Every new home in Rutherford County pays one-time government charges before anyone moves in, and the price you pay for the house already includes them. Of Murfreesboro, Smyrna and La Vergne, Murfreesboro is the only one that scales its charge to the size of the house. That makes a 1,500-square-foot townhome inside Murfreesboro city limits cheaper to deliver, in public fees, than a comparable new home in Smyrna or La Vergne. A 4,000-square-foot house is more expensive to deliver.
Most new-construction comparisons look at price per square foot and lot size, and both of those numbers already include these charges. The charges never show up as a line item, though, so in practice nobody shopping for a home sees them. Once you can see how they're structured, it's clearer why the same floor plan can make more sense on one side of a city line than the other.
The charge is paid before the house has an owner
Murfreesboro's impact fee ordinance puts the fee on the developer. For a single-family home, the city calculates it after final inspection, using the gross floor area listed on the building permit. The developer has to pay it before the city issues a certificate of occupancy. The certificate of occupancy has to exist before a buyer can close on a new home, so by closing day the fee is already part of what the builder spent to deliver the house.
Rutherford County's School Facilities Tax also falls at the end of construction. The residential rate is $1.50 per square foot, effective October 1, 2024. The county figures the tax at permit application, using the rate in effect when the permit is issued, and it's due before the certificate of occupancy. The county's Building Codes Department collects it for every jurisdiction, incorporated municipalities included. So a new home in Murfreesboro, Smyrna or La Vergne pays the same county rate on every square foot. The difference between the three comes entirely from the city layer.
That city layer is collected at a steady pace. The city's September 2026 building report shows $303,714.40 in single-family residential impact fees collected that month alone. That same month, the report records certificates of occupancy for detached homes in Arbors at Compton, Avery Farms, Carlton Landing, River Landing, Northridge Park, Riley, Hidden River Estates and Farmhouse Downs. Under the ordinance, every one of those homes had its fee paid before the certificate was issued.
Where the three cities' lines cross
Murfreesboro's schedule, effective July 1, 2025, charges single-family homes $2.50 per gross square foot, capped at $10,952 per dwelling. A footnote on the schedule says single-family covers detached homes and attached townhouse units. Smyrna's posted schedule, effective October 1, 2023, charges a flat $5,786 per single-family detached dwelling. That breaks down to $3,481 for roads, $1,406 for parks and $899 for public safety. La Vergne's 2026–2027 fee schedule adds up to a flat $5,473 per single-family detached home: $3,337 for roads, $1,341 for parks, $576 for police and $219 for fire.
A flat fee costs the same for a small house and a large one. A per-square-foot fee rises with the house. Here is how the three compare at common new-construction sizes. The figures assume the floor area the city measures matches the area the county taxes, and the square footage a builder advertises may be counted differently.
| Gross floor area | Murfreesboro city fee | Smyrna city fee | La Vergne city fee | County school tax, all three |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,500 sq ft | $3,750 | $5,786 | $5,473 | $2,250 |
| 2,000 sq ft | $5,000 | $5,786 | $5,473 | $3,000 |
| 2,500 sq ft | $6,250 | $5,786 | $5,473 | $3,750 |
| 3,000 sq ft | $7,500 | $5,786 | $5,473 | $4,500 |
| 4,000 sq ft | $10,000 | $5,786 | $5,473 | $6,000 |
| 4,500 sq ft | $10,952, capped | $5,786 | $5,473 | $6,750 |
Murfreesboro's fee passes La Vergne's at about 2,189 square feet and Smyrna's at about 2,314 square feet. At 4,381 square feet it reaches the $10,952 cap and stops rising.
For scale, Greater Nashville Realtors reported a Rutherford County residential median of $450,000 for Q3 2026, the same as in Q2. On a 2,000-square-foot Murfreesboro home, the city fee plus the county tax comes to $8,000, roughly 1.8% of that countywide median. At 4,000 square feet the total is $16,000. The same 4,000-square-foot house in La Vergne carries $11,473 in combined city and county charges.
Those figures are what the builder pays the government, not a measured jump in sale prices. The research behind this post found no recent local study of how much of these fees builders pass on to buyers. The cost is real and is paid before closing. How it shows up in a contract price depends on the builder, the lot and the market.
