Orange County's first comprehensive transportation impact fee study since 2021 was presented to commissioners on June 16, 2026. A binding ordinance vote is expected this fall. Here is where the rate stands, what Florida law allows, and what the timing means for permits.
Orange County is partway through its first comprehensive update of the county transportation impact fee since the current schedule was adopted in 2021. The consultant's study was finalized in late May, commissioners reviewed it at a June 16, 2026 work session, and a binding ordinance vote is expected in fall 2026. No meeting date has been announced.
What Is Being Reviewed
County code requires the transportation impact fee to be reviewed at least every five years so the rate keeps pace with construction costs and the county's planned road and multimodal projects. The county hired the engineering firm HDR in December 2025 to perform the update. HDR finalized the 2026 study on May 27, using data through March 2026, and the study covers both roadway and multimodal components of the fee.
The June 16 item, listed on the Board of County Commissioners work session agenda as the 2026 Transportation Impact Fee Study Update, was a direction-setting session rather than a vote. Staff presented the draft study and asked the Board for guidance on the policy questions that will shape a final ordinance. Under county procedure, a rate change takes effect only after an ordinance is adopted at a public hearing.
Where the Rate Stands Today
The current schedule dates to the 2021 update, when the county restored the fee to 100% of the calculated rate effective December 2021. Since January 2023 the schedule has stepped up automatically by 3.4% each January. Four rounds of indexing have moved the suburban-district rate for a single-family home of 1,201 to 2,000 square feet from a 2021 base of $10,138 to $11,588.69, the figure in effect since January 1, 2026 and the one shown on our Orange County page.
Transportation is the largest single line in the county's residential fee stack. For a typical single-family home in unincorporated Orange County it sits alongside the school impact fee ($9,513 for the 2,000 to 2,499 square foot tier), water and sewer capital charges, and the smaller fire, law enforcement, and parks fees.
What Florida Law Allows
Any increase that comes out of this study is bounded by Section 163.31801 of the Florida Statutes. The key limits are:
- •Cap: an increase may not exceed 50% of the rate in effect when the ordinance is adopted.
- •Phasing: an increase of up to 25% is implemented in two equal annual increments; an increase between 25% and 50% in four equal annual installments, starting from the adoption date.
- •Frequency: a local government may not raise an impact fee more than once every four years.
- •Notice: a new or increased fee takes effect no sooner than 90 days after the ordinance is adopted.
- •Exception: a jurisdiction may go beyond the cap and phasing rules only with a demonstrated-need study, findings of extraordinary circumstances, and a two-thirds vote of the governing body.
Applied to today's suburban single-family rate, the statutory ceiling works out to roughly $17,383 if the county adopted the full 50% and it were fully phased in. That is a ceiling, not a proposal. The proposed figures in the draft study have not been published in a form we could verify, so this post does not cite them.
What the Timing Means for Permits
Orange County generally charges impact fees at building permit issuance, and its published rule on rate changes is explicit: a legally sufficient application submitted before the effective date of an increase is assessed at the prior rate, while an application submitted on or after that date is assessed at the new rate. For projects in the pipeline, the date a complete application is filed is the date that matters, not the date of the vote.
The county also operates residential and commercial deferred impact fee programs that allow qualifying projects to pay later in the permitting cycle. Deferral changes when a fee is paid, not which rate applies.
What Has Already Changed in 2026
Separate from the transportation study, the county's other fees stepped up on schedule this year. Transportation indexed on January 1, 2026. Fire, law enforcement, and parks fees took their annual adjustment on May 1, 2026, moving to $462, $665, and $2,434 respectively for a single-family home. The school impact fee, set under a separate ordinance on behalf of Orange County Public Schools and collected countywide, is not part of the transportation study. All of these figures are reflected in the current Orange County and city schedules on this site.
Where the County Fee Does and Does Not Apply
The county transportation impact fee applies to development in unincorporated Orange County. Municipalities set their own transportation fees: the City of Orlando, for example, levies its own transportation impact fee under Chapter 56 of the city code, so an Orlando project would not see the county transportation rate change. The school impact fee is the exception; it applies countywide and is collected inside city limits as well.
Water and sewer capital charges depend on the utility serving the parcel (Orange County Utilities, the Orlando Utilities Commission, or a municipal system) rather than on the transportation study.
What to Watch
- •The Board agenda for a public hearing on a transportation impact fee ordinance, expected in fall 2026.
- •The effective date in any adopted ordinance, which sets the application deadline for the current rate.
- •The phasing schedule, which determines how much of the increase applies in year one.
- •January 1, 2027, when the existing 3.4% index would apply again if no new ordinance is in place.
We will update this post and the Orange County fee schedule when the county adopts an ordinance. For current adopted rates, use our Orange County page and the county's Impact Fees At A Glance schedule.
Figures cited are from Orange County's published rate schedules and the June 16, 2026 Board of County Commissioners agenda. Always verify with the jurisdiction before relying on any number for underwriting or permitting.