Salt Lake City weighs sharp increases in utility impact fees
Salt Lake City is considering sharply higher one-time water, sewer and stormwater impact fees for new construction and expanded utility connections, with the City Council scheduled to begin taking public comment on Tuesday, September 22.
The proposal is not final. If approved, it would affect developers, builders and property owners undertaking projects that require new or expanded utility capacity—not most existing residential customers’ recurring utility bills.
Proposed fees would rise substantially
City materials show several large differences between current charges and the proposed schedules.
- A 3/4-inch water meter fee is listed at $5,577, compared with the current $1,871 fee on the city’s impact-fee webpage.
- The proposed single-family residential sewer fee is $4,300, compared with the current $545 per residential unit.
- The proposed stormwater fee is $1,963 per quarter-acre, compared with the current $374.
The city’s technical Impact Fee Analysis lists the proposed 3/4-inch water charge as $5,664 rather than $5,577. The analysis also lists the proposed stormwater charge as $1,966 per quarter-acre and expresses it as $7,839 per acre, while the city webpage lists $1,963 per quarter-acre. Those differences appear in the supporting documents and are preserved here rather than treated as identical figures.
Who would pay
The proposed charges are one-time impact fees tied primarily to new development, expanded utility connections and qualifying redevelopment. Under Utah’s Impact Fees Act, the fees are intended to fund public facilities required to serve new development.
That means the proposal does not establish an across-the-board increase to ordinary household water, sewer or stormwater bills. Its direct effect would fall on projects that trigger the city’s impact-fee requirements, although higher upfront costs could affect project economics for builders and property owners.
Why the city is proposing the change
Salt Lake City Public Utilities and the supporting analysis say the update would better account for infrastructure capacity needed to serve growth. City Council materials say the existing impact fees have remained largely unchanged since 1999, while construction costs and infrastructure needs have increased.
The sewer proposal includes two possible approaches: a schedule based on meter size and a residential-per-dwelling-unit option. The $4,300 figure is the proposed single-family example and the proposed 3/4-inch meter amount, not a universally finalized sewer structure.
Public hearings are scheduled
The first public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, September 22, at the Utah State Fairpark, 155 South 1000 West, Deseret Building, in Salt Lake City.
A second hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, October 6, in Room 315 at Salt Lake City Hall, 451 South State Street.
The public-hearing notices were published September 10, 2026, and identify the matter as file number Z 20260146. The notices say comments may be submitted at the hearings, through the City Council’s 24-hour comment line at 801-535-7654, or by email to the address listed in the notice. The hearings are part of the council’s review; they do not mean the fees have been adopted or that council members have taken a position.
What happens next
The City Council must decide whether to approve the proposed Impact Fee Facilities Plan, Impact Fee Analysis and fee schedule. According to the city’s utilities materials, adopted fees would take effect 90 days after approval.
Until that process is complete, the current fees remain the applicable charges. Developers and property owners planning projects in Salt Lake City should review the proposal, the technical analysis and the public-comment process before relying on any future fee amount.
Sources
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