Over half of a 2,000-square-foot home's charges go to schools
The Murfreesboro schedule divides each single-family fee into fixed shares: 21.868% for roads, 35.436% for parks, 11.231% for public safety and 31.465% for schools. On a 2,000-square-foot home, the city's $5,000 splits into about:
- $1,093 toward roads
- $1,772 toward parks
- $562 toward public safety
- $1,573 toward schools
The county's $3,000 School Facilities Tax goes on top of that. Together, about $4,573 of the $8,000 is set aside for school facilities. Smyrna's and La Vergne's city fees have no school component; there, the county tax is the only school-directed charge. So part of Murfreesboro's higher fee on large homes comes from a category its neighbors don't collect at the city level at all.
The same per-square-foot rate covers townhomes, so the gap is widest at the small end. A 1,500-square-foot townhome inside Murfreesboro pays $3,750 to the city. Smyrna's posted schedule lists a detached rate and a multifamily rate, so how a townhome there is classified would depend on the town's own reading of the project.
The September permit number looks like a shift to apartments
The same September report shows 405 new dwelling units permitted for the month, and 348 of them were apartments. Taken alone, that looks like the city's new housing has swung toward rentals. In fact, all 348 units come from a single master permit for Spence Creek Apartments at 1701 Barfield Road. It was issued September 1, 2026, covers ten buildings and lists a $28,276,000 valuation.
The year-to-date permit counts put September in context. Detached homes and townhomes fall under the per-square-foot fee. Apartments are charged per dwelling under the city's multifamily category.
| Unit type, January–September | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Detached single-family | 436 | 453 |
| Townhome | 345 | 305 |
| Apartment | 309 | 618 |
Detached permits are up 3.9%. They peaked at 89 in April 2026 and have run between 39 and 49 a month from June through September. Townhome permits are down about 12% from the same months of 2025, but new attached homes are still being permitted and finished. DSLD Homes pulled two four-unit permits for Tiger Hill Townhomes on September 23. Clari Park Townhomes and Regal Square Townhomes both received certificates of occupancy that month.
Through September 2026, the city permitted 758 detached and townhome units combined, compared with 781 in the same stretch of 2025. For-sale new construction is holding close to last year's pace, with detached homes making up a larger share. For a buyer comparing floor plans, the townhomes and smaller detached homes still in the pipeline are where Murfreesboro's fee is lightest next to Smyrna and La Vergne.
What could move these numbers
The $2.50 rate is the last step in a phase-in that started at $1.50 in July 2023 and rose to $2.00 in July 2024. The ordinance also directed City Council to review the schedule during the FY2025 and FY2026 budget processes. No later amendment turned up in the city material reviewed for this post. The September 2026 collections show the fee is still being charged, but the rate should be treated as the most recent published schedule, not a guarantee. A builder can ask the city for an estimate of the fees at the time it applies for a building permit.
Smyrna's posted rate dates from 2023. The town's 2025 budget retreat material listed a higher road impact fee as one possible way to fund debt service, next to tax-based options. That was an option, not an adopted change. If Smyrna raised its flat fee, the 2,314-square-foot crossover would move to a larger home size.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a buyer write a separate check for the Murfreesboro impact fee? Under the ordinance, the developer pays the fee before the certificate of occupancy is issued. That happens before a new-construction closing, so the fee is part of the builder's cost, not a separate buyer payment.
Do townhomes in Murfreesboro pay the same rate as detached homes? Yes. The schedule's single-family category covers detached homes and attached townhouse units at $2.50 per gross square foot.
Does building outside a city avoid the county school tax? No. Rutherford County applies its $1.50-per-square-foot School Facilities Tax to residential development and its Building Codes Department collects the tax for all jurisdictions, incorporated municipalities included.
This post is general information about how these fees are structured, not legal, tax or financial advice. Before relying on any figure in a purchase decision, confirm the current rates and how they apply to a specific home with the city, the county or a qualified professional.
If you're comparing a new build in Murfreesboro with one in Smyrna or La Vergne, The Ville Real Estate Co. can help you set floor plans, square footage and builder pricing side by side, so the fees inside each price are easy to see. Contact Us to start the comparison.
