A real, verified county programme with a hard end date — and a narrow scope most pages never mention. Unincorporated Marin County only. Here is how much is waived, who is actually in scope, and what to start now.
The short answer
There is no income test for the base waiver; the owner affirms the unit will not be used as a short-term rental, and the county applies the base waiver to eligible permits. Larger amounts exist, always with their condition attached: an additional $5,000 if the unit is deed-restricted for moderate-income households, or an additional $10,000 if the unit is deed-restricted for low-income households — those tiers require a recorded deed restriction and an online application.
Source: Marin County ADU fee-waiver programme, marincounty.gov, checked Nov 2026 (programme page re-read Nov 5, 2026: tiers, 5-year minimum, reimbursement timing, fees covered). Programme extension adopted by the Board of Supervisors on Mar 11, 2025; current run through Dec 31, 2026. Amounts and conditions on this page are stated exactly as the county publishes them, with the scope — unincorporated Marin County only — attached every time.
Short answer
Four figures make up the whole programme. The two base waivers are straightforward; the two additional tiers are larger because they buy something real — a recorded commitment about who the unit serves.
| Tier | Amount | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Base waiver — ADU | $2,500 | Per ADU, in unincorporated Marin County only. No income test. The owner affirms the unit will not be used as a short-term rental. Applied by county staff to eligible permits — no separate application for the base tier. |
| Base waiver — JADU | $1,500 | Per JADU, unincorporated Marin County only, on the same terms: no income test, and the same no-short-term-rental affirmation. |
| Additional — moderate-income deed restriction | +$5,000 | On top of the base waiver, if the unit is deed-restricted for moderate-income households (81–120% of area median income). Requires a recorded deed restriction and the online application. Not waived at the counter: you pay the fees in full and claim this additional amount back as a reimbursement once the finished unit receives its Certificate of Occupancy (earlier only if your own household is low-income). |
| Additional — low-income deed restriction | +$10,000 | On top of the base waiver, if the unit is deed-restricted for low-income households (under 80% of area median income). Requires a recorded deed restriction and the online application. Not waived at the counter: you pay the fees in full and claim this additional amount back as a reimbursement once the finished unit receives its Certificate of Occupancy (earlier only if your own household is low-income). Never a stand-alone headline — the deed restriction is the price of this tier. |
The money does not all move the same way, so this page never adds it into a single “waived” total. Waived now: the base waiver — $2,500 per ADU, $1,500 per JADU — applied when your fees are set. Reimbursed later: the additional deed-restricted amount — $5,000 (moderate-income) or $10,000 (low-income) — which you pay up front with your fees and claim back once the finished unit receives its Certificate of Occupancy. So a deed-restricted ADU combines $2,500 waived now with $5,000 or $10,000 reimbursed later; it is never $7,500 or $12,500 waived at the counter. Which tier fits you depends on a decision — whether to record a deed restriction — that deserves its own section, below.
Scope check
This is the question the whole page turns on, and it is a geography question, not an income question. Marin County permits ADUs in the unincorporated areas — the parts of the county outside any incorporated city's or town's limits. Incorporated towns run their own fee schedules. The county waiver follows the county's own permits.
If your property sits in unincorporated Marin County, your ADU or JADU permit is a county permit, and the waiver is built for you: up to $2,500 per ADU or $1,500 per JADU at the base tier, with the deed-restricted tiers above it. Rolling applications run through Dec 31, 2026. The checker at the foot of this page is pre-set to Unincorporated Marin, so your address check starts from the right jurisdiction.
If your address is inside an incorporated town, this programme does not apply to your permit — saying so plainly is the point of this page. Your town's own fees, and any fee relief your town offers, decide your number instead. That is not a dead end: many Marin projects still benefit from the state rule exempting ADUs under 750 sq ft from impact fees, and each town guide on this site publishes its own fee picture. Start with the San Rafael ADU guide or the Mill Valley ADU guide if you are in those towns, and the Marin ADU cost guide for the county-wide fee picture and the planning ranges your budget should use.
Not sure which side of the line your address falls on? Postal addresses mislead here — a home can carry a town's name in its mailing address and still sit in unincorporated county. That is one of the things the checker below screens, and it is worth settling before you count any waiver into a budget.
