Agenda - 10-07-1991 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I0 ALTERNATIVE HEARS OF FINANCING SEWER CONSTRUCTION Finding methods of funding sewer construction that do not require the imposition of very high utility bills on the sewer customers or without involving the County tax system is a very challenging task.' Estimating sewer use billing rates on the basis of estimates of construction costs, system operating expense. customer base. average sewer usage. construction financing alternatives can also become quite complicated. If the assumptions regarding all of the cost and sewer use factors which are built into the preceding tables can be taken as fact, then it can be surmised that every $100.000 in capital expense that does not have to be borne by the sewer rate structure will reduce the average sewer bill by approximately.$2.50 per month when the entire Efland system is constructed. Community Development Black-Grant Funding of Sewer-Construction A windshield survey of the Efland area by the Orange County. Engineer and the Director of Housing and Community development indicates that there is a good possibility that CDBG funding could be obtained for construction of sewer in the Phase IV area, which is shaded in orange on the attached map. Additional funds for paying tapping fees and plumbing construction costs may be available for the existing section of Phase I. The CDBG funds for sewer construction and for sewer tapping costs must be tied in with other housing needs which would also be addressed by the grant funds. In all probability. the County would have to provide some of the funding for the entire,housing improvement and sewer construction project. The County's funding share of the entire project might be only about fifty percent of the funds required for Phase IV sewer construction alone. If the County's share of the funding were counted as housing improvement costs,'and not charged to the sewer system's debt, the sewer bills for all existing and future customers would be lessened. Unfortunately, none of the other phases are likely to be eligible for any CDBG funding. Sewer Assessments Phase's II, III. IV and V were not included in the County's original proposal to provide sewer service to the Efland area. If the construction costs for all of phases except Phase I were paid by the owners of property which could be served and the debt service costs of construction of Phase I were added to the total system's operating expenses, the average monthly sewer bill could be lowered to approximately $65. If Phase IV construction costs Are paid from community development funds and Phase II, III and V construction costs are paid by a full sewer assessment on the potential customers of those sections, the average assessment would be about $5200 per property owner for 116 parcels of property served by Phases II. 11I and IV sewer.