Spokane, WA Development Impact Fees (2026)
A new single-family home in Spokane, Washington pays about $13,063 in total development impact and water/sewer connection fees per unit as of Jun 16, 2026 — about $914 in impact/development fees plus $12,149 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 Spokane
$13,063 total per unit across 3 fee categories.
- Sewer connection (tap / SDC)$7,100
- Water connection (tap / SDC)$5,049
- Transportation / roads$914
At $13,063, Spokane is below the Washington tracked median of $19,206 — relatively affordable to build in.
Full fee schedule — single-family detached
Impact / development fees
| Fee (local term) | Basis | Amount | Source · effective |
|---|---|---|---|
Transportation / roads Transportation Impact Fee — Northwest District (representative) — 2026 Northwest District Transportation Impact Fee Schedule, effective 1/1/2026 (base rate $831/PM trip). PRIMARY representative SFD row. CONFIRMED verbatim against official 2026 Appendix A PDF (Wayback 2026-03-11). Spokane charges transportation impact fees by geographic service-area district (6 districts in the 2026 schedule); Northwest used as representative established residential area. ITE Land Use Code 210. | per dwelling unit | $914 | City of Spokane Jan 1, 2026High |
Transportation / roads Transportation Impact Fee — Downtown District (SFD) — 2026 Downtown District (base rate $227/PM trip). CONFIRMED verbatim against official 2026 Appendix A PDF. Mutually-exclusive district variant — excluded from total. Lowest of the 6 districts. MF 1-2 level $135.45; MF 3-10/ADU $103.58. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $250 | City of Spokane Jan 1, 2026High |
Transportation / roads Transportation Impact Fee — Northeast District (SFD) — 2026 Northeast District (base rate $694/PM trip). CONFIRMED verbatim against official 2026 Appendix A PDF. Mutually-exclusive district variant — excluded from total. MF 1-2 level $414.11; MF 3-10/ADU $316.67. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $763 | City of Spokane Jan 1, 2026High |
Transportation / roads Transportation Impact Fee — South District (SFD) — 2026 South District (base rate $2,813/PM trip). CONFIRMED verbatim against official 2026 Appendix A PDF. Mutually-exclusive district variant — excluded from total. MF 1-2 level $1,678.52; MF 3-10/ADU $1,283.57. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $3,094 | City of Spokane Jan 1, 2026High |
Transportation / roads Transportation Impact Fee — West Plains District (SFD) — 2026 West Plains District (base rate $4,048/PM trip). CONFIRMED verbatim against official 2026 Appendix A PDF. Mutually-exclusive district variant — excluded from total. MF 1-2 level $2,415.44; MF 3-10/ADU $1,847.10. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $4,452 | City of Spokane Jan 1, 2026High |
Transportation / roads Transportation Impact Fee — Latah District (SFD) — 2026 Latah District (base rate $7,159/PM trip). CONFIRMED verbatim against official 2026 Appendix A PDF. Mutually-exclusive district variant — excluded from total. Highest of the 6 districts. MF 1-2 level $4,271.78; MF 3-10/ADU $3,266.65. alternative · not added to total | per dwelling unit | $7,873 | City of Spokane Jan 1, 2026High |
Water & sewer connection fees
| Fee (local term) | Basis | Amount | Source · effective |
|---|---|---|---|
Water connection (tap / SDC) Water General Facilities Charge (GFC) — 3/4" meter, City-Wide, 2026 — One-time water connection/capacity charge (GFC) under SMC 13.04.2044, City-Wide Calculated Charge by water meter size. 3/4" is the standard single-family meter (PRIMARY). CONFIRMED verbatim against archived official SMC 13.04.2044 (Wayback 2025-12-13): 2025 $3,582, 2026 $5,049. Confidence downgraded high->medium: the SMC labels the 2026 column 'only representative, and the actual rate will be published prior to January 1, 2026' (ENR CCI adjustment), so the finalized 2026 figure may differ; ALSO the Spokesman-Review (12/2/2024) attributes $5,049/$7,100 to a 3-INCH connection, not 3/4", so the news corroboration the researcher cited is mismatched — only the official SMC schedule confirms the 3/4" figure. ENR-indexed annually. ADU near-center waiver expired 12/31/2024. | per meter | $5,049 | City of Spokane Jan 1, 2026Medium |
