Authority
San Antonio River Authority (SARA)
River authority operating wastewater systems in Bexar County, Texas. Developer wastewater connection fees per Equivalent Dwelling Unit (EDU), impact fees, and development fees from the FY 2025-26 Schedule of Utilities Operation Fees.
Jurisdictions served
SARA's developer connection, impact, and development fees apply to properties connecting to a SARA-operated wastewater system within its service areas. These fees are not a citywide charge - a property inside the City of San Antonio is subject to SARA developer fees only if it connects to a SARA-operated wastewater system (Upper Martinez, Martinez II, Martinez IV, or Salitrillo), rather than to the San Antonio Water System (SAWS).
Fee types administered
- Wastewater connection fees (per EDU; Texas Water Code Chapter 49.212)
- Wastewater impact fees (per EDU; 30 TAC 293.171(1); currently established at $0)
- Development review fees (expedited service and plan review, pro-rata, lift station operations and maintenance)
- Inspection fees (re-inspection per tie-in; industrial connection permit and sampling)
Fee schedule
Source: San Antonio River Authority FY 2025-26 Schedule of Utilities Operation Fees (Exhibit A), published September 2025 and effective for fiscal year 2025-26 (SARA's fiscal year begins October 1). Fees are assessed per Equivalent Dwelling Unit (EDU), where 1 EDU equals 240 gallons per day per single-family dwelling. All values verbatim from the canonical SARA schedule; see the Source block below.
Wastewater connection fees (per EDU)
| System | Amount | Unit | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| SARA Wastewater System - Upper Martinez and Martinez II | $6,000.00 | per EDU | FY 2025-26 |
| SARA Wastewater System - Martinez IV | $6,000.00 | per EDU | FY 2025-26 |
| Salitrillo Wholesale System | $6,000.00 | per EDU | FY 2025-26 |
| Salitrillo Retail System | $6,000.00 | per EDU | FY 2025-26 |
Impact fees (per EDU)
SARA's impact fee for all four wastewater systems (Upper Martinez / Martinez II, Martinez IV, Salitrillo Wholesale, Salitrillo Retail) is established at $0.00 per EDU under the FY 2025-26 schedule (30 TAC 293.171(1)). This is a positive published value of zero in the adopted schedule, not a missing figure.
Development fees (Table 5)
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Expedited Service Application Fee | $5,000.00 |
| Expedited Plan Review Fee | $1,000.00 |
| Pro-Rata Fee | Varies (negotiated between developer and River Authority) |
| Lift Station Operations and Maintenance Fee | $150,390.00 |
| Re-inspection Fee | $75.00 per tie-in |
| Emergency Mobilization Fee | $1,500.00 |
Industrial connection fees (Table 4)
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Permit Fee (per completed industrial sewer connection application) | $25.00 |
| Sampling Fee (per on-site visit) | $25.00 |
| Analysis Fee | Cost to SARA |
| Over-strength Surcharge | 50% of the permit holder's monthly retail sewer service charge |
Connection and impact fees are multiplied by a land-use factor per dwelling unit (Table 3): single-family residential and medium-density residential are 1.00; high-density residential is 0.60; hotels/motels with in-room cooking are 0.50 (0.25 without); hospitals are 1.25 per design bed; and commercial uses vary by service-line diameter (4-inch / 6-inch / 8-inch). A Texas Regulatory Assessment Fee of 0.5% applies under Ordinance O-955, and failure to pay a fee carries liquidated damages of $100 per unpaid fee in addition to the fee. Consult the full schedule for the complete multiplier table.
Source
San Antonio River Authority - FY 2025-26 Schedule of Utilities Operation Fees (Exhibit A) - FY 2025-26 Schedule of Utilities Operation Fees (PDF, 5 pages) - accessed 2026-08-29 · Playwright
Source content hash (SHA-256): 5a39acdbb53ad736d78cd0de780c9cd88d64eee7c0c21f6af0243735a7b78957
Statutory basis: Texas Water Code Chapter 49.212 (connection fees); 30 Texas Administrative Code 293.171(1) (impact fees); SARA Ordinances O-805 (1985) and O-955 (1991).
Capture note: sariverauthority.org returns HTTP 403 to plain HTTP fetchers (Fetch MCP, WebFetch, and curl) behind a web application firewall. A real browser session (Stage 3 Playwright) cleared the firewall and returned HTTP 200; the PDF bytes were fetched in the browser context and the fee schedule was extracted verbatim with pdfplumber. The URL above may not resolve for automated clients.
Last verified
Verified Last reviewed 2026-08-29. The schedule carries the FY 2025-26 label (SARA's fiscal year begins October 1, 2025). The exact board-adoption date is a pending secondary-corroboration item; confirm the current schedule with SARA before relying on these amounts.
Fee schedules administered by the San Antonio River Authority change over time. ZoneFee captured the schedule from the source named above on the last-verified date. These developer connection, impact, and development fees apply only within SARA's own wastewater system service areas (Martinez and Salitrillo systems, Bexar County) - they are not a citywide San Antonio charge. See the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) authority page for the impact fees that apply to SAWS-served San Antonio properties, the impact fees guide for how Texas fee programs work, and the Texas hub for jurisdictions covered by ZoneFee. For binding fee amounts on a specific project, contact the San Antonio River Authority directly via the official website above.