A development impact fee, or simply, impact fee, is a charge on new development to pay for the construction or expansion of off-site capital improvements that are necessitated by and benefit the new development.  The funds collected can not be used for operations, maintenance, or repair of existing facilities.

Nationally, impact fees first started in Florida and California during the late 1970s.  In Arizona, legislation giving municipalities the ability to assess impact fees was first passed in 1988.  County impact fees were enabled by legislation in 2000.

Peoria first implemented development impact fees in 1991.  The fees were updated in 1999 and have been updated biennially since then.

Peoria assesses an impact fee in two broad categories: General Government and Utilities.  The General Government category is broken down further into the following fees: libraries, neighborhood parks, community parks, trails, open space, law enforcement, fire protection, general government, and transportation (streets and intersections).  The Utilities category is broken down further into water expansion, wastewater expansion, water resource, water reuse irrigation and solid waste.

To assist staff in developing impact fees, Peoria hires an outside consultant to formulate legally defensible impact fees.  Peoria undergoes two impact fee studies, one for General Government Fees and one for Utility Fees.  For a detailed explanation on how Peoria's impact fees are calculated, please see the impact fee studies found on the Impact Fee Main Page.

Impact fees are part of the development approval process. Requiring an impact fee to provide adequate public facilities is similar to meeting site planning and zoning requirements.

In general, impact fees are only charged on new construction.  Any construction that does not create an additional dwelling unit or additional square footage on a non-residential property does not require the payment of impact fees.

Impact fees are paid at the time of building permit issuance.

A schedule of Peoria’s impact fees can be found on the Impact Fee Main Page.

There are different impact fees for different land uses and different impact fee zones throughout Peoria, so one answer will not suffice.  For an estimate of development impact fees, please see the impact fee calculator found on the Impact Fee Main Page, or click here.

Yes, Peoria has different impact fee zones for the transportation impact fee.  There are three transportation impact fee zones: South, Central, and North.  For a map of the transportation impact fee zones, please see the Transportation Impact Fee Zones Map on the Impact Fee Main Page, or click here.

The adoption of impact fees reduces pressure on local residents to raise taxes and fees.  In addition, if new development pays for its own capacity-enhancing infrastructure needs, any current funds that have been designated to pay for those projects can be shifted to the more immediate needs of existing residents, such as for facility maintenance and rehabilitation.

When a developer contributes actual off-site facility improvements or dedications that mitigate the impact of a particular project and the need for impact fee-related public facilities, the project's impact fee should be reduced by the value of the improvement or dedication. Reductions can be done through offsets or reimbursements.  Offsetting means reducing the total impact fee paid at the time of payment and reimbursing means paying the developer for a portion of the impact fee after the impact fee payment has been made.  Offsets and reimbursements are given to ensure that new development does not pay twice for the same facilities.

Impact fee credits are calculated by using modeled costs, or values developed in conjunction with the impact fee study.  The modeled costs are based upon the cost estimates of the projects used in the impact fee study and not based on the cost or the value of the improvements or dedications.

Projects that have significant transportation components are most commonly eligible for impact fee credits.  Please see the Transportation IIP Map, found on the Impact Fee Main Page, or click here, to see if your project may be eligible for impact fee credits.  To verify if you are eligible for impact fee credits in other impact fee categories, please contact Andy Wagemaker at 623-773-5144 or via email at Andy.Wagemaker@peoriaaz.gov.

Please contact Andy Wagemaker at Andy.Wagemaker@peoriaaz.gov for more information.

If you would like more information about Peoria’s impact fees or have a question that was not answered above, please contact Andy Wagemaker at 623-773-5144 or via email at Andy.Wagemaker@peoriaaz.gov.