[Added 12-4-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-14]
A.
It is regarded as inequitable to finance future capital improvements
to the municipal sewer system solely through sewer use (rental) rates.
Major capital improvements to a municipal sewer collection and treatment
system are most frequently required in order to service future customers,
and it appears unfair to require present users to finance this future
development, except on some equitable basis. Persons and organizations
responsible for development within the City (e.g., developers) are
in the best position to allocate costs applicable to the development
to the persons and organizations requiring the future services.
B.
Studies done to date by the City of Lebanon identify projects needed
to upgrade and reinforce the existing sewer system in order to best
meet existing service requirements and to accommodate system expansion.
These same studies identify projects required to expand and extend
the existing system to serve future customers. It is the purpose of
this article to establish a sewer development fee [hereinafter a sewer
development charge (SDC)] to recover the costs of maintaining and
expanding the system to serve existing and new customers directly
from those customers.
C.
By imposing the charges set forth in this article, the costs of maintenance
and expansion will be distributed more equitably than if they were
to be recovered through the sewer use (rental) rates. This is because
the charges set forth in this article allow the investment made by
existing customers in core facilities on behalf of future customers,
and the higher capital costs of serving new customers to be recognized.
A.
An SDC is hereby imposed on all future customers of the City sewer
system and on all existing customers who seek to enlarge existing
sewer services. This requirement shall apply to customers both within
the City and outside the boundaries of the City. (Notwithstanding
the foregoing, this article shall not apply to the City, itself, in
its role as a developer.) No person or organization shall be legally
entitled to connect to the City sewer system or to enlarge an existing
sewer service until the sewer development charge imposed by this section
is paid. This section is not in derogation of, but is in addition
to, all other fees which may be required by the City of Lebanon under
any other applicable codes or ordinances.
B.
All SDC's imposed by this article shall be determined by the estimated gallons per day of sewer use of a sewer user. The SDC is based on one sewer unit. See the Code of the City of Lebanon, Chapter 68, Fees, regarding the calculation of amounts.
C.
With respect to persons or organizations seeking to enlarge an existing
sewer service, the sewer development charge imposed shall be the difference
between the current sewer development charge and any prior paid sewer
development charge for the same connection, or if none, the sewer
development charge that would have been imposed if a sewer development
charge had been assessed on the average actual usage for the previous
five years. The Director of Public Works may take other factors into
account when determining the valuation of the sewer system.
A.
The sewer development charge imposed by this article shall be reviewed
and updated on an as needed basis. Subsequent updates of the sewer
development charge shall be determined generally in accordance with
the procedure originally developed by Underwood Engineers, Inc. in
their User Rate Assistance Report dated August 26, 2014 and updated
by the Department of Public Works in 2019.
B.
It shall be the responsibility of the City Council to establish the
sewer development charge, and the Council shall do so following a
recommendation of the City Manager, and following a public hearing
held by the Council to receive input on the City Manager's recommendation.
The City Manager's recommendation shall include a five-year projection
of capital expenditures for projects to be funded by moneys generated
under the sewer development charge and shall further include a proposed
sewer development charge rate schedule.
C.
Following the recommendation of the City Manager, the City Council
shall review the recommendation and shall act to accept or modify
the City Manager's proposed schedule of fees.
If any person shall unlawfully connect to the City sewer system
without payment of the sewer development charge set forth in this
article, all unpaid sewer development charges shall constitute a lien
upon the property which is connected to the system. The lien pursuant
to this article shall be placed on the property in accordance with
the provisions of RSA 38:22. Interest on these liens shall be calculated
in accordance with the provisions of RSA 76:13.
The City Council may abate, for good cause shown, any sewer
development charge assessed on any person or organization pursuant
to this article. Such abatements may be made on such terms and conditions
as the City Council shall deem equitable under the circumstances.
