Construction fees in Maryland
No general act. Authority is granted piece by piece. Some jurisdictions or some fee types are authorized by separate legislation. What applies to the next county over may not apply to you.
Md. Code, Art. 25B § 13D (code home rule counties only)
Guiding standard in the act: required to accommodate new construction. That phrase is the ceiling on what may be charged, and it is the cheapest argument a fee payer has.
Your fee stack in Maryland
Answer four things and get the list of every body that can bill this project, what each one is allowed to charge for, and the rights your state's law gives you before you pay.
What Maryland says about your project
The statute is roughly fifty words long and reaches only code home rule counties. This is why some compilations count Maryland and some do not.
Charter counties got school impact fee authority one at a time through special legislation, which is why Maryland has one of the highest counts of school impact fees in the country.
A 2004 attorney general opinion supports police power authority for municipalities.
What the fees may pay for
10 of 10 facility categories are eligible here. A charge for anything not on this list is resting on some other authority, and that is a fair question to ask.
| Facility type | Eligible for impact fees |
|---|---|
| Roads and transportation | Yes |
| Water facilities | Yes |
| Wastewater and sewer | Yes |
| Stormwater and drainage | Yes |
| Parks and recreation | Yes |
| Fire | Yes |
| Police | Yes |
| Libraries | Yes |
| Solid waste | Yes |
| Schools | Yes |
Timing, credits, refunds and waivers
| Provision | What the act says |
|---|---|
| When the fee may be collected | any time |
What to do next in Maryland
- Confirm whether your parcel is in a city or unincorporated, then pull the taxing district list from the assessor's record. Why that list is the real fee list.
- Request the current adopted fee schedule and a written fee estimate for the address. The six-step sequence.
- Call each utility separately. Tap fees usually sit outside the act, and are often the largest line.
- Pay under protest if you intend to dispute anything at all. What that preserves.