Water connection (tap / SDC) Water GFC — 5/8" meter (smaller residential variant), 2026 — Smaller 5/8" meter alternative to the primary 3/4" residential meter — excluded from total to avoid double-counting (mutually exclusive by meter size). CONFIRMED verbatim against archived official SMC 13.04.2044: 2025 $1,683 / 2026 $3,366. Confidence medium: 2026 column flagged 'only representative' in the SMC pending final ENR adjustment. alternative · not added to total | per meter | $3,366 | City of Spokane Jan 1, 2026Medium |
Sewer connection (tap / SDC) Wastewater General Facilities Charge (GFC) — 3/4" meter, City-Wide, 2026 — One-time sewer connection/capacity charge (GFC) under SMC 13.03.0734, City-Wide Calculated Charge based on water meter size serving the premises. 3/4" is the standard single-family meter (PRIMARY). CONFIRMED verbatim against archived official SMC 13.03.0734 (Wayback 2025-12-09): 2025 $5,611, 2026 $7,100. Confidence downgraded high->medium: SMC labels the 2026 column 'only representative, and the actual rate will be published prior to January 1, 2026'; ALSO the Spokesman-Review attributes $7,100 to a 3-INCH connection (its 3/4" 2025 figure is $5,611), so the cited news corroboration is mismatched — only the official SMC schedule confirms the 3/4" 2026 figure. ENR-indexed annually. | per meter | $7,100 | City of Spokane Jan 1, 2026Medium |
Sewer connection (tap / SDC) Wastewater GFC — 5/8" meter (smaller residential variant), 2026 — Smaller 5/8" meter alternative to the primary 3/4" residential meter — excluded from total (mutually exclusive by meter size). CONFIRMED verbatim against archived official SMC 13.03.0734: 2025 $2,367 / 2026 $4,733. Confidence medium: 2026 column flagged 'only representative' in the SMC pending final ENR adjustment. alternative · not added to total | per meter | $4,733 | City of Spokane Jan 1, 2026Medium |
Multifamily (per unit) impact fees in Spokane
About $496 per unit.
Impact / development fees
| Fee (local term) | Basis | Amount | Source · effective |
|---|---|---|---|
Transportation / roads Transportation Impact Fee — Northwest District (multifamily 1-2 level) — 2026 Northwest District schedule, ITE 220 (Multi-Family 1-2 level). CONFIRMED verbatim against official 2026 Appendix A PDF. Representative multifamily rate. Multi-Family 3-10 level (ITE 221) is $379.19 in this district. Alternative land use to SFD (a unit is SFD OR MF), so not flagged excludeFromTotal. | per dwelling unit | $496 | City of Spokane Jan 1, 2026High |
Accessory dwelling unit (ADU) impact fees in Spokane
About $379 per unit — state or local ADU exemptions may reduce this..
Impact / development fees
| Fee (local term) | Basis | Amount | Source · effective |
|---|---|---|---|
Transportation / roads Transportation Impact Fee — Northwest District (ADU) — 2026 Northwest District schedule. CONFIRMED verbatim against official 2026 Appendix A PDF. ADU transportation impact fee equals the Multi-Family 3-10 level rate. Center/corridor zones receive a 10% reduction (SMC 17D.075.070). | per dwelling unit | $379 | City of Spokane Jan 1, 2026High |
Coverage & caveats
CITY OF SPOKANE, WA — residential developer/builder one-time fees.
What exists
(1) Transportation impact fees under RCW 82.02 / SMC Chapter 17D.075, charged per dwelling unit and varying dramatically by geographic service-area district (the district is set by parcel location; impact fees collected in a district must be spent there). Rates effective 1/1/2026 (Appendix A, ORD C36514 schedule, ENR-indexed, capped at +5%/yr).
