Davie Florida Impact Fees: What New Construction Buyers Pay

Do You Pay Impact Fees on a New Construction Home in Davie?

If you are buying new construction in Davie, or building your own home on an acreage lot, impact fees are a real cost and a fair question. The confusion is understandable. Buyers hear the phrase and assume it is builder markup, or a surprise line that shows up at closing. It is neither. Impact fees are government charges that local agencies collect to help pay for the roads, schools, parks, and utility capacity that new homes draw on. They are assessed once, at the building permit stage, and how you experience them depends entirely on whether you are buying from a production builder or building the home yourself.

This guide covers what the fees are, roughly what they cost in the Davie and Broward County market, who actually writes the check, when the money is due, and one change that took effect in November 2025 that every new construction buyer in Broward should know about. It is written for single-family buyers and owner-builders across Davie’s new construction and acreage ZIP codes (33314, 33324, 33325, 33328, 33330, and 33331).

What Exactly Is an Impact Fee, and How Is It Different From a Connection Fee?

An impact fee is a one-time charge a local government places on new development to offset the cost of the public infrastructure that new residents use. In Broward County the two you will hear about most on a home are the educational (school) impact fee and the park impact fee. The county publishes these through its Development and Environmental Review fee schedule, and the amount is tied to the type and size of the dwelling.

A connection fee is different, and it trips people up. A connection fee, sometimes called a capacity or capital facility charge, is what you pay a utility to tie your new home into the water and sewer system. In Davie, the Town bills this directly. According to the Town of Davie connection fee schedule, a new single-family home is billed as one equivalent residential connection, and the water and wastewater connection together comes to about 5,970 dollars for that unit.

So the shorthand is this. Impact fees pay for schools, parks, and roads. Connection fees pay for your pipe into the water and sewer system. Both are one-time, both hit at the permit stage, and both are separate from your recurring property taxes and monthly utility bills. If you want to see where one-time costs like these sit against everything else you pay to move in, our guide to the Davie cost of living puts the full picture together.

How Much Are the One-Time Fees on a New Davie Home?

The one hard number you can rely on today is the Town of Davie water and sewer connection: about 3,050 dollars for water and 2,920 dollars for wastewater, for a combined 5,970 dollars per residential unit. That figure is published and current.

The county school and park impact fees are set on a schedule that the county and the School Board update, and the amount depends on the home’s size and type. Because those schedules change and are revised periodically, the honest move is to confirm the current per-unit figure directly with Broward County and the School Board before you budget, rather than rely on a number that may be a cycle out of date. Your builder’s contract, or the permit desk, will show the exact charges for your specific home.

When you add these one-time charges to your other move-in costs, they belong in the same mental bucket as your closing costs, not your monthly budget. Our breakdown of Davie closing costs and who pays them shows how one-time costs like these fit into the total you bring to the table.

Who Actually Pays: Production Builder vs Owner-Built Acreage Home

This is the part that matters most, and the answer is not the same for every buyer.

If you are buying from a production builder, the builder almost always folds impact and connection fees into the base contract price as a pass-through. The builder pulls the permit, pays the fees, and prices them into the home. You do not write a separate impact fee check, and you should not think of the fees as builder profit. They are a government cost the builder collected and remitted on your behalf. When you compare a builder’s base price to a resale home, part of that gap is these one-time public charges baked in.

If you are building your own home on an acreage lot in western Davie, you pay the fees directly. When you or your contractor pull the building permit, the county and the Town collect the impact and connection fees at that point, and they come out of your pocket, not a builder’s. Owner-builders on the larger no-HOA parcels need to budget for this separately from the cost of the land and the construction itself. If new construction versus resale is still an open question for you, our Davie real estate market guide walks through how the two price against each other in the current market.

When Are Impact Fees Due, at Contract or at Permit?

Impact and connection fees are assessed and collected at building permit issuance, not when you sign a purchase contract and not at your closing table. This is the timing detail that clears up most of the confusion.

For a production builder home, the builder already handled the permit and the fees long before you close, which is why you never see a separate line for them. For an owner-built home, the fees are due when the permit is pulled, which is early in your build timeline, so you need the cash available at that stage rather than at the end. Knowing the fees hit at permit, and not at closing, is exactly the kind of process detail that keeps a build or a purchase on schedule. Our guide to buying a home in Davie covers how the permit and inspection steps line up with the rest of your timeline.

