Date: Fri 18-Aug-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

sewer-assessment-taxation

Full Text:

Three Assessment Plans Presented For Sewers

B Y A NDREW G OROSKO

The Water Pollution Control Authority (WPCA) has proposed three possible sewer

assessment formulas to collect the $18.5 million town share of sewer system

construction costs.

Approximately one-third of the $30.4 million overall sewering project cost

will be covered by state grants.

Each of the three possible formulas distributes the financial burden of paying

sewer system capital costs somewhat differently among: residential sewer

users, non-residential sewer users, and town taxpayers with property not

served by sewers.

In an August 11 memorandum to the WPCA, Peter Grose, the project manager for

Fuss and O'Neill, Inc, the town's consulting engineering firm, outlined the

three alternative formulas, which he said are subject to change.

Depending upon which of the three assessment forumlas is used, the value of

"one residential sewer assessment unit" would be pegged at: $9,500, or $9,900,

or $11,000.

When the value of one residential assessment unit is set at $9,500, it would

financially benefit the residential sewer user, but would place the town's

property tax contribution toward the sewer system at the high end of the

municipal tax range among the three proposed sewer assessment formulas. In

this scenario, some 45.5 percent of the project's costs, also known as the

"total tax impact," would be covered by local property taxation. The total tax

impact includes the sewer assessments levied on town-owned properties.

When a residential sewer assessment unit is set at $9,900, there would be a

significant shifting of sewering project costs from general town property

taxation to non-residential sewered properties in comparison to the $9,500

sewer assessment model. The total tax impact in the $9,900 model would result

in 33.1 percent of project costs being covered by local property taxes.

In yet another sewer assessment model, a residential assessment unit would be

set at $11,000. Such an arrangement would have the lowest town property tax

impact of the three proposals. The total tax impact in this model reflects

25.6 percent of project costs being covered by local taxes.

A home with up to four bedrooms would be considered "one residential

assessment unit" or "one dwelling unit." A five-bedroom home would constitute

1.25 units, and a six-bedroom house would equal 1.5 units.

According to Fuss and O'Neill, there are about 814 properties which will be

served by sewer lines. Of that number 680 properties are residential and 134

properties are non-residential.

WPCA members have been reviewing aspects of possible sewer assessment formulas

for the past several years.

Components

There are several spending components covering sewer system construction and

operation.

Sewer assessments represent the amount of money that the owners of properties

with access to sewers will pay to the town across a 20-year period to cover

the cost of installing the sewers. The sewer assessments will be paid off by

property owners at a 2 percent annual interest rate made possible by a

government financing subsidy. The town also will accept lump sum payments to

cover sewer assessment charges.

Property owners with access to sewers will pay a sewer hook-up charge which

covers the costs of connecting residential and non-residential properties to

publicly-owned sewer lines. Hook-up charges vary depending upon the complexity

of the piping layout needed to connect the building to the sewer system, the

length of pipe required, and soil conditions.

Sewer users also will pay a sewer user charge based on the amount sewage they

discharge into the sewer system.

The WPCA plans to meet with the Legislative Council at the council's September

6 meeting to present the WPCA's final recommendation.