Tulsa Water & Sewer Connection Fees (2026)

The City of Tulsa provides water and sewer inside the city, with the systems managed through the Tulsa Metropolitan Utility Authority. For a new single-family home with the standard 5/8 x 3/4-inch meter, the city’s published charges come to $703.64: a $528.14 water meter permit including the meter, a $155.50 sanitary sewer new tap permit and a $20 fee to open the utility account. Tulsa charges no water or sewer impact fee that we could find. The catch is that the city does not dig the taps itself. A licensed contractor does the work and charges for it separately, and since May 2025 the city code also requires an escrow deposit for inspection and testing days on each meter installation.

Official Tulsa fees in one table

The table lists every Tulsa row in our database with its source. The permit amounts come from Title 49 of the Tulsa Revised Ordinances, and the city publishes them as two one-page sheets: the Water Meter Fee schedule and the Sanitary Sewer Permit Fees, both effective August 5, 2024. Each permit total on those sheets adds three administrative charges to the base fee: a system development fee of $5.50 plus 8% of the permit fee, a $5 system maintenance fee and a $10 record retention fee. Rows marked as not typical, such as the per-day escrow fees and the off-septic permit, apply only in some cases.

Worked example for a single-family home in Tulsa

A water meter permit for a meter under 3 inches is $234 under Title 49, Section 1301. The city’s Water Meter Fee schedule (effective August 5, 2024) adds a $24.22 system development fee ($5.50 plus 8% of $234), $5 system maintenance and $10 record retention, for $273.22, and then the price of the City-furnished meter. The sewer side works the same way: the Sanitary Sewer Permit Fees sheet lists a New Tap permit at $125 plus $15.50, $5 and $10, or $155.50. Opening the account costs $20 under the city’s customer service fees (rate book effective October 1, 2026).

Published City of Tulsa charges for one new single-family home, by meter size (contractor’s work and escrow not included).

The meter-plus-permit figures in the second and third columns match the schedule’s own totals: $528.14, $561.58 and $591.01. Which row applies depends on the meter size on the permit.

Then add the escrow. Section 1301 was amended by Ordinance 25572 on May 21, 2025 to require, before the permit is issued, a field inspection deposit of $235 and a testing and quality assurance deposit of $200 for each estimated day of construction on a water meter installation. The city bills or credits the difference when the work is done. If the city estimates one day, that is another $435, and the 5/8 x 3/4-inch case becomes $1,138.64 up front; two days would make it $1,573.64. The ordinance does not say how many days a typical residential meter takes, so ask Development Services for the estimate on your permit. The August 2024 fee sheet predates this change and does not show it.

What Tulsa’s fees don’t cover

In Tulsa the permit fee covers review and inspection only. Everything below is on top of it:

• The water tap, meter setting and service line. The city requires a water meter contractor with an annual Infrastructure Development Process (IDP) contract and a Class D water license, and it publishes a list of approved water meter contractors (the current one is dated September 2026). The city does not set the contractor’s price. National estimate $30–$150 per foot for a water service line, typically about $50, trenching in normal soil included. See water service line cost and water meter installation cost.
• The sewer tap and lateral. A City-licensed plumbing contractor pulls the sewer permit, and a tap in the right-of-way needs a contractor with an annual IDP contract. National estimate $50–$250 per foot, typically about $100, trenching included. See sewer lateral cost.
• Street cuts and hard digging. National estimate $1,000–$10,000 per street crossing; rock raises trenching costs (see utility trenching cost).
• Main extensions. Lots not on a street with a water main need a main extension through the city’s IDP process, with engineered plans and a $400 pre-development meeting fee that is credited to plan review. That is usually a developer’s cost rather than a per-home fee.
• Building and plumbing permits, which are separate Title 49 fees.
• Electric service. We did not find a readable line extension document from Public Service Company of Oklahoma, so no electric figure is included.

National figures are estimates from our benchmark set. The calculator below loads Tulsa’s official fees; add your contractors’ quotes to it:

When you pay Tulsa connection fees

Water and sewer connection permits are issued by the Development Services Infrastructure Development division and applied for through the city’s Self Service Portal. The city says all fees must be paid before it processes the permit. The water permit application has to come from a licensed water meter contractor, and it asks whether the use is residential or commercial, the legal description of the property, and who the billing contact will be, owner or builder. Meters of 3 inches and larger need sealed engineering plans, which does not affect a normal house.

The meter itself is City-furnished, and its price is the city’s acquisition cost. The schedule warns that meter fees change whenever that cost changes, so the amount on your permit can differ from the sheet.

What could change in Tulsa

• Escrow fees since May 2025. The $235 and $200 per-day deposits (Ordinance 25572, May 21, 2025) are in the current code but not on the August 2024 fee sheet. Expect the sheet to be reissued.
• Meter prices. The meter amounts date from August 5, 2024 and can change without an ordinance when the city’s cost changes.
• New utility rates on October 1, 2026. Ordinance 25825 (June 17, 2026) set the monthly water rates in the October 2026 rate book, for example an $8.25 monthly meter charge for 3/4-inch and smaller meters. Those are bills, not connection fees, and the $20 account fee is still the one set by Resolution 20293 in December 2023.

How Tulsa compares with Oklahoma City

Tulsa’s published connection charges are lower than those in Oklahoma City, which come to $1,283.28 for a two-bath home with a 5/8- or 3/4-inch meter. The difference is Oklahoma City’s $1,000 water system development charge and its bath-unit sewer charge; we found neither in Tulsa’s schedules, which use flat permit fees. Tulsa’s meter costs more ($254.92 against $48.28), though, and with one day of escrow Tulsa’s up-front payment ($1,138.64) comes close to Oklahoma City’s. In both cities the tap and service line are built by a licensed contractor and priced separately, so the contractor’s quote will usually be the biggest part of the bill.

Tulsa tap fee FAQ

Related: water tap fees · sewer tap fees · tap fee vs. impact fee · water meter installation cost · Oklahoma City fees · Kansas City fees · utility connection cost calculator

Sources for Tulsa figures

• Meter Costs, Title 49, effective August 5, 2024 (Water Meter Fee schedule), City of Tulsa Development Services (checked Sep 24, 2026)
• Title 49 Sewer Permit Fees, effective August 5, 2024, City of Tulsa Development Services (checked Sep 24, 2026)
• Tulsa Revised Ordinances, Title 49, Chapter 13 (Sections 1300–1302) and Chapter 1 (Sections 103, 111 and 117), City of Tulsa via Municode (checked Sep 24, 2026)
• Utility Rates and Customer Service Fees, effective October 1, 2026, City of Tulsa Department of Finance (checked Sep 24, 2026)
• Infrastructure Development: Utility Service Taps and Water Service Connection Permit, City of Tulsa (checked Sep 24, 2026)