The bigger tiers
The additional deed-restricted tiers — $5,000 for moderate-income, $10,000 for low-income — are not bonuses. They are payments toward a recorded, long-term commitment about the unit — and the commitment, not the money, is the decision.
Deed-restrict the unit for moderate-income households — 81–120% of area median income — and the base $2,500 is waived when your fees are set. The additional $5,000 is not waived at the counter: you pay the fees in full and claim the additional amount back from the County once the finished unit receives its Certificate of Occupancy. (If your own household is low-income, the County can instead apply the additional waiver to reduce your fees before that stage.)
Deed-restrict the unit for low-income households — under 80% of area median income — and the base $2,500 is waived when your fees are set. The additional $10,000 is not waived at the counter: you pay the fees in full and claim the additional amount back from the County once the finished unit receives its Certificate of Occupancy. (If your own household is low-income, the County can instead apply the additional waiver to reduce your fees before that stage.) The deeper the affordability commitment, the larger the additional amount — that trade is the programme working as designed.
A deed restriction is recorded against your property — it runs with the property record, not just with your intentions this year. For these tiers it commits the unit to serving households at the stated income level: the home you build with the larger waiver is an income-restricted home, and that status is a legal condition of the property, visible to future buyers and lenders. The county sets the minimum: at least 5 years of affordability, with tenant income documentation and the lease submitted every year. That may be exactly right for a family unit or a long-term affordability plan — many owners choose it deliberately. It is the wrong trade if you were counting on unrestricted rental flexibility. Because the terms are recorded and consequential, the county's own guidance is to consult first: talk to County Planning and Building & Safety before applying, confirm the exact restriction language and obligations for your tier, and take advice if you need it. Do not record anything on the strength of a web page — including this one.
The tiers do not arrive the same way, and the difference matters for cash flow. The base waiver ($2,500 per ADU, $1,500 per JADU) is applied by staff as your fees are being determined — there is nothing to claim later. The affordable tiers work as a reimbursement: you pay all the required fees, then claim up to the additional amount once the project receives its Certificate of Occupancy. The exception, per the county, is an owner whose own household is low-income, where the waiver can reduce fees earlier. Two limits to budget around: the waiver covers county fees from the Community Development Agency (Planning and Building & Safety) — not sewer, water or school charges — and the affordable-tier cash simply arrives later, as reimbursement after the Certificate of Occupancy — but the county does not say whether a Certificate of Occupancy issued after Dec 31, 2026 still qualifies for the reimbursement. Ask that question in writing at your Planning consultation.
How to apply
The base waiver and the deed-restricted tiers travel different paths. The base is handled for you; the higher tiers start with a conversation, then a formal application.
DEC 31, 2026
Rolling applications run through Dec 31, 2026. The qualifying event that must happen by Dec 31, 2026 is unconfirmed in the county's published programme — our sources state the amounts, tiers and expiry, but do not pin down whether the trigger is an application, a permit, or another milestone. Confirm with Marin County CDA before relying on this deadline — and because the steps below sit inside a permit process, do not leave them to December.
01
Settle the jurisdiction question before anything else: unincorporated Marin County means this programme; an incorporated town means your town's fees instead. The checker at the foot of this page screens your address with Unincorporated Marin pre-set.
Scope before paperwork
02
There is no separate application for the base tier: the county applies the base waiver to eligible permits — up to $2,500 per ADU, $1,500 per JADU. No income test applies. As the owner, you affirm the unit will not be used as a short-term rental.
Staff-applied · no income test
03
For the additional $5,000 (deed-restricted, moderate-income) or $10,000 (deed-restricted, low-income) tiers, consult County Planning and Building & Safety first, then complete the county's online application and record the deed restriction the tier requires.
Recorded deed restriction required
The condition on every tier
One condition sits underneath the whole programme, base tier included: the owner affirms the unit will not be used as a short-term rental.
The waiver exists to add homes, not holiday lets. So the county's bargain is simple: fee relief in exchange for a unit that houses someone — family, a long-term tenant, a caregiver — rather than turning over as a short-stay rental. If a short-term rental was part of your financial plan for the unit, this programme is not built for that project, and the affirmation is not a formality to sign past. For everyone else — which is most Marin ADU owners — the condition costs nothing: it simply writes down how the unit was going to be used anyway.
Extension watch
The honest answer is a date and a condition — not a hope.
