Lake County adopted two types of impact fees applicable to commercial development to help pay for infrastructure expansion needed as a result of new development. To determine impact fees on a project, review Lake County's Commercial Impact Fee Schedule. These fees are one-time charges on all development and are paid when a project is permitted, unless a deferral or waiver has been obtained. The fire impact fee is only charged on projects located in areas served by Lake County Fire Rescue Division.

Collected impact fees can only be spent on projects that increase the capacity of whatever service for which they are being charged. For example, road impact fees are used to help pay the costs associated with increasing the capacity of arterial and collector roads, which are the major roads within the road network in the county. This may include the addition of lanes to existing roads or the construction of new roads. Impact fees will not be used for routine maintenance of existing roads or for improvements to local roads, such as minor streets within subdivisions. Similar restrictions apply to collected fire impact fees.

Additionally, impact fees can only be spent on projects within the district in which they were collected. Lake County is divided into six road impact-fee districts, based on traffic characteristics in the County.

Several other topics may apply to impact fees on commercial construction. For more information, review an additional page about credits, refunds and exemptions.