Concord, NC Water & Sewer Tap and System Development Fees (2026)

In Concord, the City of Concord sells water and collects sewer, but the sewer goes on to the Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County (WSACC) for treatment, and each charges a new home separately. On a subdivision lot where the developer’s contractor built the water service, a new single-family home pays $6,023: the City’s $1,632 water system development fee, $264 for a 3/4-inch meter and $1,159 sewer system development fee (City of Concord FY2027 fee schedule, effective August 13, 2026), plus WSACC’s $2,968 wholesale sewer system development fee (WSACC FY2027 SDF schedule, effective July 1, 2026). On an infill lot where Concord installs the water and sewer services from an existing city main, two installation fees add $2,134 and the total becomes $8,157. The caveat most people miss is that these charges come in at two different points. The WSACC fee is collected by Cabarrus County with the building permit, and the City’s charges are paid to Concord. For how this compares nationally, see our guide to the cost to connect to city water.

Concord tap and connection charges at a glance

The table lists every row we verified from the two official schedules, with effective dates and source links. Concord’s residential system development fees (SDFs) are charged per dwelling unit, not by meter size. The water SDF line reads “Per Equivalent Runoff Unit,” the same unit name the schedule uses for stormwater, but its notes apply the fee to each residential unit. The water “installation fee” applies only when Concord installs the service on an existing City-owned main. Where a developer extends a new main and a licensed contractor installs the service, only the meter fee is listed. The WSACC row is a separate agency’s fee for treatment and interceptor capacity, set under North Carolina’s system development fee law (G.S. 162A, Article 8). Deposits and electric rows apply only as their notes describe.

What a new Concord house pays: worked example

Assumptions: one detached house inside Concord’s water and sewer service area, domestic water only, FY2027 schedules, a 3/4-inch meter (the smallest size on Concord’s schedule) unless noted, and a 4-inch sewer service. The WSACC single-family fee is a flat per-unit charge, so it does not change with meter size.

One-time water and sewer charges for one house, by scenario (sources: City of Concord FY2027 schedule; WSACC FY2027 SDF schedule).

The arithmetic: scenario A is $1,632 + $264 + $1,159 + $2,968 = $6,023. Scenario B adds the two installation fees: $6,023 + $1,134 + $1,000 = $8,157. Scenario C swaps in the 1-inch meter ($395) and 1-inch installation ($1,261): $1,632 + $395 + $1,261 + $1,159 + $1,000 + $2,968 = $8,415.

Upsizing from a 3/4-inch to a 1-inch meter costs only $258 more in Concord ($131 on the meter, $127 on installation), because the residential SDFs stay flat. That is a very different result from Charlotte, where both SDFs scale with meter size. One gray area deserves a phone call. Concord’s schedule lists the $1,000 sewer installation fee as part of residential wastewater charges, but it does not say whether the fee applies when the developer’s contractor built the lateral. The non-residential table does make that split: it pairs the installation fee with services Concord installs on existing City-owned sewer mains, and lists a connection fee that excludes installation for services installed by others. Scenario A leaves it out. If Concord bills it on your lot, scenario A becomes $7,023.

How Concord compares with Charlotte

Concord’s connection charges are much lower than its larger neighbor’s, especially on infill lots. Using each city’s FY2027 figures, the two common cases compare like this:

Official one-time water and sewer charges, single-family home, FY2027 (Charlotte figures from our Charlotte tap fee page).

The gap comes from installation: Charlotte Water charges $4,407 for a 5/8-inch water connection and $6,444 for a 4-inch sewer connection, against Concord’s $1,134 and $1,000. On subdivision lots the two are within $704, because the WSACC fee, which has no counterpart in Charlotte Water’s figures, offsets most of Concord’s lower city SDFs.

What is not included in Concord fees

Concord’s and WSACC’s charges cover capacity, the meter and, where Concord installs it, the service to the meter or cleanout. Work on the private side of the connection is priced separately by your contractor:

• Water service line from the meter to the house: $30 to $150 per foot, about $50 typical, trenching included (national estimate). A 60-foot run at $50 is about $3,000.
• Sewer lateral from the house to the cleanout or tap: $50 to $250 per foot, about $100 typical, trenching included (national estimate). Sixty feet at $100 is about $6,000.
• Plumbing permit for the exterior lines: $100 to $1,300, about $300 typical (national estimate). It is separate from the Concord and WSACC charges.

These ranges come from our national benchmark set and assume normal soil; rock or a street crossing costs more. The guides to water service line cost, sewer lateral cost and utility trenching cost explain what moves each number. Add them to Concord’s official fees here:

When you pay Concord connection fees

The WSACC fee is due at the building permit stage. Under WSACC’s system development fee ordinance (effective July 1, 2023), the fee is assessed when the building permit is issued. Cabarrus County Building Inspections collects it, and the county will not issue the permit until it is paid (WSACC SDF ordinance). Replacing a mobile home or other structure on the same lot with the same size connection is exempt if the utility confirms the earlier connection in writing.

The City’s charges go to Concord. Where water and sewer already reach the site, you apply for service through Customer Care at 704-920-5555; sites outside city limits need a preliminary application to extend Concord utilities (Concord Utility Availability page). On new main extensions, licensed utility contractors approved by the Water Resources Director do the work, and the meter is bought from the City. The fee schedule also states that no meters will be set in a subdivision until all charges are paid.

Deposits apply only to residential customers without a satisfactory credit rating (see FAQ). Same-day service is not available for meter sets, and we did not find a published installation wait time.

Upcoming changes in Concord

Concord’s current schedule is dated August 13, 2026, and shows the residential sewer SDF as “Starting August 2023.” WSACC’s FY2027 schedule covers July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. State law requires the SDF analysis to be updated at least every five years, and WSACC’s 2023 ordinance records an update effective July 1, 2023, which points to the next one by 2028. Check both schedules again if you will pull permits after June 30, 2027.

Common questions about Concord fees

Related guides for Concord

Compare Concord with Charlotte and Raleigh on the North Carolina utility connection costs hub, or see the national tap fees by city table. Background: tap fee vs. impact fee, sewer tap fees, water meter installation cost and utility costs for new construction. For a full budget, use the utility connection cost calculator.

Concord fee sources

• Fees, Rates, and Charges Schedule, FY2027 (effective August 13, 2026), City of Concord. Water & Wastewater Utilities, Utility Billing and Electric sections. Checked Sep 24, 2026.
• System Development Fees (Wholesale), effective July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027, Water and Sewer Authority of Cabarrus County. Checked Sep 24, 2026.
• An Ordinance for a System Development Fee (effective July 1, 2023), WSACC. Checked Sep 24, 2026.
• Utility Availability, City of Concord Engineering Department. Checked Sep 24, 2026.
• National cost estimates: Utility Cost Guide benchmark methodology.