§ 17.12.061. Payment of plant equity fees for connection of water service.

Each customer requesting a new service connection to the water distribution system shall pay a plant equity fee prior to connection (or shall agree, prior to connection, to pay such fee as otherwise provided below) as part of the approval process for new service connections.

Such plant equity fees shall be determined on the basis of the equity existing system customers have accumulated in the system as determined on the basis of a detailed analysis of plant assets and shall constitute a system buy in fee assessed to new connections. The meter size on which the fee schedule is based shall be in reference to the associated water meter size.

The schedule of said plant equity fees shall be as follows:

Meter Size	2007 & Beyond
1" or less	$1,520.00
1½"	3,040.00
2"	4,860.00
3"	9,120.00
4"	15,200.00
6"	30,400.00
8"	48,640.00
10"	69,920.00
12"	130,720.00

 

Given the variations in uses which may accrue to services eight inches or larger in size, fees charged in relation to such service sizes may be adjusted by the Director of Utilities upon receipt of detailed estimates of projected usage characteristics supplied by the applicant for service.

At the discretion of the City Council, the above fees may be waived and/or modified in relation to economic development projects, which, due to their unusual nature or magnitude, offer extraordinary benefits to the community. Further, in cases where the applicant is seeking to establish service through a one-inch meter, by connecting to a new water main the City has extended into a contaminated area to address problems with groundwater quality due to the proximity of the contamination, the applicant may be permitted to pay the plant equity fee in five equal annual installments, to be billed on the March water bill, provided the owner of the property to be served shall execute and deliver a note and mortgage in favor of the City, with a due-on-sale provision, to secure payment of the annual installments.

Property owners required to make a payment for connecting to the water system as provided above may apply for a deferral of such payment on the basis that such payment would work an economic hardship on the owner(s). The criteria for the granting of such a deferral shall be the same as described in Sections 2.24.070 and 2.24.075 of the Code. All other terms and conditions of any deferral hereunder shall be governed by the provisions of Sections 2.24.070 and 2.24.075 except as otherwise noted herein. A deferral hereunder may be granted to owners of property located outside the City limits.

(Ord. No. 45-368 § 1; Ord. No. 43-630 § 1; Ord. No. 47-521 § 1, 7-17-07; Ord. No. 49-806 § 2, 8-12-2014)