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11 <br />Option # 3: County establishes a percentage of the entire utility extension <br />project cost plus a cap per lot that it will pay to reduce the final <br />assessment amount for each impacted resident/property owner <br />Process Description: <br />This option is modeled on the policy adopted by the Town of Chapel Hill in September <br />1988 for sewer extensions for existing neighborhoods within the Town limits. The <br />Town's assistance level is 20% with a cap of $4,500 per lot. OWASA does not assess for <br />costs covered by the Town. <br />After a project is complete, the OWASA Board of Directors would determine the amount <br />of assessments and the list of properties that are assessed. Pre lot assessments are <br />calculated as actual costs of the completed project, less the OWASA and Town support <br />as noted, divided by the number of benefiting lots. (Note: Under OWASA Board <br />adopted policies, OWASA does not assess for engineering expenses up to 15 per cent of <br />project costs or for legal expenses up to 5 per cent of project cost.) <br />Based on this model, the BOCC would exclude ("forgive") a certain percentage of the <br />entire assessment project cost, thereby decreasing the assessment charge for every <br />resident/property owner regardless of economic status. In addition, the BOCC would <br />provide ("absorb") a fixed cap per lot to further buy-down the individual assessment. <br />Advanta~es• <br />- Flexible since the BOCC decides on the overall project "discount" and per <br />property "cap" that deternne the subsidy <br />- Easy to articulate and defend within mixed income populations <br />- Relief not reliant upon personal economic variables or the need to self-identify <br />- Builds on notions of community "participation" and "partnership" <br />Disadvanta~es• <br />- Reduces the amount of revenue returned for reinvestment <br />- Income-neutral way to provide assessment relief <br />