Buellton Municipal Code Ch. 13.60 Water Connection Fees

A. Purpose. In order to promote the public health, safety and welfare by providing adequate potable water for the citizens of the city, the city must maintain certain facilities and services. The policy of the city is that the cost of providing water service should be borne by the customers who benefit from the service. In establishing connection fees it is the intent of the city that the fees be set at a level that covers the cost of providing the service, including without limitation, the capital costs attributable to providing and maintaining a system which is capable of providing water service to new development.

B. Water Connection Fees — Established. Water connection fees are established as a condition of approval for, and prior to issuance of, any building permit within the city.

C. Fee to Be Set by Resolution.

1. The council shall set by resolution the specific amount of the connection fees to be charged fees which shall be in reasonable relation to the cost of providing water service to the new development in the city.

2. The council shall, at least once every five years, review the connection fees to determine whether they accurately reflect the then current and anticipated cost of providing water service to new development and may, by resolution, adjust aid fees to an amount which bears a reasonable relationship to the thencurrent and anticipated cost of providing water service to new development in the city.

D. Limitation as to Use of Connection Fees.

1. Connection fees established in this chapter shall be used only for the following purposes:

a. To pay for the cost of design and construction, including construction management, of water facilities needed to serve new development within the city.

b. To reimburse developers who have been required or permitted to construct water delivery or treatment facilities in excess of their pro rata contribution to the need for such facilities.

c. To repay bonded indebtedness owed by the city to the CCWA for construction of delivery and treatment facilities necessary for delivery of state water.

2. If a proposed development is replacing any existing development, the connection fee shall be determined from the fee schedule in effect at the time the applicant obtains a building permit for the new development. No credit for the previous service will be permitted in the event that the service is abandoned or terminated.

E. Appeal Process. Any person subject to water connection fees may appeal to the council for an adjustment, reduction or waiver of such fees based on the absence of any reasonable relationship between the amount of the fee and the cost of providing water service to the development. If an appeal for adjustment, reduction or waiver from connection fees is granted, any subsequent change in the development proposal shall invalidate the adjustment, reduction or waiver. The appeal process to be followed is stated in Chapter 13.44 of this title.

F. Pro Rata Return for Fees Not Spent or Committed Within Five Years. Any connection fees which have not been expended or committed for expenditure within five years from the time of being collected shall be refunded on a pro rata basis to the current owners of development projects which have paid connection fees.

(Prior code §§ 14.80.001 — 14.80.025; Ord. 94-1 § 1, 1994)