Are You Exempt If You Tear Down and Rebuild?

Sometimes, and this is worth checking before you assume you owe the full amount. Impact fees are meant to charge for the new demand a home places on public infrastructure. When you replace an existing single-family home with another single-family home, that new demand is largely already accounted for, so many Florida jurisdictions grant a same-type replacement credit or exemption for the residential impact fee portion. In practice that can mean you owe little or no additional school or park impact fee on a like-for-like teardown and rebuild.

The credit is not automatic and it is not universal. It depends on the jurisdiction, the timing, and whether the prior structure’s credit is still valid. Before you build, confirm your parcel’s history and any available credit with the county, and verify the prior use through the Broward County Property Appraiser parcel record. Do not assume the exemption applies until the permit desk confirms it in writing.

The November 2025 Change: School Impact Fees Now Paid to the School Board

One recent change matters for anyone pulling a permit in Broward now. As of November 2025, the educational (school) portion of the impact fee is paid directly to the School Board of Broward County through its own online portal, rather than through Broward County’s development review office. The mechanics of the school impact fee moved to the School Board’s Treasurer’s office, and builders and owner-builders now remit that portion separately.

For a production builder buyer this is invisible, because the builder handles it. For an owner-builder it means one more payee in the permit process, so confirm the current process with the School Board when you pull your permit rather than assuming the old single-window process still applies. Rules and portals like this change, which is the strongest argument for verifying every fee figure at the source before you budget.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you pay impact fees on a new construction home in Davie or does the builder?

On a production builder home the builder pays the impact and connection fees and folds them into your base contract price as a pass-through, so you do not write a separate check. On an owner-built home you pay the fees directly when your building permit is pulled.

Are impact fees just builder markup?

No. Impact fees are government charges collected by the county, the School Board, and the Town of Davie to help fund schools, parks, roads, and utility capacity for new homes. A builder collects and remits them on your behalf, but the money is a public cost, not builder profit.

How much are water and sewer connection fees for a new home in Davie?

The Town of Davie bills a new single-family home about 3,050 dollars for the water connection and 2,920 dollars for the wastewater connection, for a combined 5,970 dollars per residential unit. School and park impact fees are billed separately by the county and the School Board.

When are impact fees due, at contract or at permit?

Impact and connection fees are assessed and collected at building permit issuance, not at the purchase contract and not at your closing. For an owner-built home you need the cash available early in the build, when the permit is pulled.

Am I exempt from impact fees if I tear down and rebuild in Davie?

Often you get a same-type replacement credit when you replace one single-family home with another, which can reduce or eliminate the residential impact fee portion. The credit is not automatic, so confirm your parcel’s history and eligibility with Broward County before you build.

Plan Your New Construction Budget the Right Way

Impact and connection fees are one line in a larger new construction or acreage build budget, and the time to plan for them is before you sign, not after. If you are buying new construction or building on an acreage lot in Davie, Florida and want a clear read on the one-time costs, the permit timeline, and how a builder’s price really breaks down, call Anthony Spitaleri at (954) 235-5783 or book a Davie strategy call at https://bit.ly/daviestrategycall.

Anthony Spitaleri, Broker Associate, Coldwell Banker

Serving Davie, Weston, Southwest Ranches, and Cooper City, Florida

Phone: (954) 235-5783

Web: livingindavieflorida.com

Anthony Spitaleri is a Broker Associate with Coldwell Banker, one of the most established residential real estate brands, with approximately 2,700 offices globally, founded in 1906. A Davie native who returned home in 2025 after 13 years in Miami Beach, Anthony specializes in luxury homes and estates above $1 million, acreage and equestrian properties with no HOA, and relocation buyers moving to Davie from out of state. He created livingindavieflorida.com, the most in-depth independent Davie real estate resource available, with in-depth coverage of Davie’s gated communities, acreage and equestrian properties, and luxury estates, plus original weekly market data, interactive tools, Town Council recaps, and a 24/7 AI concierge. Anthony has been licensed in real estate since 2013 (BK3281907), is a Certified Strategic Coach through Coaching Services International (CSI), an active member of the Davie Cooper City Chamber of Commerce, and a weekly volunteer at Bit by Bit Therapeutic Riding Center in Davie. More about Anthony.