Changes to fees charged on new development in Georgetown County will take effect with the start of the county’s new budget year on July 1. 

County Council agreed last winter that restructuring of impact fee rates was needed and settled on a phased-in approach that will introduce changes gradually over the course of three years. While rates for commercial development will increase, the rates for most single-family residences and multi-family units are reduced. 

“We used to have a flat fee for residential units and now they’ll be based on square footage,” said Holly Richardson, Georgetown County’s director of planning and code enforcement. “Before, a 5,000-square-foot house would have paid the same as a 1,200-square-foot house. Now, someone would pay more for a bigger structure.”

Impact fees apply to new construction only and do not apply to mobile homes. Impact fees have been in place in Georgetown County since 2008. The new fee amounts are based on a study prepared by Tischler Bise last year. The implementation of the fees will be phased in with 75% of the new value being charged in the first year, 85% in the second year and 100% in the third year.