Impact Fees

Impact fees are one-time payments that developers pay to support growth-related infrastructure related to parks and trails, public safety and emergency services, and general government services.

Over the next 10 years, Missoula County is expected to add 12,000 new residents, 4,500 new homes and 15,400 new jobs. Unincorporated areas in the County are expected to add 4,400 new residents, 1,600 new homes and 4,200 new jobs. This will account for nearly $17 million in growth-related infrastructure needs, like new roads and changes to utility lines. Without impact fees, these costs may otherwise fall to county property taxpayers at large.

After nearly a year of working with consultants, holding public meetings and targeted interviews and engaging with various community groups to gather feedback, the Impact Fee Advisory Committee came up with recommendations for the commissioners, listed under the "News Feed" tab below. In short, County staff, with input from the citizen Impact Fee Advisory Committee, determined existing levels of service and capital needs to accommodate future growth. This helped inform how much the fees should be.

The fees would only apply to new development in the Missoula urban area, Lolo, Bonner, Frenchtown and Seeley Lake. Fees generated in an area must be spent in that same community. For example, if a condominium complex is built in Bonner, impact fees from the project could be used to improve county-owned parks in Bonner, such as adding restrooms or playground equipment. They will be calculated based on whether development is residential or nonresidential, as well as the total square footage of development. Affordable housing development could qualify for exemptions.

Communities across Montana, like Belgrade, Bozeman and the City of Missoula, have implemented impact fees to allow new growth and development to pay its equitable share and encourage disciplined and comprehensive planning and growth management. The authority to create impact fees in Missoula County rests solely with the county commissioners. Jurisdictions with impact fees had to inform the impact fee advisory committees to review proposals and make recommendations to the county commissioners on what projects should receive funding.