The programme's current run exists because the Board of Supervisors adopted an extension on Mar 11, 2025, carrying it through Dec 31, 2026. Extensions are the Board's decision, made on the Board's calendar. If the Board extends the programme again, this page will say so — with the new date and the county source — and if it does not, then after Dec 31, 2026 the programme is closed, and this page will say that instead. Nothing on this page should ever be read as the waiver surviving its expiry on the strength of a past extension.
Plan on the date that exists: Dec 31, 2026. If an extension arrives, it is a windfall for projects already under way — not a reason to have waited.
Questions, answered
The base waiver is up to $2,500 per ADU and $1,500 per JADU, in unincorporated Marin County only, with no income test. More is available only with a recorded deed restriction: an additional $5,000 if the unit is deed-restricted for moderate-income households (81–120% of area median income), or an additional $10,000 if the unit is deed-restricted for low-income households (under 80% of area median income). The base amount is waived when your fees are set; the additional amount is not waived at the counter — you pay the fees in full and claim it back as a reimbursement once the finished unit receives its Certificate of Occupancy (earlier only if your own household is low-income).
Only unincorporated Marin County. The county applies the waiver to county permits; inside an incorporated town, your permit is a town permit and your town's fees apply instead. A town name in your mailing address does not settle it — properties can sit in unincorporated county while carrying a town's postal locality. The checker below screens your address.
There is no separate application for the base tier — the county applies the base waiver to eligible permits. What you do provide, as owner, is the affirmation that the unit will not be used as a short-term rental. The deed-restricted tiers are different: those need the county's online application, after consulting County Planning and Building & Safety.
Yes. JADUs are in the same programme at up to $1,500 per JADU, in unincorporated Marin County only, with no income test for the base tier and the same no-short-term-rental affirmation. The deed-restricted additional tiers follow the same structure from the JADU base.
A recorded deed restriction. For the additional $5,000, the unit is deed-restricted for moderate-income households (81–120% of area median income); for the additional $10,000, for low-income households (under 80%). The restriction is recorded against the property and commits the unit to that income level for at least 5 years, with annual tenant income documentation; the extra amount is reimbursed after the Certificate of Occupancy (earlier only for an owner whose own household is low-income) — consult County Planning and Building & Safety before applying, and complete the online application the tiers require.
If the Board of Supervisors extends the programme, this page will be updated with the new date and source. Unless and until that happens, the programme runs through Dec 31, 2026 and is closed after that date. The current run itself came from an extension adopted Mar 11, 2025 — proof extensions can happen, and no promise that one will.
Keep going
The full cost picture the waiver trims: planning ranges by type, what drives them, and what Marin permit data shows.
Start hereThe homepage checker: what you can build on your lot, what it should cost, and the flags that matter — in about 60 seconds.
Check your address
The programme runs through Dec 31, 2026 — and the first step is knowing your jurisdiction for certain, because the qualifying event for that deadline is unconfirmed in the county's published programme (confirm it with Marin County CDA). Run the free check below: it is pre-set to Unincorporated Marin, confirms whether your address sits in the county programme's scope, and prices the project you actually want.
Step 1 of 2 — your address and one tap on what you want to build. That is enough for a first verdict; sharpen it afterwards only if you want to.
Not in the band — budget these separately; no honest source lets us put a number on them for your lot, so none is invented:
Print this sheet and write each contractor's figures in a column. Every row is something a comparable bid has to state; a blank in a quote is a question for that contractor, not a saving. The first column is your brief, filled from your answers.
| Line every quote must state | Your brief | Quote A | Quote B | Quote C |
|---|
Check each contractor's licence number on the Contractors State License Board's public lookup (cslb.ca.gov) before you compare prices. Figures in your brief are the rule caps and planning estimates shown above, not bids.
San Francisco screening — two questions that decide an SF project
In San Francisco, space a tenant uses can be a protected “housing service” — it changes what’s allowed, so we ask now, not later. Why this matters →
Anything wrong in that summary? Email us at adu@adubuildworks.com and we'll correct the record.
If something changed — a different project, a new budget — email us at adu@adubuildworks.com and we'll update the record. Your verdict itself is above, and it stays yours.
Your verdict is right here on this page, and it stays yours. Prefer to do this by email? Write to us at adu@adubuildworks.com with your address and what you'd like to build, and we'll set it up with you — no dead end.