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Impact Fee Reforms in California: Recent Trends and Promising Strategies

PUBLISHED ON September 14, 2026

Development impact fees—fees charged to new housing developments to pay for needed expansions to public infrastructure and services—are higher in California than any other state. These fees can affect the feasibility of new development, further restricting supply and potentially increasing home prices and rents. Additionally, it can be challenging for developers to know which of several different fees might apply to a specific development and to estimate the total fees they might incur—introducing uncertainty into the development process. 

Recent state laws are pushing local governments to reform impact fees in ways that limit their financial burdens for new housing development and make them clearer to understand and estimate when planning new developments. 

To inform ongoing state and local efforts, a new Terner Center report presents findings about impact fee policies and reforms across California jurisdictions. The study quantified patterns for a sample of 41 jurisdictions that includes large cities, suburbs, and rural areas (including unincorporated counties) across the state in 2024. We also interviewed 22 practitioners, including both local government staff and developers, working in different regions of the state. 

We found that jurisdictions had reformed their impact fees in many ways at the time of our data collection in 2024. Most jurisdictions offered fee waivers for new affordable housing developments, but the waivers were contingent on the availability of alternative funding to replace the fee revenues in some places. Almost two-thirds calculated fees by the square footage rather than the number of units, which is meant to make fee amounts more proportional to developments’ impacts. 

We also found that although most jurisdictions published fee schedules, fees remained challenging to estimate for new developments. A few jurisdictions provided fee calculators, which allow developers to estimate the total fee stack for a project with given characteristics. Developers said that fee calculators worked well for predicting their total fee burdens, but some local government staff noted they lacked the resources or staff capacity to develop such tools.

Access the Report

Prior Terner Center research on impact fees includes:

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