Until 2024, most recent rate study conducted in 2018
With no members of the public having signed up to address the issue, the Sarasota County Commission voted unanimously on Jan. 28 to adopt new water and wastewater capacity fees, which had not been adjusted since a prior board approved changes following the release of a 2018 study, Public Utilities Director Brooke Bailey noted during the public hearing.
The new fees will go into effect on March 1, as a result of the vote this week. However, Bailey pointed out that any applicant seeking a utility permit prior to that date will pay the current fees.
A county staff memo in the Jan. 28 agenda packet explained that the County Code empowers the County Commission “to establish, impose and collect capacity fees, previously called impact fees, on new connections to the Utility System. The Board is also empowered to prescribe, fix, establish and collect fees, rentals or other charges for the use of the facilities and services furnished by the Utility System so that such new connections contribute a pro-rata share of the costs of system capacity and facilities needed to provide service for such new connections,” the memo said.
The water capacity fee will rise by $1,300, while the wastewater capacity fee will go up by $1,290, as Bailey had proposed, based on a study undertaken by Raftelis Financial Consultants. Staff had engaged Raftelis “to review and update the water and wastewater capacity fees,” the Jan. 28 staff memo said.
The Public Utilities staff has been partnering with Raftelis for about 15 years, Bailey told the commissioners during her Jan. 28 presentation.
The resolution that the commissioners approved formally increased the water and wastewater capacity fees to $4,250 and $4,480, respectively, per what is called an “equivalent dwelling unit” (EDU).
The staff memo noted that one EDU of water capacity, “required in the design of the water system,” is set at 250 gallons per day, while one EDU of wastewater capacity is required to be 200 gallons per day.
In the report on its study, dated Dec. 2, 2024, Raftelis explained the following:
“The proposed [new] charges have been designed to meet a number of goals and objectives. Specifically, the major objectives used to develop the impact fees proposed in this study include:
- “The capacity fees are designed to recover the capital costs associated with the treatment and backbone transmission infrastructure providing water and wastewater capacity for new development;
- “The capacity fees are based upon the County’s current and near-term projected treatment capacities and adopted level of service standards attributable to the County’s Equivalent Dwelling Unit (EDU) for service;
- “The capacity fees are designed in accordance with the Florida Impact Fee Act and applicable case law meaning that the fees, at a minimum, are based on localized costs and meet the dual rational nexus standard, among other requirements; and
- ”The proposed capacity fees are designed to satisfy the dual rational nexus by: i) ensuring that the infrastructure costs included in the fee are necessary to accommodate new development; and ii) equitably apportion those costs so that new development pays their fair share based on the benefits received from the additional system capacity.”
The report added, “Raftelis considers the proposed capacity fees to be cost-based, reasonable, and representative of the identified capital funding and level of service requirements of the system.”
Further, the Raftelis report said, “The utility business is capital intensive and requires the commitment of significant resources in advance of the growth in demand for service. In addition, System improvements and regulatory compliance also require significant capital expenditures in today’s utility business environment. Furthermore, the impact of inflation on System operating expenses and on the cost of new and replacement facilities results in upward pressure on monthly utility user rates. The compelling capital needs associated with the utility business and the desire to control the increase in monthly utility user rates and charges have resulted in the use of funding alternatives such as the County’s water and wastewater capacity fees to finance, at least in part, the cost of System expansion.”
During her Jan. 28 remarks, Bailey noted major projects underway and in planning to improve the county’s water and wastewater system. Among them are the conversion of all three of the county’s wastewater reclamation facilities to Advanced Wastewater Treatment status. That will significantly reduce the amount of nutrients, such as nitrogen, in the water following treatment, staff has explained.
Nitrogen has been identified as the primary “food” for the red tide algae. Thus, the conversions have been a response to the need to improve water quality in the county’s waterways and Sarasota Bay.
Bailey did acknowledge that if the board members that day adopted the proposed figures, that would “substantially change where our capacity fees will be in the region.”
She showed the commissioners a slide illustrating that remark.
However, she continued, noting a second slide, a number of other local governments in Florida have been increasing their fees, as well. Adopting the resolution in their agenda packet that day, Bailey added, would put Sarasota County “really just right in the middle with everyone else.”
Community outreach appreciated
Commissioner Teresa Mast ended up making the motion to adopt the new fees, and Commissioner Mark Smith seconded it.
Mast told Bailey, “I know that this was a big jump, when it comes to fees, and I know [the fees had not been raised} in quite some time.” Therefore, Mast continued, she wanted to thank Bailey and Bailey’s staff for conducting multiple meetings to answer questions and concerns in the community about the initiative.
Smith thanked Bailey and her staff, as well.
Then Smith pointed out, “I’m a huge proponent for affordable housing.” Perhaps the board could consider some measure in the future to lower the capacity fees for affordable housing units, he added.
Bailey responded that affordable housing units typically are half the size of the average “equivalent dwelling unit.” Thus, she said, developers pay half the capacity fees in those situations.