Melbourne Impact Fees

A new Melbourne home can owe three city impact fees under the Land Development Code (transportation, recreation and public facilities), city water and sewer impact fees, and the Brevard County impact fees the county collects inside the city.

Each fee comes from its own dated document, and this guide reports each one as that document states it. No combined total is given here because Melbourne's fees depend on the dwelling type, the utility connection, the county's interlocal agreement with the city and the year of payment. The table lists the single family figures as of the documents read on the verification date.

The Brevard County impact fee FAQ says the county collects impact fees for all 16 municipalities, that the fees collected for each city vary with its interlocal agreement, and that the county's fee types are correctional facilities, educational facilities, emergency medical service, fire rescue, library facilities, solid waste and transportation. It adds that individual cities may collect additional types of impact fees.

Melbourne charges new development outside a mobility district a flat transportation impact fee per unit from a land use schedule, starting at $3,047.00 for a single-family detached dwelling.

The Melbourne Section 10.04 schedule prices duplexes, condominiums and townhouses at $1,667.00 per unit, apartments of one to two stories at $1,874.00 per unit and of three or more stories at $1,667.00, and mobile homes at $1,149.00. Nonresidential uses pay per 1,000 square feet of gross floor area, for example $6,041.00 for an office under 10,000 square feet and $7,881.00 for a supermarket.

The rate column is still headed Effective July 1, 2012, even though Melbourne's Section 10.11 calls for the city council and local planning agency to review the transportation fee no later than October 1, 2009 and every three years after, weighing trip generation, trip lengths and road construction costs. A builder pricing a Melbourne lot should confirm with the Engineering Department, which lists impact fee calculations for water, sewer and transportation among its duties at 321-608-7300 (Melbourne Engineering).

Two routes can lower the Melbourne figure. Under Section 10.05 an applicant who believes the cost of needed off-site road improvements is less than the schedule may submit an alternative fee calculation to the city engineer, built on accepted transportation data or a local study by a qualified traffic planner or engineer. Under Section 10.06 a developer may receive a credit for off-site improvements or contributions of land, money or services required by a city development order, capped at the assessed fee, and the city engineer's credit decision may be appealed to the planning and zoning board. Section 10.12 says this city code supersedes Brevard County Ordinance Nos. 89-4, 91-35 and 95-24 on transportation impact fees inside Melbourne.

Melbourne's recreation impact fee is $225.00 per resident of the new development, using 2.4 persons for a single-family unit, and its public facilities impact fee is $250.00 per single-family dwelling.

The recreation fee in Section 10.20 funds the acquisition, expansion and construction of city recreational facilities and is required for any newly built single-family home on a vacant lot, and for duplexes, multifamily units, townhouses and similar projects. Section 10.21 states the formula: units on the plat or site plan times population per unit (2.4 single-family, 2.0 multifamily), times $225.00. Melbourne credits can reduce the recreation fee where a development provides private recreation areas or dedicates land for active recreation (Sections 10.22 to 10.24).

The public facilities fee in Section 10.42 pays for added capacity at police, fire and general administrative facilities. Melbourne sets $250.00 per single-family dwelling unit and $223.00 per multifamily unit, with nonresidential rates per 1,000 square feet such as $187.00 for office and $668.00 for general retail. If an applicant disputes the land use category, the building official decides it.

Melbourne's utility lists a residential water impact fee of $2,755 with a $250 connect fee, and a sewer impact fee of $4,165 with a $100 connect fee.

The Melbourne Utility Billing Rate Table shows the same residential impact and connect fees for water customers inside and outside the city limits, and the same for sewer customers inside and outside. Sewer rows for customers served in Brevard County, Cocoa Beach, Palm Bay and West Melbourne show no Melbourne impact or connect fee. For non-residential water and sewer impact fees, the page points to City Code Chapter 58.

Separately, the Melbourne Community Development fee list (fees as of July 1, 2025) prices concurrency evaluations: water at $63.00 inside the city and $125.00 outside, sewer at $63.00, recreation and drainage at $32.00 each, and transportation at $157.00 when a project adds under 3 percent of average daily trips or $375.00 when it adds more. These are review fees, not impact fees.

Melbourne collects its transportation fee before a certificate of engineering construction completion or a certificate of occupancy, and its recreation and public facilities fees when the certificate of occupancy issues.

Under Section 10.03 the transportation fee is the one in effect at the time of payment unless an agreement with the city or a stipulated development order says otherwise. The recreation fee is due when the certificate of occupancy is issued for each dwelling unit (Section 10.25), and the public facilities fee at the certificate of occupancy (Section 10.43). Melbourne Sections 10.03 and 10.20 let an eligible new owner of affordable housing apply to defer the transportation and recreation fees under Appendix B, Article V, Section 4. Section 10.43 has a matching deferral clause that refers to the public facilities fee's effects on affordable housing, but its text names the recreation impact fee as the fee deferred. State law sets the outer limit: F.S. 163.31801(4)(e) says collection may not be required earlier than the date the building permit is issued.

Melbourne's transportation code exempts government buildings used for governmental purposes, alterations with no increase in gross floor area, accessory uses and accessory structures, and replacements of a building of the same land use within set limits, with a larger allowance for enlargements in a community redevelopment area (Section 10.08). The county FAQ says replacing a residence with one of a similar type is exempt from additional residential county impact fees, and that additions, remodels and alterations of an existing dwelling do not require additional impact fees. It also notes that while most cities collect before the certificate of occupancy, some collect before the building permit, and it tells builders in a city to verify the timing with that city.

The Florida Impact Fee Act requires Melbourne and Brevard County to base each fee on a recent local study, keep the money in a separate fund, give 90 days notice of increases and phase increases in.

For Melbourne, Section 163.31801(4) requires a study using the most recent and localized data available within 4 years of the current update, administrative charges limited to actual costs, and fees that are proportional to, and reasonably connected with, both the need created by new construction and the way the money is spent. Funds must be earmarked for capital facilities that benefit new users and may not pay existing debt or previously approved projects without that connection.

Any Melbourne increase is capped under subsection (6): an increase of up to 25 percent of the current rate is phased in over two equal annual increments, one over 25 and up to 50 percent over four, no increase may exceed 50 percent, and a fee may not rise more than once every 4 years, unless a demonstrated-need study, two public workshops and a unanimous vote support an exception. Subsection (5) requires credits on a dollar for dollar basis at fair market value for contributions such as land, construction or money tied to the same category of facility. Each local government also files an affidavit with its annual financial report attesting that impact fees were collected and spent in compliance with the local spending period and only on specific infrastructure needs. Subsection (12) says the section does not apply to water and sewer connection fees.

Brevard County impact fees are paid at the county Planning and Development Department's Central Cashier's Office, 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, Building A-114, in Viera.

The Brevard County impact fee FAQ lists payment hours of 8:00 AM to 4:50 PM Monday through Friday and directs anyone building in a city to check with that city on when payment is due. For an estimate of county impact fees, the FAQ says to contact the county office, which lists (321) 633-2068 and Impact.Fees@BrevardFL.gov.

For the city side, the Melbourne Engineering Department handles water, sewer and transportation impact fee calculations, and the Melbourne building permits guide covers the permit process the fees attach to. The Melbourne utility billing guide covers monthly water and sewer rates.

Last verified: October 21, 2026, with fresh reads of Melbourne Land Development Code Chapter 10, the Utility Billing Rate Table, the Community Development and Engineering pages, the Brevard County impact fee FAQ and Florida Statutes section 163.31801.