Mountain House Municipal Code Ch. 3 Water, Wastewater and Storm Drainage Charges

The City is authorized to prescribe, revise, and collect rates or other charges for the services and facilities furnished by it.

(Ord. 2024-21, § 2(Exh. A), 2024)

The City shall provide, operate, and maintain storm drainage facilities, wastewater treatment facilities, and water treatment facilities within the district for residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal purposes, and shall provide, operate, and maintain related systems.

(Ord. 2024-21, § 2(Exh. A), 2024)

The charge for providing the services and facilities described in this chapter shall be initially established by the Board by resolution, with the exception of the stand-by charge on undeveloped land which is specified in Section 3-1-303 of this chapter.

(Ord. 2024-21, § 2(Exh. A), 2024)

As used in this chapter, undeveloped land means land for which a building permit has not yet been issued prior to June 30th of the prior fiscal year. The maximum service charge for undeveloped land in any fiscal year shall be established per acre in each separate parcel as shown on the latest equalized assessment roll. The maximum rates shall be as follows:

(a) Twenty-one dollars and ninety-eight cents ($21.98) per acre for water service;

(b) Forty-six dollars and sixty-three cents ($46.63) per acre for wastewater/storm drainage service.

(Ord. 2024-21, § 2(Exh. A), 2024)

The maximum amounts set forth in Section 3-1-303 may be increased each year: (a) by no more than an amount equal to the percentage increase, if any, in the ENR Index from the prior year, or (b) by resolution of the Board based on independent financial analysis finding that an increase in the maximum service charge greater than that permitted under clause (a) is required in order to avoid an anticipated shortfall in the operation and maintenance of a facility, in which case the greater increase authorized by this clause (b) shall also be levied on developed property in the community above the maximum rate then in effect for such developed property in the ratio set forth in Section 3-1-305(b)(4).

(Ord. 2024-21, § 2(Exh. A), 2024)

(a) No charge shall be levied on undeveloped land until the first phase of utility facilities have been completed, deemed operational, and connected to serve the first completed residential or commercial building in the community. After such time, the charges on undeveloped land set forth in Section 3-1-303 may be levied each year without specific findings being made by the City until the following equivalent dwelling unit (EDU) thresholds are reached:

(1) For the undeveloped land charge for water facilities, four hundred sixty (460) water EDUs;

(2) For the undeveloped land charge for sewer/storm facilities, seven hundred fifty (750) sewer EDUs and seven hundred fifty (750) storm EDUs.

(b) Once the EDU threshold set forth above has been reached, the City Council shall make the following findings prior to levying a charge on undeveloped land for the facility type (i.e., water or sewer/storm) for which the EDU threshold has been reached:

(1) It has been determined that operation and maintenance costs exceed revenues available from the utility rates and there are no other revenues available to help meet the anticipated funding shortfall;

(2) The City has investigated and implemented all possible expenditure reductions which would not cause a significant adverse impact upon the City's ability to provide utility services; and

(3) City staff has offered to meet with landowners that will be affected by the levy of the undeveloped land charge to discuss why operation and maintenance costs have increased from the original estimates;

(4) For each dollar ($1.00) proposed to be levied on an acre of undeveloped land, the Board will levy three dollars ($3.00) per acre of medium density residential property (EDU factor = 1.0) in addition to the rate established for such property when the original utility rate resolution was adopted (with such original rate escalated to the current fiscal year). Utility rates levied on other categories of developed property shall also be increased accordingly based on their assigned EDU factors, as shown in the utility facilities technical report.

(c) In any fiscal year in which the City Council cannot make the findings set forth above, the authority to levy a charge on undeveloped land will terminate for that fiscal year, and no charge shall be levied on undeveloped land in that fiscal year or in any future fiscal year.

