Brownsville, Texas - City Development Fees

Fee Summary

Roadway Capital Recovery Fee (TLGC Chapter 395 Roadway Impact Fee)

Source: City of Brownsville Capital Recovery Ordinance No. 2024-1739 (effective May 7, 2024; SHA-256 35857fe1...), with the Exhibit A rate schedule corroborated by the text-layer ordinance copy and the BTX Roadway Capital Recovery Fee Revised Final Report (SHA-256 195d56a3...). Brownsville adopted a Roadway Capital Recovery Fee (CRF), a Texas Local Government Code Chapter 395 roadway impact fee, on May 7, 2024.

The fee is calculated as the development's roadway service units (vehicle-miles, taken from the Land Use and Service Unit Equivalency table in Exhibit A) multiplied by the adopted collection rate per vehicle-mile for the development's service area. The City is divided into 19 roadway CRF service areas covering all land within the City. The fee is assessed at building permit or utility connection application (or at final plat recordation for plats submitted on or after the effective date) and collected when the City issues a building permit. Service areas 13, 17, and 19 collect $0 per vehicle-mile.

The amounts below are the adopted collection rate (Schedule 2), set after a 50 percent ad-valorem tax credit. The maximum assessable fee (Schedule 1) is the pre-credit statutory ceiling and is double the collection rate; the City collects at the Schedule 2 rate.

Roadway Capital Recovery Fee per Vehicle-Mile by Service Area

An Affordable Housing Collection Rate Memo (dated April 5, 2024) modifies collection for qualifying affordable and workforce housing. The roadway CRF is the only Chapter 395 impact fee the City administers; water and wastewater capital recovery charges are handled by the Brownsville Public Utilities Board (see Coverage Notes).

Zoning, Specific Use Permit, and Planned Development Application Fees

Source: City of Brownsville Planning and Redevelopment Department Multi-Process Application (SHA-256 3dedb15e...), with requirements set by the codified Unified Development Code (SHA-256 d08fdb54...), which states every application must be accompanied by the fees set forth in the City's adopted fee schedule. The Multi-Process Application form is the operative source for the application fee amounts and is undated (current operative schedule). The Zoning (rezoning) Application Fee and the Specific Use Permit (SUP) Application Fee share the same tiers by use type and acreage.

Zoning and Specific Use Permit Application Fees

These same tiers apply to both the Zoning Application Fee (Section II of the Multi-Process Application) and the Specific Use Permit Application Fee (Section I). Planned Development application fees - General Development Plan, Final Development Plan, and Planned Development Amendment - are itemized in Section III of the same Multi-Process Application, with the amounts entered at submittal per the City's adopted fee schedule. A Board of Adjustment Application appears in Section IV, and the Unified Development Code Section 5.2.3(G) Commercial Development (parkland dedication fee-in-lieu) appears on the City Master Fee Schedule. Building permit per-trade fees are published separately by the City and are not enumerated on this page.

Coverage Notes - What This Page Does Not Cover

Per ZoneFee's Partial-Verified Publication Standard, the items below were not closed via confirmed City fee amounts on this page. They are disclosed here rather than estimated or omitted silently.

Utility Tap / Connection Fees

Water, wastewater, and electric utility service in Brownsville is provided by the Brownsville Public Utilities Board (BPUB), a separate public utility that administers its own developer connection and water and wastewater capital recovery (impact) fee program. The City of Brownsville jurisdiction does not administer water or sewer tap, connection, or capacity fees; the City Master Fee Schedule Engineering section lists only right-of-way encroachment and infrastructure plan-review fees, and Ordinance No. 2024-1739 is roadway-only. These utility connection and capacity charges fall outside this City jurisdiction page; consult BPUB for those amounts. Closed-search outcome: administered by a separate authority.

Special District Fees (PID / TIRZ)

No City-administered special-district developer fee surfaced across the City Master Fee Schedule, the Unified Development Code, or the codified fee schedule surface. Any Brownsville Public Improvement District (PID) or Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) overlays finance through tax-roll and tax-increment instruments rather than a City-administered developer special-district fee. Closed-search outcome: not administered by this jurisdiction.

Proffers

Texas jurisdictions do not use Virginia-style cash proffers (Virginia Code Section 15.2-2303 has no Texas counterpart). Developer-side contributions in Brownsville occur through the zoning, specific use permit, planned development, and roadway capital recovery fees captured above. Closed-search outcome: this fee family does not apply to this jurisdiction.

Fee Authorities

Sources