Note
the official 2026 Appendix A PDF contains exactly 6 districts (Downtown, Northwest, South, Northeast, West Plains, Latah) — NOT 7 as originally stated. Northwest-district SFD/MF/ADU are the PRIMARY (representative established residential area); every other district's SFD row is marked excludeFromTotal (mutually exclusive by location). (2) Water & Wastewater General Facilities Charges (GFCs) — one-time connection/capacity charges under SMC 13.04.2044 (water) and 13.03.0734 (wastewater), single citywide schedule priced by water meter size; base 3/4" residential meter used as primary. ORD C36461 (adopted 11/20/2023, eff. 1/1/2025). Current adopted SMC schedule (captured Dec 2025) uses a single City-Wide Calculated Charge with 2025 and 2026 columns. WHAT DOES NOT EXIST in the City of Spokane: NO park, school, fire, police, library/open-space/affordable-housing impact fee; NO standalone stormwater/drainage CONNECTION or capacity fee (stormwater is a recurring monthly utility rate). SMC 17D.075 is the ONLY GMA impact-fee chapter and it is transportation-only. NOTABLE WAIVERS/EXEMPTIONS (not modeled as rows): transportation impact fees get a 10% reduction in center/corridor zones (SMC 17D.075.070) plus a low-income-housing exemption; water/sewer GFCs are waived for permanent affordable housing (SMC 8.15.020); the ADU GFC waiver near centers/corridors EXPIRED 12/31/2024 so ADUs now pay the standard meter-size-based GFC.
Access
official my.spokanecity.org/static.spokanecity.org are behind Imperva/Incapsula bot protection (403 to curl/WebFetch); figures obtained from Internet Archive Wayback Machine captures of the official SMC fee-schedule pages and the official 2026 impact-fee rate PDF, corroborated against the Spokesman-Review.
Verify
confirmed 12 of 12 rows; dropped 0. Independently re-fetched the official 2026 Appendix A impact-fee PDF (Wayback 2026-03-11 capture) and the archived official SMC 13.04.2044 (water, Wayback 2025-12-13) and 13.03.0734 (wastewater, Wayback 2025-12-09) — every transportation amount (Downtown SFD $249.65, Northwest SFD $913.93/MF $495.86/ADU $379.19, Northeast SFD $763.26, South SFD $3,093.74, West Plains SFD $4,451.99, Latah SFD $7,873.47) and every GFC amount (water 5/8" 2025 $1,683 / 2026 $3,366, 3/4" 2025 $3,582 / 2026 $5,049; wastewater 5/8" 2025 $2,367 / 2026 $4,733, 3/4" 2025 $5,611 / 2026 $7,100) matched the official text exactly. excludeFromTotal corrections: NONE NEEDED — all 5 non-Northwest district SFD rows and both 5/8" meter variants were already correctly flagged excludeFromTotal=true; Northwest SFD/MF/ADU and 3/4" water/sewer GFC correctly included. Representative SFD+3/4"-meter one-time total = $913.93 + $5,049 + $7,100 = $13,062.93 (no double-counting).
Confidence downgrades
the two 2026 GFC primary rows (water $5,049, sewer $7,100) and their 5/8" variants downgraded high->medium because (a) the official SMC schedule labels the 2026 column "only representative, and the actual rate will be published prior to January 1, 2026" (ENR CCI Oct-2024-to-Oct-2025 adjustment), so finalized 2026 figures may differ slightly; and (b) the Spokesman-Review article the researcher cited as confirmation actually attributes $5,049 water / $7,100 sewer to a 3-INCH connection (its 3/4" figures are 2025 $3,582/$5,611 and 2024 $2,821/$4,819) — the news source does NOT corroborate the 3/4" 2026 figure, though the authoritative SMC schedule does confirm 3/4" 2026 = $5,049/$7,100. Transportation rows remain HIGH (exact official 2026 effective PDF).
