Title
Proposed FY2017 Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Improvement Area Fees (B)
Explanation
On December 15, 2011, the City Commission authorized the City Attorney to draft, and the Clerk of the Commission to advertise an ordinance designating infrastructure improvement areas (IIA) for water and wastewater, and adding capital recovery connection user fees for new and existing customers who construct new structures or construct new additions to existing structures within a designated IIA.
At its meeting on December 5, 2013, the City Commission heard a presentation from GRU staff on the proposed Innovation District IIA for constructing and funding water and wastewater system capacity improvements in the Innovation District area. At the meeting, it was explained that the costs for these improvements will be recovered through the Innovation District IIA user fees which will apply to new development and certain redevelopment within the designated Innovation District IIA.
Since that time, GRU staff worked with stakeholders and the City Attorney’s Office to refine the approach to infrastructure improvement areas. Based on input from the stakeholders, GRU also designed and constructed infrastructure improvements in the Innovation District IIA. These improvements are currently benefitting customers in the area. The IIA user fees for the water and wastewater gravity collection systems are calculated and assessed based on the total heated and cooled building square footage, number of hotel rooms, number of motel rooms, or number of bedrooms of the new structure, and/or any addition to an existing structure.
The IIA fees are designed to be adjusted annually in order to ensure that the revenues collected from these fees will recover GRU’s costs for water distribution and wastewater collection system capacity improvements constructed to serve development projects in the Innovation District IIA.
The ordinance was heard on second reading on April 7, 2016.
This item was presented to the Utitlity Advisory Board at their August 17, 2016 meeting.
Fiscal Note
The recommended FY2017 rates are necessary to ensure that GRU’s expenditures for capacity improvements in the Innovation District IIA will be recovered over time.
Recommendation:
The City Commission hear a brief staff presentation on the proposed FY2017 Innovation District Infrastructure Improvement Area (IIA) fees and direct the City Attorney to draft and the Clerk of the Commission to advertise an ordinance to adopt the recommended FY2017 fees effective October 2, 2016.
The Utility Advisory voted 6-0 (one member absent) to recommend that the Commission approve staff's recommendation.