01-10-2000 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Request for Council Action continued Page 2 Januar> 5. 2000 Sewer Assessment/Cost Allocation Policv Most recently, the Fox Ridge neighborhood has asked whether the City would finance a portion of the costs of the *‘trunk” portion of the sewer project, since the trunk line may serve additional properties in the future, which could then pay a trunk fee as reimbursement of the City ’s up-front costs. The issue of funding the "trunk” portion of a sewer project differently or separately from the remainder of a project is related to, but separate from, the assessment policy issue. The trunk fundin'! issue w ill be addressed later in this memo. Staff Recommendation Regarding the Cit> *s Sewer Assessment Policy It is statT s recommendation that the City ’s assessment policy should continue to be that assessments are based on the benefit to the property. Also, where there is not a significant threat to public health, a sewer project should only be built if the property owners believe the full per unit cost of the project is equal to the per unit benefit of the project. With the completion of the Webber Hills project (planned for 2000). the City will have sewered all neighborhoods with density greater than two acres, and most neighborhoods relatively close to an existing sewer line. If the City continues to extend sewer to developed neighborhoods, the cost of the projects will increase substantially. This is due to the need to build more sewer line to connect a neighborhood to an existing sewer line, and due to the need to build more sewer line per property to ser\ e neighborhoods developed at two acre density. With these higher costs and the availability of alternate septic sites on existing tw o acre development, it becomes e\ en more important that a sewer project not move ahead unless the property owners believe the full per unit cost of the project is equal to the per unit benefit of the project, and are willing to pay that full cost. Sewer Trunk Options As the City continues to extend sewer, it is moving from neighborhoods that are adjacent to an existing sewer line to neighborhoods that are farther and farther from an existing sewer line. This causes the cost of a sewer project to increase significantly if the neighborhood to be served pays the full cost of the trunk line. A sewer trunk line by definition is a line that has the ability to serve other properties or neighborhoods it passes in addition to the speeific neighborhood that initiates the sewer project. The problem is that the other properties and neighborhoods passed by the trunk line may or may not need or want sewer at the time the trunk line is installed. There are three options for funding a trunk sewer line. A.The specific neighborhood that initiates the project pays the full cost as part of the project assessments. 1 ( ■; I