Subject:
Title
Consider adopting and re-enacting Section 7-4-22 - Charges for Installing New Water Service Lines and Sewer Laterals, of the Code of Ordinances, City of Harrisonburg, Virginia
Body
Presented By: Mike Collins, director of Public Utilities
Recommendation and Review
Staff has drafted a proposed amended and restated Section 7-4-22 of the Harrisonburg City Code. The proposed ordinance separates the “Connection Fee” and “Capital Recovery Fee” to better define the intended function of each fee type. Whereas the Connection Fee is to recapture the actual cost of construction from the applicant, generally the fee has been set at cost per Section 7-4-23. Whereas the Capital Recovery Fee is a contribution to the capital costs required to operate the City’s water and sewer systems, generally the fees are correlated to demands upon the systems pursuant to AWWA (American Water Works Association) guidelines.
The amended code retains the principal of setting fees according to meter size, however with the following exceptions:
• A baseline Connection Fee and Capital Recovery Fee have been set for single family residential applications for the purpose of establishing predictability of cost to the applicant.
• For the purpose of encouraging higher density residential use, the incremental unit cost has been discounted to $500 per unit.