In Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled 9-0 that the Fifth Amendments Takings Clause applies equally to legislatively imposed fees and administrative conditions.
George Sheetz challenged a USD 23,420 traffic impact mitigation fee required for a building permit on his property. The lower courts had ruled that constitutional protections only applied to individually imposed fees, not those authorized by legislation.
The Supreme Court disagreed, holding that government-imposed permit conditions must have an essential nexus and rough proportionality to the developments impact, regardless of whether imposed by a legislature or an administrative agency. Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the unanimous court, explained that neither the text nor the history of the Constitution distinguishes between legislative and other official acts regarding the Takings Clause.
This ruling opens the door for property owners nationwide to challenge excessive government fees.