City of Boulder Tap Fees and Plant Investment Fees (2026)

Inside Boulder city limits, water, wastewater and stormwater service come from the City of Boulder’s own utilities. Under the city’s 2026 Schedule of Fees, a new single-family home with a 3/4-inch meter and the city’s minimum 2,000 sq ft of irrigable landscape pays about $28,216 in official utility charges. That breaks down as $26,572 in plant investment fees (PIFs): a $13,734 indoor water PIF, a $7,480 outdoor water PIF and a $5,358 wastewater PIF. The other $1,644 covers the meter, the taps and the water and sewer permits and inspections. On top of that comes a stormwater PIF of $2.87 per square foot of new hard surface; at an assumed 2,500 sq ft of roof and paving, that adds $7,175. The biggest local variable is landscaping: Boulder charges the outdoor water PIF by square foot of irrigated area, so a larger lawn raises the bill quickly.

Boulder connection fees at a glance

All figures below come from the City of Boulder’s 2026 Schedule of Fees, published by Planning and Development Services. Boulder calls its capacity charges plant investment fees, and for homes it sets them by customer type, not by meter size (commercial customers pay by meter size and water budget). A single-family home pays a flat indoor water PIF, a tiered outdoor water PIF on irrigable area, a flat wastewater PIF, and a stormwater PIF on new impervious area. The small tap, meter, permit and inspection fees are separate lines. Rows marked as not typical, such as the 1-inch meter or a tap into a concrete sewer main, apply only in those cases.

Worked example: a new home in Boulder

Assumptions: a new detached home inside city limits on a newly subdivided lot, so there is no credit for an earlier house. The home has a 3/4-inch water meter (Boulder’s sizing chart allows a 3/4-inch meter up to 44 water fixture units), a 3/4-inch water tap and a 4-inch sewer tap into a PVC or clay main.

The fixed pieces are the same for every lot:

Fixed City of Boulder charges for a new home, 3/4-inch meter (2026 Schedule of Fees)

The outdoor water PIF is $3.74 per sq ft for the first 5,000 sq ft of irrigable area, $3.12 per sq ft for the next 9,000 sq ft and $2.50 per sq ft above 14,000 sq ft, with a 2,000 sq ft minimum. The city’s PIF estimating guide says the minimum irrigable area is the larger of 2,000 sq ft or the area on a city-approved landscape plan. Three assumed landscape sizes, for illustration only:

Outdoor water PIF and running total by irrigable area

Then add the stormwater and flood management PIF at $2.87 per sq ft of new impervious area: roof, driveway, patios and walks. We don’t know your footprint, so here are two assumed amounts. They are illustrations, not city figures:

• 2,500 sq ft of new hard surface: 2,500 × $2.87 = $7,175. With the 2,000 sq ft minimum landscape, the total becomes $35,391.
• 4,000 sq ft of new hard surface: 4,000 × $2.87 = $11,480. With the 2,000 sq ft minimum landscape, the total becomes $39,696.

The stormwater PIF is cut in half if you build new detention that meets the city’s current design standards. A home that needs a 1-inch meter pays $764.09 for the meter and $289 for the tap, which adds $238.72 to every case above.

What Boulder’s fees don’t cover

The city’s PIF estimating guide states that meter and tap fees do not include excavation and that any work in the city right-of-way must be done by a right-of-way licensed contractor. The fee schedule adds that the contractor supplies all tap materials. National estimates for the private work (methodology):

• Water service line: $30–$150 per foot, typical $50. At 60 feet, about $3,000.
• Sewer service line: $50–$250 per foot, typical $100. At 60 feet, about $6,000.
• Street cut or bore: $1,000–$10,000 per crossing, typical $4,000. Boulder also charges its own right-of-way permit fees, including $47 per meter pit for 3/4-inch to 1-inch meters.

Boulder also charges a development excise tax for transportation and capital facility impact fees (parks and recreation, human services, municipal facilities, police, fire and transportation); the impact fees depend on the size of the home. They are not utility connection charges, so they are not in the totals above.

When you pay Boulder connection fees

For new construction, the city collects plant investment fees before final inspection. For other work it collects them when the permit is issued. You pay the PIF rate in effect on the date of your application, not the date you pay. Permit, tap and meter fees are due when the permit is issued. If the site isn’t ready when the crew arrives, the city charges a call-back fee: $312 for a water tap, $238 for a sewer tap and $99 for a 3/4-inch or 1-inch meter.

When you replace an existing house, Boulder credits the old unit at current PIF rates, and credits that exceed the new fees stay with the property instead of being refunded. The city sizes the water meter from a plumbing fixture unit worksheet you submit with the permit. To calculate the stormwater PIF, it asks for a worksheet showing the new impervious area.

What could change in Boulder

• The PIFs rose about 6% from 2025 to 2026. The indoor water PIF went from $12,957 to $13,734, the wastewater PIF from $5,055 to $5,358 and the stormwater PIF from $2.71 to $2.87 per sq ft. Check the current schedule if you apply in 2027.
• The city’s “estimating PIFs” guide still shows a worked example with older rates ($2.13 per sq ft outdoor, $9,282 indoor, $3,356 wastewater). Use the current Schedule of Fees, not that example.
• The schedule says sales tax is collected on water and wastewater taps and meters. The meter line includes the tax, but the tap lines don’t show whether tax is added on top.

How Boulder compares

Typical official connection totals on our other Colorado pages (each page states its own assumptions)

Before stormwater, Boulder’s total falls between Denver’s and Aurora’s in this group, though each page uses different assumptions. Unlike Fort Collins and Erie, though, Boulder’s schedule has no separate water rights charge for a single-family home.

Common questions about Boulder fees

Where to go next from Boulder

Colorado utility connection costs · Denver Water tap fees · Erie tap fees · water meter installation cost · tap fee vs impact fee · utility connection cost calculator

Sources for Boulder figures

• Planning and Development Services 2026 Schedule of Fees (Utility Fees and Plant Investment Fees sections), City of Boulder. Checked Sep 24, 2026.
• Planning and Development Services 2025 Schedule of Fees (prior-year PIF rates, for comparison), City of Boulder. Checked Sep 24, 2026.
• Estimating Water, Wastewater and Irrigation Plant Investment Fees and Determining Water Meter Sizing, City of Boulder. Checked Sep 24, 2026.
• Storm Water/Flood Management Plant Investment Fee Worksheet, City of Boulder. Checked Sep 24, 2026.