A typical single-family detached home in an established mid-tier Spokane residential area (Northwest district) connecting with a base 3/4" water meter would pay, in 2026: transportation impact fee $913.93 + water GFC $5,049 + wastewater GFC $7,100 = ~$13,063 in one-time impact/connection fees (excluding building-permit and plan-review fees, which are separate). Transportation impact fees vary enormously by district (SFD ranges $249.65 Downtown to $7,873.47 Latah) — the actual amount depends entirely on parcel location; the official 2026 schedule lists 6 districts. GFCs are additive to the transportation impact fee and are based on water meter size (3/4" is the standard single-family meter; 5/8" is a smaller alternative shown as an excluded variant). 2025 GFC amounts were water 3/4" $3,582 and sewer 3/4" $5,611; the 2026 amounts ($5,049 / $7,100) appear in the official SMC schedule but are flagged there as "only representative" pending the final ENR CCI adjustment to be published before 1/1/2026 — hence medium confidence on the 2026 GFC figures. CAUTION: the Spokesman-Review (12/2/2024) attributes the $5,049/$7,100 pair to a 3-inch connection, not 3/4"; the 3/4" 2026 = $5,049/$7,100 figure is confirmed only by the official SMC schedule, not by the news article.
Sources
8 official sources · 8 high-confidence figures.
- 1Spokane Municipal Code 17D.075.180 — Appendix A: Transportation Impact Fee Schedule (ORD C36514; 2026 rate schedule effective 1/1/2026)City of Spokane · ordinance · effective Jan 1, 2026 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 2Appendix A — 2026 Transportation Impact Fee Rate Schedules, Effective January 1, 2026 (6 service-area districts; verified via Wayback Machine capture 2026-03-11)City of Spokane · fee schedule · effective Jan 1, 2026 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 3Spokane Municipal Code 13.04.2044 — Attachment B: Water General Facilities Charge Schedule (2025 & 2026 ENR-adjusted, City-Wide; ORD C36461; verified via Wayback Machine capture 2025-12-13)City of Spokane · ordinance · effective Jan 1, 2025 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 4Spokane Municipal Code 13.03.0734 — Attachment B: Wastewater General Facilities Charge Schedule (2025 & 2026 ENR-adjusted, City-Wide; ORD C36461; verified via Wayback Machine capture 2025-12-09)City of Spokane · ordinance · effective Jan 1, 2025 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 5ADOPTED General Facilities Charge Fees Ordinance and Fee Schedule — ORD C36461, Nov. 20, 2023 (base water/wastewater GFC rates, ENR annual indexing, ADU & affordable-housing waivers)City of Spokane · ordinance · effective Jan 1, 2025 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 6Transportation Impact Fees Frequently Asked QuestionsCity of Spokane · government report · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 7Spokane's building fees jump again next year as city tries to make growth pay for itself (NOTE: attributes $5,049 water/$7,100 sewer to a 3-inch connection; gives 3/4" 2025 rates as $3,582/$5,611)The Spokesman-Review · news article · effective Jan 1, 2026 · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
- 8Spokane Municipal Code 17D.075.040 — Assessment of Impact Fees (confirms transportation-only scope, ENR 5-yr rolling-average annual increase)City of Spokane · ordinance · retrieved Jun 16, 2026
Spokane impact fees — FAQ
- How much are development impact fees in Spokane, WA for a single-family home?
- As of 2026-06-16, total development fees for a single-family detached home in Spokane are about $13,063 per unit — roughly $914 in impact/development fees plus $12,149 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 Spokane, WA?
- Total development fees for a multifamily unit in Spokane are about $496 per unit as of 2026-06-16.
- Are impact fees in Spokane 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 Spokane'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 Spokane on 2026-06-16.
Compare impact fees in nearby Washington jurisdictions
Cities with a similar fee burden
Jurisdictions in other states with total single-family fees close to Spokane’s $13,063 per home.