Orange County's new map-checking fee and deposit schedule takes effect September 1. It changes what developers, property owners, and their surveyors or engineers must pay when OC Public Works reviews subdivision maps and related land records.

The Board of Supervisors approved the schedule on June 23 through Resolution 26-050. The county's current filing portal identifies the measure as adopted and confirms the September 1 effective date.

This is not a general building-permit fee. It applies to services performed by the OC Public Works Map Checking Unit, including tract and parcel map review, records of survey, lot line adjustments, certificates, annexation documents, monument inspections, and certain street-name or address changes.

What applicants must pay beginning September 1

The schedule distinguishes a flat fee from a deposit. A flat fee is the total charge for the listed item. A deposit is an advance against time-and-materials charges and may not be the final cost.

Selected fiscal year 2026-27 amounts include:

  • Tract or parcel map number: a $202 nonrefundable flat fee.
  • County tentative-map review: a $1,789 deposit.
  • Complete tract-map check: a $5,581 base deposit, plus an additional $242 deposit for each lot.
  • Complete parcel-map check: a $5,278 base deposit, plus an additional $484 deposit for each parcel.
  • Recorder review only: a $1,053 deposit for the cities that use the county only for that stage.
  • Lot line adjustment: a $1,481 base deposit, plus an additional $242 deposit for each underlying parcel.
  • Minor or major amending map: a $2,536 or $6,598 deposit, respectively.
  • Certificate of compliance: a $1,486 deposit. A certificate of correction carries a $441 deposit.

These are required deposits where the schedule labels them that way, not guaranteed all-in prices. The county bills staff or consultant time against the deposit. If charges exceed it, the engineer or surveyor must arrange an additional deposit before a resubmittal will be accepted. Any balance left after the map or land record is filed or recorded is returned to the party that paid.

Which Orange County jurisdictions use the schedule

The county performs different levels of map review for different cities. An applicant should not assume that the same county service applies everywhere.

The complete tract- and parcel-map check category covers Anaheim, Brea, Costa Mesa, Cypress, Dana Point, Fountain Valley, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Woods, La Habra, Los Alamitos, Newport Beach, Orange, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park, Westminster, and unincorporated Orange County.

Buena Park, Lake Forest, La Palma, Placentia, San Juan Capistrano, and Yorba Linda use an exterior county map check that includes recorder review. Irvine, Laguna Niguel, and Mission Viejo use the county for recorder review only. The schedule notes that Aliso Viejo and Fullerton are billed through the city for that review.

That service boundary matters when estimating a project. The city may have its own planning, entitlement, engineering, or filing charges in addition to the county amount listed here.

How the county handles expedited work

Expedited map checking is not automatic. It must be requested at the beginning of the review, before the first submittal, and requires approval from the OC Public Works director or a designee. Staffing and workload can determine whether the request is accepted.

An approved expedited review requires a deposit equal to three times the applicable map-checking deposit. Authorized overtime is billed using the classification of the staff performing the work. The schedule sets overtime at 1.5 times the base hourly rate, with the county's approved overhead calculation added.

The fiscal year 2026-27 billable rates range by classification. Examples include $166 per hour for an engineering technician, $242 for a Surveyor III, $270 for a senior land surveyor, and $355 for the county surveyor. The fee schedule carries most listed deposits forward unchanged for fiscal years 2027-28 and 2028-29, while some hourly classifications increase.

Why the county changed the schedule

OC Public Works told the Board that fees recovered $873,540 of the program's $2.93 million cost in fiscal year 2024-25, a 29.79 percent recovery rate. The OC Flood Fund covered the remaining $2.06 million.

For fiscal year 2026-27, the county projects $2.73 million in program cost and $1.51 million in fee revenue under the new schedule, a 55.25 percent recovery rate. The county says the charges remain below the reasonable cost of providing the services and do not eliminate the subsidy.

The schedule also keeps the corner-record charge tied to the Clerk-Recorder amount. The published amount is currently $15 because state law limits what the county can charge for that filing.

The practical takeaway

An Orange County developer, subdivider, property owner, surveyor, or engineer preparing a map or land-record filing on or after September 1 should identify which agency performs each stage of review before setting the project budget.

Confirm whether the city uses the county for a complete check, an exterior check, recorder review only, or city-billed review. Then identify whether each county amount is a flat fee or a time-and-materials deposit, include the per-lot or per-parcel addition, and budget for a possible deposit replenishment before resubmittal.

Use the county's current schedule rather than Resolution 21-048, which Resolution 26-050 rescinds as of September 1. Applicants seeking accelerated review should make that request before the first submittal and obtain approval before relying on an expedited timeline.