Fort Myers & Lee County Utilities Water and Sewer Fees (2026)

Two public utilities connect new houses around Fort Myers. Inside the city, water and sewer usually come from the City of Fort Myers, whose schedule for May 4, 2026 to May 3, 2027 charges a single-family home $3,353.39 (water impact fee with admin fee) + $3,514.01 (sewer impact fee with admin fee) + $150 (5/8-inch meter installation) = $7,017.40. In other parts of Lee County the provider can be Lee County Utilities (LCU), where the same house pays $3,050 (water capacity fee) + $3,325 (wastewater capacity fee) + $435 (meter drop-in) = $6,810, or $8,688 if LCU has to tap the main. The first thing to settle is which utility serves your lot, because a Fort Myers mailing address does not decide it. For how this compares nationally, see our guide to the cost to connect to city water. Lee County Utilities’ $3,325 wastewater and $3,050 water capacity fees are compared with other cities in our sewer allocation fee guide.

Fort Myers connection fees at a glance

The table lists every row we verified for both providers, so read it as two separate price lists, not one bill. The City of Fort Myers rows come from its impact fee schedule for May 4, 2026 to May 3, 2027. The city publishes each impact fee with a small administrative fee on top (2.3% on water and sewer), and we record the published total. The Lee County Utilities rows come from its new construction fees page (capacity fees as of May 5, 2026) and its meter drop-in and tap-in sheet valid through September 30, 2026. Deposits, account charges, larger meters and plan review are real fees that a typical new house either does not pay or gets back, so they are kept out of the totals below.

Which utility serves your lot?

The city’s own rate schedule has separate monthly rates for customers inside and outside the city limit, so the city’s water system reaches past its boundary. Lee County Utilities, a county department, serves other parts of Lee County. Before you budget, ask the City of Fort Myers Utility Billing office (239-321-8100) and Lee County Utilities which of them will serve the parcel, and whether a water service tap already exists at the lot line. At today’s rates the answer moves the bill by $207.40 to $1,670.60, and more if LCU adds a bore charge.

Worked example: a new home in Fort Myers

Assumptions: one detached house, a 5/8-inch meter, one equivalent residential unit (ERU) for LCU, and fees at the rates in force in September 2026. The LCU capacity fee is the one in effect when the Commitment to Serve is requested.

One-time charges for one new house, 5/8-inch meter (sources: Fort Myers impact fee schedule 2026–27; LCU new construction fees; LCU drop-in and tap-in charges).

City: $3,353.39 + $3,514.01 + $150 = $7,017.40. The two impact fees break down as $3,278 + $75.39 admin for water and $3,435 + $79.01 admin for sewer. LCU with an existing tap: $3,050 + $3,325 + $435 = $6,810. LCU with a new tap: $3,050 + $3,325 + $2,313 = $8,688. The LCU sheet also lists an additional bore charge of $2,282 for a 5/8-inch meter without saying when it applies; if your lot needs it, the tapped-main total would be $10,970.

A larger meter changes only the meter line in both systems. In the city, a 1-inch meter installation is $225, so the total becomes $7,092.40; the city’s residential fees are per unit, “plus meter installation fee.” At LCU a 1-inch drop-in is $601 ($6,976 total) and a 1-inch tap-in is $2,511 ($8,886 total), since a single-family home is charged as one ERU.

How Fort Myers compares with Cape Coral

Across the river, Cape Coral charges a served lot in sewer District 1 with city irrigation $7,571, and $8,669 in District 2 (fees effective July 27, 2026). A City of Fort Myers house at $7,017.40 costs $553.60 less than the District 1 case, and an LCU house with a drop-in meter at $6,810 costs $761 less. A District 1 Cape Coral home without city irrigation pays $6,442, less than either Fort Myers case. Cape Coral’s third system, irrigation, accounts for $2,636 of its total; neither Fort Myers provider charges a separate irrigation capacity fee in these schedules. The bigger risk in Cape Coral is a land-area assessment of $25,000 or more on lots in extension areas, which has no counterpart in the fees recorded here.

