Developers looking to build homes in Harford County will face higher fees to compensate for school overcrowding.

The increased fees — referred to as “impact fees” — are one-time fees paid by developers for school construction projects to accommodate increased student populations.

Twenty-one public elementary schools in the county are over 90% capacity, and officials anticipate enrollment to grow by more than 2,500 students during the next 10 years.

Impact fees were passed into county law in 2005 and since then had charged developers:

  • $6,000 per single family detached unit
  • $4,200 per townhome/duplex
  • $1,200 for all other housing structures including apartment units and mobile homes

The new fees outlined in the legislation proposed by County Executive Bob Cassilly and passed unanimously by the council Tuesday night, are:

  • $10,000 per single family detached unit
  • $10,000 per townhome/duplex
  • $7,989 for all other housing structures including apartment units and mobile homes

The impact fees for single-family homes, townhomes and duplexes are the maximum allowed by state law.

Last year, projects to increase school capacity cost the district $6.8 million, according to Cassilly. Harford’s current impact fees generated only $2.7 million — forcing the county to cover the $4 million difference using taxpayer dollars from the county’s general revenue fund, Cassilly said.

“For nearly 20 years, developers of new homes in Harford County haven’t paid their fair share toward the cost of expanding school capacity and our taxpayers have been making up the difference,” Cassilly wrote in a statement. “This legislation resets the fees charged to developers to more accurately reflect the true cost of adding space to existing schools or building new ones.”

County officials hired the Maryland-based firm TischlerBise to analyze how much Harford should increase its fees to align with today’s economy. Based on numerous variables, such as the per-square-foot cost of county land, anticipated county growth and more, TischlerBise advised that the fees should be:

  • $12,819 per single family detached unit
  • $13,693 per townhome/duplex
  • $7,989 per apartment unit
  • $10,683 per mobile home unit

State law mandates $10,000 as the maximum impact fee Harford can charge. County officials said they will be monitoring the General Assembly to see if there are any attempts to increase that maximum.

Of Maryland’s 23 counties and Baltimore City, only Anne Arundel, Calvert, Carroll, Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George’s, Queen Anne’s, St. Mary’s and Harford counties charge impact fees.

Montgomery County charges the most in the state with a maximum impact fee of $30,343 while Carroll’s is the lowest at $3,000. The new, higher fees place Harford in the middle below Anne Arundel County’s $13,223 impact fee and above Talbot County’s $4,030.

Before the bill’s passage, amendments were added declaring that on March 1, 2027, the county must present a report to the council outlining the effect impact fees have on county development, how Harford’s fees compare to those of other counties and how the fees were used to mitigate school overcrowding.

“None of us who are up here tonight were here in 2004 when this was initiated so making sure that history is known to help support future councils in continuing this work is important,” Councilman Jacob Bennett said Tuesday night. “The more we can get this reporting done, the better we can do our jobs.”

Have a news tip? Contact Matt Hubbard at mhubbard@baltsun.com, 443-651-0101 or @mthubb on X.