2019.03.25 Council Agenda Item 11

The current connection fee schedule has not been amended in many years. Staff worked with the Ordinance Committee to develop a new approach to establish fees that are based on equity and fairness.

The proposed method provides a fair assessment that varies proportional to a new connection’s use of the system. The proposed charge is a one-time charge assessed on new, or expanded facilities, for the derived benefit from the public facilities which have been funded by existing customers through their past fees, assessments, or monthly billings. Connection charges for larger residential properties would be capped at a not to exceed level.

The proposed method, and associated suggested ordinance changes, address certain real and perceived inadequacies in the existing method and provide a fair and proportional fee system across the scale of user classes, eliminate potentially disproportionate fees derived from lot size or street frontage, and uncertainty regarding connection exemptions.

The current and proposed ordinance authorizes the Town Council to establish fees by order. Staff and the Ordinance Committee have proposed a new fee structure, by order, that will be proposed when the Council acts on the proposed ordinance amendment later this spring. The new schedule is based on a equity basis, and fees will now vary for residential uses based on projected flows (size and fixtures in the home). The Ordinance Committee did not want to radically change the actual fees which is why they lowered the equity factor to 80% of the true equity buy in. They also capped the amount that can be charged to $2,800. The current fee is $2,000, regardless of project flows (size and fixtures in the home).