-by-case by City Engineering - not a standard per-dwelling-unit development fee, so it is not itemized here). CAVEATS: NBU also charges minor administrative/meter-set charges (e.g., a ~$45 administrative fee after meter set) and standard water/wastewater service-tap installation costs that are not publicly itemized in a fee schedule; these are small relative to the impact fees and were not separately verified. NBU's FY26-FY27 'rate adjustments' (effective 08/01/2025) referenced in news coverage are utility CONSUMPTION rates, not impact fees - the impact fees remain those adopted effective 02/01/2023 (mandatory 5-year Ch. 395 review). The Census 2024 population estimate for New Braunfels city is ~116,477 (rapidly growing). New Braunfels is in BOTH Comal and Guadalupe Counties but is the seat of Comal County. Roadway service-area boundaries are defined on the City's Service Area Map (DocumentCenter/View/18901).
Two source documents drive the figures. (1) NBU Impact Fee Policy (Schedule 3 = fees actually collected) and the 2023 NBU Impact Fee Report meter-size table confirm water $19,448/LUE + wastewater $6,244/LUE = $25,692 for a 1.0-LUE single-family home (5/8\" x 3/4\" meter), effective 02/01/2023, collected at 100% of the City-assessed maximum. (2) City Chapter 100 Exhibit 2 'Collected Roadway Impact Fees' gives the per-dwelling-unit roadway fee for plats on/after 03/01/2023, which now equals 100% of the 2019-study maximum assessable fee (previously phased in at 50% for residential from 08/01/2020). Roadway fees are inherently per-service-area; six mutually-exclusive areas exist, so only one (SA6) is counted in the primary total and the rest are excludeFromTotal. Multifamily water/wastewater impact fees also apply per LUE (LUE per MF unit depends on meter sizing - typically less than 1.0 per unit when master-metered; confirm per project). No size/bedroom tiering exists for any New Braunfels impact fee.
Sources
7 official sources · 9 high-confidence figures.
- 1New Braunfels Utilities Impact Fee Policy (Schedules 1-3, eff. 02/01/2023)New Braunfels Utilities (NBU) · ordinance · effective Feb 1, 2023 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 2Water & Wastewater Impact Fee Update Report (2023 NBU Impact Fee Report)New Braunfels Utilities (NBU) · fee study · effective Feb 1, 2023 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 3Chapter 100 - Roadway Impact Fees, Exhibit 2 - Collected Roadway Impact Fees (Rate Table, eff. 03/01/2023)City of New Braunfels · fee schedule · effective Mar 1, 2023 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 4Roadway Impact Fees (Official Website - Ordinance 2022-87, effective 03/01/2023)City of New Braunfels · municipal webpage · effective Mar 1, 2023 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 5Roadway Impact Fee - Collected Fee and Funding Improvements (Community Meeting presentation)City of New Braunfels · government report · effective Jun 23, 2022 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 6Developers to pay maximum allowable water, wastewater impact fees in New BraunfelsCommunity Impact · news article · effective Dec 14, 2022 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 7U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: New Braunfels city, TexasU.S. Census Bureau · government report · effective Jul 1, 2024 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
New Braunfels impact fees — FAQ
- How much are development impact fees in New Braunfels, TX for a single-family home?
- As of 2026-06-16, total development fees for a single-family detached home in New Braunfels are about $33,884 per unit — roughly $8,192 in impact/development fees plus $25,692 in water/sewer connection fees. Figures are normalized from official sources; verify with the jurisdiction before relying on them.
- Are impact fees in New Braunfels 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 New Braunfels'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 New Braunfels on 2026-06-16.