(Ord. 2024-21, § 2(Exh. A), 2024)

The pledged facility component of the utility rates shall be a minimum amount which shall remain in effect until all utility facilities required to implement the entire master specific plan area have been acquired (and corresponding reimbursements paid, if applicable) pursuant to outstanding project acquisition or reimbursement agreements, or until such other obligations consistent with Section 3-1-309 have been met. The pledged facility component per Equivalent Dwelling Unit (EDU) shall be the following:

Monthly Pledged Facility Component per Equivalent Dwelling Unit

The pledged facility component per EDU identified above shall be subject to a construction cost adjustment on July 1 of each fiscal year equal to the greater of either two percent (2%) or the percentage increase, if any, in the ENR Index (as defined in Section MH-1-3000) from the twelve (12) months concluding at the end of the preceding February, except for the adjustment on July 1, 2003, which shall be equal to the greater of either two percent (2%) or the percentage increase, if any, in the ENR Index for the period of July 1, 2002 through February 28, 2003.

Exhibit A of this chapter identifies the water, sewer and storm drainage EDU factors that will be used to determine the pledged facility component to be collected from each land use. These factors were determined by the MHCSD based on anticipated water, sewer and storm drainage usage and shall not be changed in any manner that reduces the pledged facility component for a particular land use category. In each fiscal year, the City shall determine the pledged facility component for each land use category by multiplying the then-current pledged facility component per EDU by the applicable EDU factor shown in Exhibit A for each land use category and for each type of utility facility. [Exhibit A referenced in this paragraph is located at the end of this chapter.]

The City Council may determine, pursuant to Government Code Section 61621, that a greater pledged facility component is appropriate for a particular fiscal year, but such determination shall apply to that fiscal year only and shall not affect the pledged facility component for future fiscal years.

At any time and at its sole option, the City may provide a developer or developers with a reimbursement or acquisition payment greater than the amount then on deposit from collection of the pledged facility component.

(Ord. 2024-21, § 2(Exh. A), 2024)

The monthly service charges imposed herein shall be collected via monthly service bills and shall be used solely for the purposes specified in this chapter. The pledged facility component shall be deposited into separate interest-bearing facility funds for water and sewer/storm drainage, and the remaining utility rate revenues shall be deposited into operating and maintenance accounts for each type of facility. Revenues, including interest, in facility funds established by the City that are not committed to the repayment of debt service on revenue bonds shall, at the start of each quarter, be paid to developers with outstanding project acquisition agreements or reimbursement agreements.

(Ord. 2024-21, § 2(Exh. A), 2024)

The monthly service charges imposed herein shall be used:

(a) To pay for the operations and maintenance of utility facilities;

(b) For purposes allowed for the pledged facility component as specified in Section 3-1-309 of this chapter;

(c) To provide a reserve for capital replacement of utility facilities.

(Ord. 2024-21, § 2(Exh. A), 2024)

In fiscal years 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05, the pledged facility component of the monthly utility rates shall be used by the MHCSD to cover operation and maintenance (O&M) expenses and/or to establish reserves to cover future O&M costs. After fiscal year 2004-05, the pledged facility component shall be collected and used only for the following purposes in the following priority:

(a) To pay debt service on revenue bonds issued to cover the costs of acquisition from or reimbursement to developers for utility facilities;

(b) To acquire utility facilities from, or to reimburse, developers who have funded and/or designed and constructed utility facilities;

(c) To pay for design and construction of utility facilities, reasonable costs of outside consultant studies related thereto, and other certified costs;

(d) To reimburse the City for utility facilities constructed by the City with funds from other sources.

(Ord. 2024-21, § 2(Exh. A), 2024)

The ordinance codified in this chapter becomes effective thirty (30) days after passage, and within fifteen (15) days after its final passage the Mountain House City Manager shall cause the ordinance codified in this chapter to be published and posted in the same manner as for counties as specified in California Government Code Section 25124.

EXHIBIT A EQUIVALENT DWELLING UNIT FACTORS FOR CALCULATION OF THE PLEDGED FACILITY COMPONENT FOR EACH LAND USE CATEGORY

(Ord. 2024-21, § 2(Exh. A), 2024)