Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
(3 <br />Making Your Infrastructure Program Affordable: <br />Service Availability Fees Based On Finished Area of New i_Iomes <br />Edward A. Holland, Planning Director <br />Ed Kerwin, Executive Director <br />Orange Water And Sewer Authority <br />Carrboro/Chapel Hill, NC <br />ABSTRACT <br />This paper describes the development of a tiered system of water and sewer service availability <br />fees based on the finished area of single family homes. <br />Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) customer data exhibit a consistent pattern of <br />increased average and seasonal water use with increasing home size, as indicated by building <br />permit and utility billing records. Customers with more modest homes generally use less total <br />water and exert a lower summer demand than those with larger homes. <br />OWASA's service availability fees -utility capital recovery charges (or impact fees) assessed to <br />new development -were traditionally based on meter capacity factors, and all single family <br />homes were charged the same one-time fee when connecting to the water or sewer system, <br />regardless of home size or expected water use patterns. Data developed for this analysis <br />provided a valid utility basis for establishing availability fees that are more responsive to the <br />actual patterns of water and sewer use that characterize different subsets of residential customers. <br />A new tiered approach adopted by OWASA's Board of Directors established five separate size <br />classes for new single family homes. Availability fees for homes in the smallest size class (less <br />than 1700 square feet) are now 38 percent lower than under the previous rate structure, while <br />new fees for the largest homes (greater than 3800 square feet) are 70 percent higher than <br />previously. The analysis of water use patterns also provided a basis for revising service <br />availability fees for multi-family residences (apartments, townhouses, and condominiums with <br />individually metered units), which use an average of 3S percent less water than single family <br />detached homes. <br />The tiered approach represents a more precise cost-of-service focus than uniform availability <br />fees, because it considers the actual demand patterns of different residential user groups, rather <br />than treating all residential customers in the same way. Another benefit has been the reduction <br />of fees charged for smaller homes, thus lowering one of the economic barriers to more affordable <br />housing in OWASA's service area. <br />BACKGROUND <br />Orange Water and Sewer Authority (OWASA) provides utility service to approximately 65,000 <br />