title
INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT AREAS FOR WATER AND WASTEWATER GRAVITY COLLECTION SYSTEMS (B)
Ordinance No. 160725
An ordinance of the City of Gainesville, Florida, amending Section 6 of Ordinance No. 110541 and amending the Code of Ordinances, Appendix A, Schedule of Fees, Rates and Charges, to revise infrastructure improvement area user fees for water and wastewater gravity collection in the Innovation District Area; providing directions to the codifier; providing a severability clause; providing a repealing clause; and providing an effective date.
recommendation
The City Commission adopt the proposed ordinance.
explanation
WATER/WASTEWATER DEPARTMENT STAFF REPORT
On April 7, 2016, the City Commission adopted Ordinance No. 110541, creating the first infrastructure improvement area and imposing infrastructure improvement area user fees for the water and wastewater gravity collection systems, which 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 fees were 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 within the designated infrastructure improvement area over time.
Ordinance No. 110541 included a retroactive effective date of December 5, 2013. However, upon further review, GRU staff determined that the retroactive provision in Ordinance No. 110541 was not practical to implement. First, development projects connecting to the system prior to April 7, 2016 (the ordinance adoption date) paid for infrastructure improvements associated with their projects in accordance with the ordinances and policies that existed at the time of connection. Second, staff was concerned that some of the customers who connected prior to April 7, 2016 may not have received adequate notice of the retroactive fee provisions. As a result, staff implemented the ordinance effective April 7, 2016.
On August 17, 2016, GRU Staff presented an item to the Utilities Advisory Board and on August 18, 2016, presented the item to the City Commission. The agenda item proposed an increase to the infrastructure improvement area user fees. The City Commission directed the City Attorney to draft and the Clerk of the Commission to advertise an ordinance to adopt the recommended increased fees. In addition, this Ordinance revises the effective date of Ordinance No. 110541 for the reasons stated above.
CITY ATTORNEY MEMORANDUM
This ordinance requires two hearings. The first reading is scheduled for March 2, 2017 and second reading is scheduled for March 16, 2017.