Costs outside the Fort Myers fee schedule

Both utilities stop at the meter. Your plumber runs the pipe from the meter and the sewer connection to the house:

• Water service line, installed with the trench: $30 to $150 per foot, about $50 typical (national estimate).
• Sewer lateral, installed with the trench: $50 to $250 per foot, about $100 typical (national estimate).
• Plumbing permit: $100 to $1,300, about $300 typical (national estimate). For a new house it is usually part of the building permit.

At 40 feet from the lot line that is roughly 40 × $50 = $2,000 for water and 40 × $100 = $4,000 for sewer (national benchmarks, not local figures). The city’s impact fee schedule also lists road, fire, EMS, school and park impact fees; with water, sewer and the meter, the single-family total on that schedule is $16,997.09. Those non-utility fees are outside this page. Electric service in the city is from Florida Power & Light, whose tariff sheet 4.020 charges $12 to connect initial service (effective January 1, 2026); temporary construction service is $626.89 overhead or $501.71 underground. Parts of the county are on the Lee County Electric Cooperative, whose fees we did not record. Add your own distances in the calculator:

Paying Fort Myers fees: timing and process

• LCU capacity fees are set by the rate resolution in effect when the Commitment to Serve is requested. The county’s resolution says no one may connect without formal approval and payment of all applicable capacity fees. The fees stay with the parcel, and LCU may review a new customer’s actual use for 24 months and bill extra capacity at the original rate.
• Developer projects that build pipes LCU will take over pay capacity fees in full before LCU accepts the facilities, at the rates in effect at final inspection, plus a plan review fee of 1% of the facilities’ cost or $835, whichever is greater.
• Drop-in or tap-in. LCU’s tap-in charge replaces the drop-in fee when the main has to be tapped; it covers the tap or directional bore, meter, box and restoration.
• City account. A new residential account needs proof of ownership or a lease, photo ID, the $35 service charge and the $175 deposit, per the city’s new service page. Applications completed by 3 p.m. are processed the same business day.
• LCU deposits earn interest and can be waived with 12 months of good history on an LCU account in the last two years, a reference letter from another utility, or by enrolling in autopay and paperless billing within 20 days, according to LCU’s deposit page.

Upcoming changes in Fort Myers

• October 1, 2026: LCU’s drop-in, tap-in and bore amounts are labeled valid through September 30, 2026. Since February 4, 2025, LCU has based these charges on actual cost, so expect a new sheet.
• May 5, 2027: LCU capacity fees rise to $3,355 (water) and $3,657.50 (wastewater), and to $3,660 and $3,990 on May 5, 2028, under the four-year phase-in on its fee schedule. With the current $435 drop-in, the 2027 total would be $7,447.50.
• May 4, 2027: the city’s current schedule ends May 3, 2027. Its water and sewer impact fees are the same as on the July 2, 2024 to May 3, 2026 schedule.

Fort Myers connection fee questions

Where to go next from Fort Myers

Florida utility connection costs · Cape Coral connection fees · Port St. Lucie tap fees · Hillsborough County impact fees · Tap fee vs. impact fee · Water meter installation cost · Utility connection cost calculator

Official documents behind the Fort Myers figures

• Impact Fee Schedule, rates valid May 4, 2026 to May 3, 2027, City of Fort Myers. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• Impact Fee Schedule, July 2, 2024 to May 3, 2026, City of Fort Myers. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• Establish New Water Service, City of Fort Myers Utility Billing. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• FY2026 Utility Rates (inside and outside city limit), City of Fort Myers. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• New Construction/Development Fees, Lee County Utilities. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• Miscellaneous Service Fees: drop-in, tap-in and bore charges, October 1, 2025 through September 30, 2026, Lee County Utilities. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• Miscellaneous and Capacity Fee Schedule, rates as of February 4, 2025, Lee County Utilities. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• Security Deposits, Lee County Utilities. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• Electric Tariff, Section 4 (Sheets 4.020 and 4.030), effective January 1, 2026, Florida Power & Light. Checked Sep 25, 2026.
• National cost estimates: Utility Cost Guide benchmark methodology.